Week 15: My Online Presence

 

    As an individual who relies on social media for a career in the fashion industry, the way I present myself online is very important to me. I am a Fashion Merchandising major with a concentration in print journalism at High Point University, which involves a lot of visual and design aspects that I broadcast on social media. I am currently on social media platforms including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, Snapchat, and Pinterest but at a young age, around middle school, I had become a user of these platforms for a much different reason than I do now. My initial intention of downloading these apps at such a young age was simply to go along with what was trending in order to avoid being an outsider among my peers. Since then, coming to college and having set career goals in fashion, I have altered my use of these websites as a way to advertise my work as well as forming a network of people. Since then my Instagram account and my lifestyle blog, "Brunch and A Brunette" have gained a slight increase in followers. Here I am able to share my thoughts and ideas both in design and literature to inspire and grow the fashion industry. I rely heavily on Pinterest for visual stimulants to help broaden all different areas of fashion and design. This platform has great organizational tools in which I can create my own folders of pins that I like from a range of different topics of design. 

    Visitors to my blog and social media platforms could easily imply what my interests are based on my posts and tags. With my unique use of photography skills, hashtags, and my physical presence in posts, people can infer that I have a unique interest in the world of art and design. Along with these changes in social media presence, I have also had to think about how my growing conversion of followers can interfere with my privacy and personal information. This is a concept that I have had to strategize on how I can go about this in a safe and successful manner. On my lifestyle blog, I want my followers to have other resources where they can reach out to me and ask me questions and give me feedback as well as getting to see the behind the scenes of my work and my ultimate inspirations. By this, I am able to attach a corresponding g-mail and phone number that subscribers can use as well as a link to my public Pinterest and Instagram account. It is important to me that if I am going to broadcast this information that I regulate and monitor my content as well as my following. As I hope to expand my following on my blog and other platforms, it is hard to tell what new challenges I am going to face. Questions arise like will I have to limit my online presence? Will I need to put new privacy regulations in place for the safety of myself and others? What will companies that I hope to work for in the future think of my content? These are all subjects that are important to me in order to be successful in my career all while doing it safely and appropriately. 

EOTO PART 2: Online Influencers

 

    Online influencers have been a trending occupation within the past decade as technology and social media have advanced. Online influencers first started advertising for brands and giving user recommendations from platforms like Instagram and Facebook. Here influencers are able to create a following and sense of trust from their subscribers in assisting them in what products are best to purchase. Influencers are most commonly seen as advertising for clothing and beauty brands in return for a decent-paying salary from the company. As social media platforms grow and advance, we see a growing number of influencers from all demographics touching on a range of topics. Popular influencers today turn to YouTube as a way to market brands. Influencers are able to vlog (video-blogging) their experiences and product recommendations for subscribers to see and interact with. The new app TikTok which has grown a tremendous user percentage within the last 2 years, has become a popular platform for influencers as well. Here people are able to obtain sponsorships and marketing through a one-minute video and also has the capability in assisting individuals trying to expand small businesses. Users are able to like and interact with these videos and TikTok will start to filter your feed to similar topics and videos. This marketing strategy has increased user traffic into purchasing from certain brands.

    Although there are many positive aspects to the online influencer community, it can also be damaging to society. A lot of times when influencers are getting paid for sponsorships and advertising products, there becomes a rising conflict of credibility. There are individuals who take advantage of their following on social media and will give untruthful reviews of a product in hopes of continuing to have paid sponsorships with the brand in the future. This can result in unsatisfied customers leading to the damage of a company and influencers reputation. It is important when seeking out influencers for product recommendations that you can rely on them to advertise only for the products that they truly love. This creates a foundation of trust between influencer and user. 

EOTO: Whistleblowers

 

    A crucial part of understanding government and law is to have a knowledgeable understanding of what government whistleblowers are and their effect on society. A whistleblower is defined as a person who exposes information or activity within a private, public, or government organization that is deemed illegal, illicit, unsafe, or waste, fraud, or abuse of taxpayer funds. Although this type of verbal power can seem harmful to the government and society, it also assists in keeping the government honest, efficient, and accountable. 

    Whistleblowers are known to help in ensuring the health and safety of other citizens. In 2013, Jim Schier, a veteran, and USDA meat inspector reported clear humane handling violations involving market hogs at a Tysons Foods slaughter facility. This is a strong example of the positive impact whistleblowing can make on society. This type of whistleblowing is supported by the government in order to protect others from any harmful or unlawful activity. There is also a side of whistleblowing that is not protected by the Whistleblower Protection Act of 1989. In 2006, Mark Klein, a retired communications technician for AT&T, revealed extensive confidential details of the secret 2003 construction monitoring facility in San Francisco. This was thought to be operated by the NSA  as part of its warrantless surveillance program. The issue that mainly arises with whistleblowing is when the individual exposes information that could be untruthful or confidential that can be damaging to the companies reputation. The consequences for these actions are extensive but mainly result in being fired from the person's job or being demoted. Others may face lawsuits or even have to seek psychiatric or physical care based on the extremity of the action. How a person uses their first amendment rights of free speech is a choice between abusing the power or using it to help society. The same goes for whistleblowing, we make a choice to use it as a constructive asset to society or damaging. 

Week 11: Privacy, Online & Off

    Over the decades we are able to see a dramatic change in the advances in technology in society. It has made a big difference in society in how we communicate and respond to the outside world. However, the advances in surveillance within the past years start to become an issue of privacy for citizens. It is important that individuals understand that there are certain policies and regulations that need to be held in order to ensure the safety of others. Surveillance cameras are put in place in public places to ensure that any criminal actions can be easily tracked down and taken care of by authorities. Where people draw the line is when every personal detail about ourselves is recorded and analyzed without any individual consent. 

    One of the biggest privacy violations today that have people disturbed and uncomfortable, is internet surveillance. Internet users are being tracked for every click and search on the computer. The technology is then able to analyze this personal information about you and then give you relevant content based on your searches. This is commonly seen in online retail where individuals will search for a certain garment, and they will later find that same or similar garment on another platform like Instagram and Facebook. As creepy as this is, a lot of companies rely on this method to track what customers are looking for and to market products. With these issues of privacy amongst surveillance and other technologies, people question the ethical decisions placed in society. I believe that there is room for growth in adopting a system that will protect and assist citizens as well as ensuring privacy and confidentiality.  

Diffusion of Innovations: Tik Tok

    The new social media app, "TikTok", first launched in September of 2016 but didn't gain popularity until around the summer of 2019. TikTok first started out as a platform for artists to share content. On the TikTok home page also known as the "For You" page, people were able to see dances to songs and be able to react and recreate them. Since then, TikTok has grown into a much broader platform of content. Artists, comedians, doctors, and plenty of individuals in other fields of work are able to present their content to others. There is also a diverse demographic of users who come from all places over the world, different ages, and cultures. This app is also commonly compared to the app Vine from 2012 which is no longer running but held a similar concept. Like most social media platforms and apps, this was first adopted by teens and young adults. There is reason to believe that TikTok spread quickly as the app gave a feeling of nostalgia to people who used Vine. Although these two apps were similar, TikTok incorporated more freedom for creativity with each video as far as video length, editing tools, and more opportunities for interaction. 

    Over the past year, especially during the Coronavirus pandemic, older generations have been downloading and posting TikTok's as well. With the ability to share TikTok videos over text, email, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Snapchat this helped the spread of new TikTok users. Facebook's user demographics are mostly older generations which have helped traffic older users to download TikTok. Just like any other social media site, there are negatives and positives that come along with the app. People have categorized this app as being dangerous in the sense that users are inclined to sit on the app and scroll through videos for hours on end. It has also been told that the time duration of the videos has been decreasing the attention span in teens and young adults making it hard to focus in school and retaining extensive information. Although this puts a negative effect on society, a lot of people have reason to believe that the outcome of the app and its growing population of users, has helped save lives and make a difference around the world. Individuals with mental illnesses, disabilities, financial struggles, etc; are able to share their stories to promote education and awareness on these topics. This app has also opened a door for creativity and for users to express themselves the way they please.