The most important advice from the documentary is that the quickest moments of overlooking something becomes our longest moments of ignorance. But we do it now because we simply cannot avoid it.

Once we realize how risky it is to put our information out there, we finally would “skim” the privacy policies and terms & conditions. At least I do. But now there’s a condition that we do not agree to. If we don’t like it, we don’t register or sign up for whatever it is we are supposed to agree to. So in the end we are forced to make a sacrifice that benefits the company first.

Power in the end comes from the people who are lobbying the government at their doorsteps (Terms and Conditions May Apply, 21:00-21:19). Unfortunately these lobbyists are companies and their representatives: high and mighty, rich and powerful. A normal voice doesn’t stand a chance. That is how the system works. Money influences power, power influences the people, and more inbetween causing a big interconnected web. An ideology comes into place, telling us that this invasion of privacy is not meant to frighten you until it should. Also that your privacy is secure until it is questioned. Like from chapter 9 of Digital Media and Society “Not all political ideologies are economic in their logic, but many of the most important ideologies of the modern world (capitalism, communism, socialism) are explicitly economic in form. (Athique, p.127)”

The fact that Facebook, the site I use every single day, can betray someone with sneakily changing the privacy policy overtime frightens me yet makes me indifferent. That in itself is to be feared.

The idea that companies can create ways to make people skim over the terms and conditions, and privacy policies, like using all capitalized font with a small sized print, shocks me yet makes me feel like “I’m not surprised.” That is something to consider, on how our ideologies make us react to these things.

The idea that hitting the delete button only deletes it from yourself, but a government or company can still go back to retrieve what you delete is secretive and deceiving, but I don’t doubt that it happens nor do I doubt that it will continue happening. That makes me feel like we shouldn’t touch technology anymore. Nor should we use our credit cards,

Also as a bonus, Barack Obama is a prime example of the ideology that we sort of “brush off” these privacy issues. The documentary mentions how he doesn’t stop wiretapping programs from occurring nor did he stop them during his presidency. Politifact wrote a piece on this issue and I quote “We don’t expect the president to give the American people every detail about a classified surveillance program. But we do expect him to place such a program within the rule of law…” But now that he’s out of office, I don’t expect anything good coming from our new president.

So a few things to consider:

1. Why are we offended when people/companies sell our information to third parties? When they would do it under our noses anyways.
2. Why isn’t anything changing now that we know the government and companies can betray us at anytime?

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I will be honest. I feel under surveillance. The documentary makes me think deeply about the way I am using technology. Well, not only me but society. There were many times I was shocked and scared and I will tell you some of those moments.  I feel over watched  by the government 24/7. Now that I am writing this blog, and from the moment I was watching the documentary I started thinking that my data is collected and can be used anytime by third parties. One of the speakers in the documentary says “be careful with  your posts on social media.” Our society nowadays share everything on social media platforms, follow people, brands, write thoughts and jokes, and make business as well. In other words social media and internet are our primary tool of everyday communication. There is nothing negative about it. Which it is negative is that what you share can be considered harmful or inappropriate for the government. In other words, we all need to think twice before we share on social media platforms if we do not want to catch the attention of the security agency and they get in trouble.A second point that shocks me is the power a company has over users when we agree on their terms and conditions. It is unbelievable the way users accept to share all personal information without knowledge of all the consequences it can bring. It is true that the terms and conditions section is long and sometimes boring to read. But, it is essential to know what we are accepting to. If later we get in trouble for a post, or one of our pictures  is used by a third party we cannot complain about it because all these actions are legal since we accepted the conditions. Did everyone knows it? Maybe not, because not many people ready terms and conditions.  The third point that catch my attention is that nothing is free. As one of the speaker in the documentary says and we have discussed in class. We all like to get free things, free service, internet, food, and more. But, have we stopped and think what is it the real cost of these “free” things? The answer is the exchange of our privacy. One example is Google service “in return for free wireless access, Google announced its plans to use the information it gathered about users’ locations within the city to bombard them with time- and location-specific ads, or what it calls “contextual advertising” (Andrejevic,1). In other words when we get “free Wi-F” we all are allowing google to get our personal information and use it as they need. Due to this exchange of services we are bombarded with advertising, and allow surveillance programs to have power on us.

Based on this documentary and discussions in class I believe Federal Government has power over everything and everyone in this society. Federal Government controls each movement we do and enforce services such as google or Facebook to retain information of their users. Which it is shocks me because there is no privacy since our personal information can be shared when it is necessary. NSA National Security Agency has access to all American communication such as: phone-calls, and everything is recorded. Ex President Obama says “Surveillance company is consider as a program from national security.”  From my point, the relationship between economic system and the system of government control is that both entities have a huge power and work together. Facebook, google and other platforms are spies in order to give information to the American government. The majority of police department track social media for criminal investigations. These different powers of control, spies activities, and surveillance programs affects people freedom of speech. For example, people who are afraid of government because it is monitoring their messages are more likely to create other accounts, and do not share everything they think about specific topics such as political and social issues. Although one of the purposes of surveillance programs is to prevent terrorist attacks, when those laws are created should be developed and applied with safeguards that do not eliminate our freedom of speech. Is there any way to prevent sharing our information? Well, I do not think so since the society we live in is controlled by technology. For example, the way we do business has changed and one of the biggest examples is the platform eBay. This platform allows people to buy and sell goods. “eBay is a ‘free market’ that allows individuals and small traders to compete effectively with larger companies” (Athique, 214). As a consumer this is a great opportunity to buy anything we want from our house, whenever we want it. But, let’s think deeply. When we use an app or a webpage to buy or do a research our personal information such as names, address, and credit card numbers is saved and shared with either the government or other third parties. I do not see a way we can have to avoid sharing information.

In other words privacy is dead.

I will leave you a reading which I found interesting about actions that the Government is taking about post on social media platforms. The reading is from The Intercept (source)  The U.S. Government Wants to Read Travelers’ Tweets Before Letting Them In

Questions:

1. Do you think people have lost their freedom speech due to surveillance activities? If so, how?
2. In the last couple of month immigration officers are more strict with tourists. An example of this is a friend of mine who came from Ecuador for vacations and was took his phone away to be searched. He mentioned that the officer started looking for keywords such as “work” in his conversation history in order to make sure he is not staying as undocumented. Have you heard another story like this where our privacy is violated.  What do you think about the last incidents related with post on social media?

Being a student in a Digital Communications class has raised so many questions my presence in the digital world. Before this semester, I didn’t think much of it – being on social media platforms is a standard past time for the average teenager. I’m not consciously thinking about my digital identity or which of the several different personas I have when I am scrolling through Facebook, Instagram, or Snapchat.

I was so naive then.

It is like I have awoken from a slumber, and my digital communications class has woken me up. I am more aware about the media, digital authorities, and my own digital identity. I am aware that when certain sites label their services as “free”, you’re actually paying with your personal information. It begs the question: Do I want to give my private information to corporations? For instance, Spotify uses every song you listen to, every repeat, shuffle, and skip, as a metric for information. This information is incredibly valuable in the music industry. It’s like currency to them. The same goes for Facebook, Youtube, and Google. I use each of these platforms on a daily basis for hours on end, and the personal information I pay in exchange for their “free” services are my age, location, interests, and preferences. It goes even deeper that: my political views, my sexuality, my relationships, and more. So do I really want to give this information to third parties? My answer is: of course. As long as they are doing me a service and increasing the quality of their platform for my benefit, I am happy to give out my information. It’s not like I have anything to hide. “The gathering of consumer data is the means by which the market is able to discern from the personal desires and the tastes of consumers and cater to them more efficiently” (217). Spotify creates increasingly intuitive playlists that I enjoy listening to, and it would not have happened unless they knew more about me.

Forget the public executions and Foucault’s panopticon prison. The strongly form of disciplinary power in our current generation is FOMO – the fear of missing out. As a capitalist nation, we live in a consumerist society. We are always thinking about joining the latest thing and being a part of the latest trend, and those who do not have “it” are simply not part of the community. If you do not have the latest Adidas Hyperboost shoes or the latest iPhone, you’ll be seen as an outcast of today’s culture. “The culture of ‘self-disclosure’ via social networking has proved to be a useful arena for gathering evidence. British police forces sift through Facebook content for evidence of criminal behavior” (224). We’ve given into a consumerist culture, and we’ve given these entities the permission to take a sneak peek on our personal lives. Knowing this, I believe that this will discourage the general populace from doing illegal activities to an extent. I am discouraged from putting in wrong information or even other people’s information because I know there is a chance that government entities might cross reference me. Illegal activities like illegal downloading or streaming are still at large because most of us do not see what’s wrong with it.

Questions:

How do you feel knowing that you are giving up your personal information to subscribe to these “free” platforms?

How can we take measures to ensure the safety and use of our personal information?

For this interview, I decided to interview my 23-year-old sister, Fiona Chen.

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What social media platforms and apps have you used now and in the past? 

Well, the very first social media platform out there was back in the early 2000s. I think it was called Xanga. It was the simplest form of social media – its a blog to write how you felt and post status updates, with a large picture of your favorite thing in the background to show off how cool you were. I also remember using AIM (AOL Instant Messenger) haha. Those were the good old days. Nowadays, people use Snapchat, Instagram, and Facebook. I’ve recently deactivated all of my accounts because i thought they were a little to time-consuming.

Do you use their real name(s)? Have you ever used aliases or created fake accounts? 

On Facebook my name was Fiona Blank. I did this because I didn’t want future employers and family members to know what I was up to. It’s weird, you know? So I just changed my last name.

What different personas do you construct in each of these platforms and how do you relate to aspects of your experiences in life?

I don’t think I created different personas, but I did have different groups of friends in different platforms. What I do on WhatsApp is very different from what I do on Snapchat. I use WhatsApp to keep in touch with our aunts and uncles, but I use SnapChat to send funny pictures to you and Cassidy (our sister). And then in college, I used LinkedIn to network with professionals and find internships. Each platform presented a different side, so in a way I did have different personas.

Do the digital personas you construct help them cope with the problems you face or does it create new problems? In what ways?

Social media has a highlight reel. You always put the best of the best, and it’s an unrealistic image of yourself. I’m aware of this, but a lot of people need the validation of being at the coolest spot or doing the coolest things. I have never faced this problem, but it could be troublesome to children/teens who are developing social skills.

I always love the opportunity to pick my sister’s brain. Her comments on this interview showed a side of social media platforms that I did not even know!  I never realized how detrimental social media could be, especially for developing teens. Anthique says it best in the textbook when it says, “Whilst this public narcissism is certainly redolent of the generic celebrity culture of the mainstream American media, the intimacy and informality associated with peer friendships also make Facebook performances highly distinctive in nature.” (104) Apparently, we have become programmed to have the attention drawn to you through several different social media platforms. It certainly does not help when you get bombarded with different forms of beauty images and other societal norms. And that got me thinking: To label myself as what Anthique describes as “narcisstic” is a stretch. I’ve never felt pressured to carry myself in different personas, but perhaps I have subconsciously created problems of my own by being on Facebook and Instagram everyday. Constantly being exposed to social media may cause problems to young adults who have low self-esteem. They may find it as a way to escape. As Turkle writes, “From my earliest effort to construct an online persona, it occurred to me that being a virtual man might be more comfortable than being a virtual woman.” I’ve never heard of a case as severe as this one, but like my sister mentioned, people do need to feel validated sometimes and social media does not help at all.

QUESTIONS:

1. Do you ever feel the need to be validated on your social media platforms? If so, to what extent?
2. Like my sister, would you consider removing yourself away from social media?