ASU promotes innovation through maintaining social embeddedness

It is really inspiring to see how our society has used this social distancing time, to draw closer as a community, through support and activism. Although, face to face meetings have been cancelled globally, that doesn't stop Arizona State University from holding a Social Embeddedness Network Conference hosted virtually on zoom, where members of the university could meet online and discuss ways "To build connections and share strategies for advancing ASU as a socially embedded institute" (Garrison).

With this conference, ASU was working to make everyone's voice heard and any ideas they had to help further the school in a beneficial way and make life more enjoyable for the staff and students was taken under consideration. The way Arizona State University is handling the crisis is inspiring and empowering not just to the students and staff at ASU but also to others who want to make the best out of their circumstances.

All over the world people have been spreading love and positivity and many celebrities are speaking up about social distancing. People have become more creative with sharing information and keeping in contact with peers, teachers, friends, and family. Because people are banding together and giving support, more and more people are finding innovative ways to help out their community. From med-students buying masks for the hospitals to celebrities donating millions of dollars to organizations and essential businesses in the midst of this crisis.

A professor at ASU said "As we meet today, we must remember that this is a moment of crisis and hardship and it is also a moment of possibility and transformation. When everyone feels like their voice is heard, they feel more accepted by society and willing to help it. It has been really inspiring to see how much creativity and innovation has come out of free expression.

https://asunow.asu.edu/20200325-solutions-time-social-distancing-asu-continues-promote-social-embeddedness-virtually

International women's day

With this year's International Women's day being very anticipated and globally celebrated, a number of famous brands decided to make designs and product labels that showed their support for females in this day and age. Not only has Apple and Reebok supported the holiday but Kind bars, Betty Crocker, and Absolut, a Swedish alcohol company, has done its part to promote equality.

In this new day and age in a post-modernism society, equality for all is one of the main focuses and many protests and marches take place every year to fight for more rights for women. There has also been a protest for women to receive equal pay to men and the same opportunities in the workplace. Since long before the 1920s women have been protesting for the right to vote, to work, to be equal to men and when the 19th amendment passed, it was a big stepping stone for more rallies and debates that women and men have participated in to fight against gender inequality.

These brands are doing their part to promote and spread the message that women are and should be treated as equals to men. Apple said that our society was teaching girls the wrong message "to have ambition, but not too much" (Handley). We have to stand against the ways society encourages women to conform to a certain model and encourage women to chase after their goals and see what they can achieve.

Reebok launched a shoe designed by women that has the phrase "its a man's world" in black and a red line crossing it out. These brands wanted to create these products and ads to show that women have an influence on society and their impact is incredible. Some of the world's discoveries and inventions were made by women and the world is starting to recognize the importance of equality.

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/08/what-brands-are-doing-for-international-womens-day-2020.html

Tik-Tok Turmoil

With a lot of social media platforms and people having the freedom to post whatever they like, inaccurate or fake news can be spread rapidly and cause chaos within our society. Recently, a student at University of Miami attempted to spread a rumor that his fictional roommate, an exchange student from china, had been infected with Coronavirus through a series of TikToks.

According to the school, the administration office at University of Miami, "Sent out a health advisory email denying any confirmed cases or immediate threat to the university" (Bruk).  The student recognized that his prank was insensitive and inappropriate considering the seriousness of the situation. He promptly removed both videos.

The problem with TikTok is that it is such a fast growing social media platform that people use as a way of making funny videos and sharing information. People who hear and receive information their learn from TikTok accept the information as if it were a fact and the fake or inaccurate information is quickly spread to others. "The combination of trends and reliance on these platforms makes it easier for fake news to spread quickly and dangerously" (Bruk).

Social media platforms are facing a legal and ethical conflicts in which they want to tighten the reins while also keeping a user's first amendment right in tact. "In the United States, under section 230 of the Communication Decency Act, the law protects hosts from content published on their platform, while the constitution protects individuals' freedom of speech under the first amendment" (Bruk).
There is a lot of controversy and disagreements that argue why social media platforms have so much influence and how these platforms make sure users get the accurate information.

https://www.themiamihurricane.com/2020/02/01/um-student-uses-tiktok-to-spread-fake-news-about-coronavirus-on-campus/

Youtube

Youtube started out because the founder was looking for Janet Jackson's wardrobe fail at the Super bowl online and couldn't find it anywhere. The founders, Jawed Karim, Steve Chen, and Chad Hurley, created the platform as a way of sharing videos online. "Google’s decision to share the revenues generated through advertising with its content providers opened up new streams of high quality, original content, which helped it retain its audience" (Phrasee).  This is what allowed the video streaming platform to become so global and popular. 

What is amazing and one of the biggest impacts that Youtube has had is creating jobs for people. Not only has the creation of Youtube created jobs for people at its company but it has also created a new line of work for people who post their own videos on the platform. Being a Youtuber has become a very well known and well paid career for people who vlog their lives and post videos of it online. Jess and Gabrial, The Labrant Fam, David Dobrik, and Emma Chamberlain are just a few channels that make between 600,000- 2,000,000 dollars a year. 

Youtube has changed the way we view videos and makes it fast and easy to find videos and watch them from your location. The site has created a lot of jobs for people who produce their own videos and youtube has also started creating its own original content.  This platform grows ever day and more and more videos are shared online for viewers to watch. 

https://phrasee.co/the-history-of-youtube/

The Netflix Effect

Over 2 decades of Netflix. Netflix is 22 years old and has had a huge impact on society since it been around. Netflix was originally a company that mailed people DVDs for movie and tv content they desired. Netflix was Blockbuster's number one competitor, until the company moved their content online and allowed subscribers to stream the movies and tv shows right from their home.  This has created a lasting impact on several media platforms and has changed the way we stream content. 

Netflix has created its own category of an industry and many have followed in the direction it's headed. In the last 15 years, 6-7 major streaming services have been created and are competing with Netflix, the company that started the trend. Netflix was originally just a platform that held movies and tv shows created by other networks and production companies but now Netflix (and other streaming services) have started to create their own original content. 

All of these streaming services are competing to be the best service, and although they are catching up, Netflix still has the most subscribers and arguably the most variety of their content. Not only does Netflix have to compete with all the other streaming services being created, according to an article by Forbes, it also has to compete with cable television (Morgan). The streaming service would originally attract subscribers by advertising old shows and movies that are no longer shown on live tv. 

Something that people had been trying to do that Netflix managed to master was personalized and recommended content. Many wanted to predict what people were going to watch and with an advance algorithm, Netflix was able to do that. According to the Forbes article "80% of watched content comes from recommendations" (Morgan). 

Netflix has made a huge impact on how we view our tv shows and movies and a new term. "binge-watching" was created as people could watch a whole show all in one sitting. Chad Michael Murray, an actor on One Tree Hill (A show that used to be on Netflix) said that his show being put on Netflix after years of it being off the air, allowed for the show to be reborn into the next generation on consumers. Netflix has changed the way we watch and view content. New jobs have been created and new ways of viewing have formed as a result of this streaming service. 

https://www.forbes.com/sites/blakemorgan/2019/02/19/what-is-the-netflix-effect/#2aa6fdbe5640   

Facebook Scandals

If you have Facebook, the once popular social networking site, you might be in danger of having your personal data shared shared with and sold to other companies. Eight states have taken it upon themselves to launch an antitrust investigation on Facebook and find out where their users' information goes. In an article by CNN Business it states that, "The investigation is expected to focus on Facebook's impact on advertising prices, data and consumer privacy and the company's previous acquisitions, including Instagram and WhatsApp" (Fung).

Facebook has not been honest with consumers and has been using their private information without them knowing. Due to this investigation, a lot of celebrities have decided to delete their accounts. the list includes Stephen King, Mark Hamill, Will Ferrell, Cher, and Elon Musk. These celebrities did not like their private information and personal data being broadcasted to companies for information on what advertisements to show them.

Im an article by Forbes, Stephen King talks about his recent departure to Facebook at a time "When the social network is being attacked from all corners for its inability to protect user data after multiple scandals and data breaches" (O'Flaherty). There are numerous investigations of a lot of different social networking platforms also being accused of violating privacy laws of their users.

In my opinion, hacking and selling user's personal information is a violation of someone's privacy and there should be government involvement in monitoring these companies if they can't respect that. A lot of social media sites have lost people's trust after all these scandals and these platforms might start losing users for this reason.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/kateoflahertyuk/2020/02/03/horror-writer-stephen-king-has-quit-facebook-heres-why-you-should-too/#318126f06a0f
https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/06/tech/facebook-antitrust-investigation/index.html 

Supreme Court takes on Christian Schools Case

There has always been division between people and diverse groups that think differently in our society. Separation of church and state is one example of growing aggravation between groups in government. There has been a growing battle within the supreme court about whether religion should be considered in government decisions. After much protest against this, the supreme court ruled to separate church and state.

However as it says in the article Supreme Court Takes Up Church-State Separation in Christian School Case by NBC, "The Supreme Court has never drawn a bright line between acceptable and prohibited public aid for religious programs" (Pete Williams). This is stating that although it is agreed upon for the government to remain secular, there is no clear line of what the Supreme Court should do when handling cases on religion.

The article talks about a case taken up by the supreme court on a scholarship offered to parents to send their children to private schools. However, the scholarship was only offered to parents who didn't send their children to religious private schools as the scholarship program didn't want to endorse religious education. One mother stated that "They should be treating families that want to go to religious schools the same as families that want to go to nonreligious schools. Not doing so, Smith said, violates the First Amendment's protection of free exercise of religion." The supreme court later ruled the scholarship program unconstitutional and banned it for religious and secular schools.

In my opinion, the scholarship program had no right to ban certain schools from receiving the scholarship as they do not have the right to tell low income households what schools to send their children to. The government should be neutral in this situation and not let their preferences on religion get in the way of their decisions. There have been several other cases like this that put into question if a person's freedom to exercise religion is being prohibited and it is not acceptable. The Supreme court need to make a definite decision on whether the government can help and support religious programs.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/supreme-court/supreme-court-takes-church-state-separation-christian-schools-case-n1117006