EOTO #1: The History, Information, and Impact of Facebook

A Brief History:

Facebook was originally founded by Mark Zuckerberg in 2003, while he was a student at Harvard University. Originally, Facebook was created as a platform for Zuckerberg and his friends to rate the attractiveness of other students at the university. This rating as a form of  flirtation led to the creation of the "poke" function on Facebook.
Soon after its creation, Facebook grew quickly. It first spread to other students at Harvard, then other universities, and eventually all over. Zuckerberg was surprised by Facebook's success because he thought the frenzy would blow over and not last.  

When Facebook was first launched, it was originally called "TheFacebook" and only those with a university email address could access it. Its initial features included sending messages or invites, or posting photos. Additionally, students were able to give personal details, such as their relationship status, where they were from, or their education. They could also block, friend, or unfriend each other.

A few years later (in 2005), the platforms expanded to allow high school students to create accounts, and its named is changed to "Facebook," dropping its definite article. This was followed by Facebook allowing anyone to join as long as they were over 13 years old and had an email address. Facebook also updated, creating a "newsfeed" feature, which allowed users to see updates of their friends profile in immediately, as well as a "status update" for users to post their thoughts, and a blogging feature called "Notes." 

Through the next few year Facebook continued to update, creating more features. Some notable developments include the creation of Facebook Marketplace in 2007, the "Chat" feature in 2008, and the "Like" button in 2009. Another major step was Facebook buying Instagram in 2012. (All previous history information is according to this article by Brian Jenkins.)

In current times, Facebook is still an incredibly popular app. To demonstrate this, about 71% of the U.S. population has a Facebook account. Despite this, the U.S. and Canada combined make up only about 10% of Facebook users (this is because India has a huge population of users). There are also about 1.62 billion people that visit Facebook every day.  

Positive Impact

The positive impact of Facebook is that it is a quick and efficient way to share information. Through private messaging, tagging, and sharing, Facebook allows users to easily stay connected to each other. Another major benefit is that for those with a businesses, Facebook is a great way to build your brand and get customers. In fact, according to one site business promotion is one of the biggest benefits to users that Facebook provides. Users can also create Facebook groups where likeminded individuals connect with each other, share ideas, or ask questions (for instance, a parenting group or entrepreneurship group). 

Negative Impact

On the flip side, there are many negative impacts of Facebook. One major example is the addicting nature of the app. One source stated that some people will spend anywhere from 3-5 hours a day on Facebook. Along with the addicting nature, social media sites carry the potential to be platforms where cyberbullying takes place.  There is also concern about how social media sites like Facebook impact users mental health and body image. For example, one study found that women are more cynical of their appearance after spending time on Facebook. 

Another concern is privacy violations. In 2011, the Federal Trade Commission charged Facebook with not keeping the promises of privacy it made to its users. According to the Federal Trade Commission, Facebook deceived users by first telling them that information they put on Facebook private would be kept private, and then shared that information publicly and with third-party sources. This resulted in Facebook agreeing to an independent privacy evaluation bi-yearly for the next two decades. 

Another example of privacy violation happened in 2018. Facebook was held accountable by a Belgian court, who demanded that Facebook stop collecting private information on users, and threatened to fine Facebook 100 million euros if they did not comply. The Belgian court said that Facebook was collecting data through third-party sites and the use of cookies, and was even tracking individuals who we not Facebook users. The court said this excessive tracing violated privacy laws, because Facebook did not communicate with the public (or receive users permission) about what type of data it will collect, who it will share data with, or how they will store data. 

Although there are advantages to Facebook, there are also drawbacks. While the app provides a great opportunity for business owners to promote their service or product, using Facebook can cause negative mental health affects, and the app has had some concerning privacy violations. Ultimately, it is up to each individual to decide if the benefits that Facebook provides outweigh the risks. 

Speech Theories: Values of Free Expression

Arguably the most important Amendment to our Constitution os the first amendment, and specifically its  protection over freedom of speech. However, there are various reasons why freedom of speech is so important, the benefit it provides, and the environment that freedom of speech creates. These reasons are categorized in to eight "speech theories," which are values of free expression that help describe why freedom of speech is so vital to American's freedom. In my opinion, the most important of these speech theories is the Marketplace of Ideas.

The marketplace of ideas is based off a metaphor to a physical, commercial marketplace. As in a commercial marketplace where the best products and companies compete with one another for customers, in the marketplace of ideas, ideas compete with one another, with the best idea, (or the truth) winning. In other words, the marketplace of ideas uses competition between ideas to discover the truth. 

The existence of a marketplace of ideas is incredibly important in a free society because it allows people to share ideas which then leads to it better solutions to problems getting discovered. it is also vital to the existence of a democracy, where everyone is able to have their voice heard. According to this source, each individual in the society gets to evaluate the ideas to a problem put forward, and decide which solution they think is best. This means that in order for the marketplace of ideas to function properly, many different ideas need to be presented. As a result there must not be any censorship allowed, and protecting freedom of speech is incredibly important.

This idea of allowing a marketplace of ideas relates heavily to current events because of the amount of censorship that is happening today. Specifically, in the discussion surrounding our government's response to the covid pandemic and their support of covid-19 vaccines, the idea of a marketplace of ideas has largely been shut down. 

For instance, in 2021, Twitter censored Harvard Professor Martin Kulldorff, who was one of the most cited infectious disease expert in the world, according to this article. Twitters censorship was a response to Kulldorff posting that he does not believe everyone should be vaccinated. Regardless of anyones individual opinion about the covid-19 vaccine, it is important to remember that at the very least, Kulldorff is a well-known and highly respected epidemiologists, who even serves on the covid-19 vaccine safety technical subgroup that the CDC, NIH, and FDA rely on for expertise.  

Another current times example of a doctor being censored is Dr. Ryan Cole, who is a pathologist. In 2021 had stated that he thought the United States government took the acted inappropriately during the height of the covid pandemic. Dr. Cole also voiced concerns and suggestions about other, possibly better ways to treat patients with covid, and questioned the use of masks as an effective tool against the virus. As a result of his questions, he was issued a statement of charges from the Washington Medical Commission.  

These are both examples of the marketplace of ideas not being allows to take place. Regardless of your or my opinions on these matters, professions in the field should be able to voice their opinions. If these doctors would have been allows to voice their opinions, perhaps a better solution to treating or preventing the covid-19 virus. Of course I can't say this for certain, but the point of the marketplace of ideas is to let the truth win out, and you cannot know what the truth (or the best idea) is if any opinion that breaks from the norm is censored. 

History and Workings of the Supreme Court

    Something I learned was that the Supreme Court will generally announce the decision on current cases at the end of the term in late July. Originally, I did not realize that there was a set date for when the justices release their decisions. Instead, I thought that opinions by the Supreme Court were released at various times throughout the year as they saw each case. I also learned that justices meet every week to vote on which cases to accept, and that they have law clerks to help them go through the many cases they receive.

 

    The most important take-away for me was the amount of power that the Supreme Court justices hold. Their rulings set the standard for what things are and are not protected under the constitution, and directly affects how lower courts will rule in future cases. Because of their influence and power, their decisions have the ability to make history by setting a new precedent, which makes them an incredibly important branch of our government. 

 

     The most surprising thing I learned was that opinion writing (which takes place after a decision has been made about a case) is the most time-consuming duty that Supreme Court justices have. The documentary stated that revisions and adjustments to the written opinion on a case takes a very long time, often going on for months. I found this surprising because I originally thought that the most time-consuming part of a justices job would be reading all the cases that come in each week. I also found it surprising to learn that the Supreme Court's written opinion can range from a few pages long (when the decision is unanimous) to 80 pages or more, (when the justices are divided). This is because the justice writing the opinion must accommodate the varying views of the other justices in the Supreme Court. 

    The video changed by view by further making me realize how much power and influence we give to nine individual people. From the cases they chose to take, to the decisions and ruling they make, the Supreme Court justices have the power to shape our nation through their interpretation of our constitution. This video made me realize that the justices truly have a very fundamental and powerful role in our government.

Privacy Online and Off

There are several ways that privacy violations affect me and my family or friends. One example is that they put me at risk for being incorrectly labeled. In violations of privacy, the government will often overstep, tracking all types of information about an individual. One potential consequence of this we discussed in class is that it can cause an individual to be incorrectly labeled as dangerous. For instance, in some cases, people can end up on no-fly lists for airlines because they have been unjustly labeled through government tracking as being a dangerous individual. Although this has never happened to me directly, privacy violations affect me and my family because they put us at potential risk for these situations. 

Privacy violations also affect me and my family though threatening our civil liberties. In the United States, we have a Constitutional right to privacy, and excessively tracking an individuals data leaves our Constitutional protections threatened. For instance, one of the videos talked about police officers scanning license plates and keeping information about where people are driving, when, and with who. This overstep of surveillance affects everyone, as we have a right to keep our personal lives private. 

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To combat the dangers of privacy violations, the government should create stricter laws limiting the extent to which companies can track and sell an individual's data or personal information. There should also be strong regulations surrounding government surveillance. For instance, laws should be created to outlaw the government from listening to phone calls of noncriminal citizens. Regulations should also be placed to stop police officers from storing unnecessary information about noncriminal drivers and where or with who they are traveling. Rules such as these should be implemented because it is important to protect the citizens of the United States, both from things such as identity theft, and also to protect our Constitutional right to privacy.

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There are many steps we can take to protect ourselves from an invasion of privacy. For instance, as a society we can lobby for stricter laws regulating how much of our personal information private companies are able to track or sell. As many invasions of privacy come from the government tracking lawful citizens, we can also push for stricter rules controlling how much of our personal lives and information the government is allowed to track or store. When on the internet, we can use a virtual private network (VPN) to help protect our privacy and insure our information is not accessed by third-party sources. Along with this, we can use good passwords to help protect from an invasion of privacy. Another action we can take is clearing our computer's cache, which will help decrease the ability of sites to continue to track our data. 

My Five Top Sources of News and Information

Generally, I am not someone who consumes a lot of news through news channels on mainstream media. It is only when I hear about something in the news that catches my interest will I go and google more details. Instead, I have realized that the majority of the news I get either come from family, social media, or updates from specific organizations and people that I follow online. 

 Jeff Childers Coffee and Covid

One of the sources I get my news from is Jeff Childers Coffee and Covid. This is news delivered in the form of a blog written by a lawyer. Through an email subscription, Mr. Childers sends out daily content about current news, often things relating to the covid pandemic or other related events. He self-describes his content as giving a "Daily News Summary with Sarcastically Optimistic Content." See how to subscribe to his content here. The reason I subscribe to his blog (and why I think others should too) is because he updates his followers about information not commonly talked about in mainstream media. As a result, through his content I am able to gain a more complete picture of news events because I get informed of details that mainstream media often does not discuss.  

The HighWire with Del Bigtree

Another main source I go to for news is The HighWire, which is a news source funded by Informed Consent Action Network (ICAN). You can view their news page here. Every Thursday Del Bigtree, the host of The HighWire, releases a new episode talking about current events and issues going on in the world. His content is often centered around the covid pandemic, government policies, or other noteworthy events happening in the world, and related issues or debates surrounding these topics. I would suggest his show to others because he gives a lot of great information that is often censored by typical mainstream media sources. I would also recommend this as a news source because the show makes a point to stay as factually based as possible. Del Bigtree will commonly use scientific studies to back up his points, and on his show he will often interview doctors or lawyers to hear their professional opinions on various matters. 

Family 

Family is one of the biggest ways I receive news updates and information. Usually, family is one of the ways that I first hear about a current event. Although I do not come from a family who constantly has the news channel up on the TV, we do stay updated though sources like social media or online articles. I like having family as a news source because I find that it is the best way to get passive information. In other words, I don't have to go online or watch anything. Instead, I am informed of events through conversation. I also enjoy this way of getting information  because the news naturally gets filtered so that it becomes less overwhelming. The other reason I like receiving updates from family us because they know my likes and interests. This means they can individualize the news and update me on world events they know I care about. 

  

Social Media - TikTok 

My fourth source of information is social media. I get a lot of news updates from viewing what others post online. Specifically, TikTok is one of the main social media platforms that I view content on. The app has a wide variety of creators, many of who will post videos about current stories and events. News also spreads fast on TikTok, which is another benefit of its use, as I can easily stay updated. The unique thing about social media, (and the reason I would recommend it to others) is that it allows me to personally see what the general public thinks about one event or another. Although social media is not always reliable, as it is easy to spread rumors, the benefit is that I get to stay quickly updated and understand people's feelings on different current events. 

Mainstream Media 

The last news source is videos or articles put out by mainstream media sources. Usually, when I hear about a topic or news story that catches my eye, I will go and google details about the event. In general, I try to either use news sources that are more "middle-ground," or I will look at news reports from both Democratic and Republican sources. Much of media in todays world is biased, and it can be hard to find the exact story of what really happened. I find that going to as many sources as possible, and looking at those with different political leaning gives me a more accurate story. Two examples of sources I commonly view are The Washington Post or the New York Times.