Blog Post #9

 The Progressive Era

    

    To be "anti-war", it implies that you disagree or oppose of the any action, usually by the government on going forward with efforts that lead to war with another country. Anyone who is anti-war view war as unacceptable to society. All of these media posts on websites with strong anti-war voices are usually obscured from the mainstream media news because authorities or the government want to keep peace within the country. Although that can seem very "messed up" to people as it's concealing their right to their freedom of speech, some people would rather this as it lessens violence in the specific country. For example, there can be protests, sometimes violence included in those protests, and it's something that the government would prefer not to deal with. The idea of war also scares many people, because no one really wants to be involved with war with all the damages it causes, both politically and economically. This is why anti-war voices are cast away because the government does not want those voices to persuade more anti-war people. Along with the idea of scaring the public, this is important to touch on because this can cause serious panics or worries within people. 

    In addition, anti-war voices are also merely just opinions on news of war, most of the time the anti-war voices are not news, which is another reason why most of the websites on anti-war are not directly mainstreamed on news channels. Going along with the idea of opinions, the anti-war voices are human beings making these comments, which means anyone can make any comment they'd like on anything they'd like, whether they're right or wrong. Therefore, some anti-war voices can be spreading completely false information, which is something the government would prefer not to reach as much audiences.

   

Blog Post #10

 EOTO Presentation Reflections

Online Influencers vs. Social Media "Influencers"

    The one presentation on online influencers really sparked my interest as the world we live in right now have a ton of these "online influencers" and not many people know the difference between some influencers on social media. Online influencers are not just the typical social media "influencers" that we think of, although there are so many people who have built a reputation and use their platform to share and persuade their audience. Most of these influencers have been so successful with their platforms because they provide their audience with authentic content and information. Some of these online influencers include music artists like Selena Gomez and Ariana Grande. They have both gained a reputation from starring on tv shows and movies and have developed into music artists, but they are considered online influencers because they have a huge platform where they create content for their audience. On the other hand, social media "influencers" are people like Addison Rae, Zach King, and Charli D'Amelio, who have established a following on some type of social media platform, and create content based on whatever industry they're in. These influencers can persuade their followers and other people to buy a certain product due to their niche, along with their content and popularity. 

Pros of Being an Online Influencer

    Effective marketing reach is one of the most significant benefits of online influencers, especially for companies as they rely on influencers the most to help them with marketing their products or service. Since most people trust influencers who create authentic content, most people in the world, are more likely to buy something or do something from the influence of an individual online, than the actual company itself. Influencers can even do better with their content than actual company ads, which is very helpful for brands as it allows them to reach a wider range of audience. This is a huge benefit for companies as it can help them save time, effort, and a little bit of money as well since they don't have to pay a huge amount for billboards, advertisements, etc. 

Cons of Being an Online Influencer

    One of the disadvantages to being an online influencer is authenticity concerns. There are online influencers who create content on things that aren't necessarily related to the contents that they showcase on their platform. This raises concerns within the influencer's followers because they see it as they're only doing it for the paycheck. This becomes a huge issue as people want to see authentic content from the person they admire or follow. If the influencer is always posting advertisements on their page, then they could potentially lose a lot of followers over time as most people don't want to engage with people who are only posting for money. 

Affects of Online Influencers on Society

    With online influencers, everyone in the world is affected --- whether you're rich or poor, young or old, majority or minority, these influencers have an affect on everyone. Online influencers can range from teenagers to college students, young adults, and even elders. There is a wide range of online influencers in many ages who create authentic content on their own niche, which is why everyone is greatly affected by influencers everyday. 

Takeaway

 My biggest takeaway from the online influencers presentation is that it is very important to be very authentic with the content that you are putting out to your audience, especially for brands because building trust is one of the most important things when it comes to building a relationship with your audience. I learned that it is very easy for an individual or a brand to lose people from not producing real and authentic content and information. In the marketing and advertising world especially, being truthful with your audience will help build the relationships between the company and the media and this can very much affect how well a company does.

Blog Post #8

 EOTO Terms & Concepts

Background on Deepfakes

    Similar to AI, also known as Artificial Intelligence, deepfakes are created by generative AI. Deepfakes were invented in 2014 by Ian Goodfellow, but was first used in 2017 when an anonymous user posted something on Reddit regarding the use of deepfakes, specifically the use of AI in creating fake videos. Deepfakes are photos or videos that are designed digitally to change the appearance of one's face or body, usually for the use of spreading false information. The use of deep fakes can be both good and bad to people, but the affects of deepfakes usually tend to be more dangerous than it is beneficial. 

Advantages of DeepFakes 

 Though the disadvantages outweigh the advantages, deepfakes can be useful for some people. One of those benefits include using deepfakes to help brands with marketing campaigns. Such campaigns like a marketing or public relations campaign can take a good amount of time and effort to do and deepfakes can instantly help people and companies with creative images and videos within a couple minutes. Along with that, deepfakes can help brand with marketing campaigns because they cost less, which can help the brand save lots of money as companies are always spending so much money on campaigns. In addition to the benefits of deepfakes on marketing campaigns, deepfakes also help individuals with their professional photos. Some students or young adults don't have a professional photo, and having one is very important, especially when you're in the job market, applying to companies. It's important to have a professional photo and there was a trend on TikTok with the use of AI photos and deep fakes. People were using them to create their professional LinkedIn photos and other random photos. While some looked very fake, some were very accurate, which shows that deepfakes can have its benefits. 

Disadvantages of DeepFakes

 The idea of using deepfakes revolve heavily around the issue of privacy and safety. People use deepfakes all the time, especially in our world today, to steal other's identities, which can then also lead to them stealing the individuals' private information such as their home address, number, credit card information --- the list goes on. These people will also try and use deepfakes to hack into people's social media accounts, which can also lead to them stealing their information and posting fake information. 

    The use of deepfakes can affect companies and brands in a negative way as well because if a company was caught using fake photos or videos on their platforms, it can create distrust within the customers. One of the most important things to a company is building trust with your audience because this creates a good relationship between the brand and their customers. For a company, it's always important to be honest with your customers, so if they saw a photo or video, created from deepfakes, on the brand's page, it would make the media suspicious about the brand. This is very cost beneficial for the company and its people as it affects their company's reputation since they could lose a lot of their supporters, and therefore their revenue as well. 

Affects on Society

  Deepfakes can cause major issues in society, mainly regarding the issues of people's privacy and safety. According to Open Fox, there is an increase in the spread of deepfakes on social media with misinformation. Nowadays, people are always on social media, especially the younger generation, which is why the concern of privacy and safety comes in. Most people who use deepfakes tend to target younger kids because they feel as though they can get information easily from them. This raises security with people on social media as random people will use deepfakes for harmful purposes, such as spreading false information and pictures or videos online. This can really affect one's reputation, and bring harm to their personal informations that might be stored in their social media. Although the younger generation seems to be targeted more, the issue of people using deepfakes for harmful purposes can affect everyone as this can happen to anyone including parents, siblings, teachers, friends, and the list goes on.