MY Media

 By Chloe Brussard

For Law and Literacy this semester, almost all of our assignments were to read and reflect on a blog topic, usually about what we discussed in class that day. At first I thought it was kind of pointless, to be writing a blog about government policies and politics that no one but the class is going to read. 

But, with each blog post, I found myself getting more and more passionate about what I was writing about. I didn't care anymore that my blog was reaching only people who had the link. Having this blog became an outlet for me to voice my opinions. 

It was beginning the blog posts that always gave me trouble. I wanted to create a grabbing introduction that would make my audience want to keep reading, and gradually it became easier and easier to write those hooks. I have loved having this blog, and talking about subjects that truly matter. It's why I wanted to become a journalist in the first place.

What I also liked about keeping a blog was the fact that it always had me thinking. Sometimes I would read a prompt and have no idea what to write about. I would stare at my computer and just have zero clue where I wanted to go with it. So, I would close my computer and finish it another time. Doing this drove me crazy, just pretty much giving up on a post, so I would always be thinking about it. It would be the most random times where I would think of exactly what I want to say, like during lunch or in the middle of the night. And even at those random times I would open my computer and just write.

Some advice I would give to future students who are trying to keep a blog would be to not see the prompts as assignments.We get plenty of time to work on them throughout the semester. But don't forget about them. If you're going to take some time off from a blog, just remember to always keep it in mind, because it gives you time to really think about it, and to create the best possible responses you can.

I loved keeping a blog, because I felt like it gave me a voice. That's one of the great things about technology, is that it can give people who feel silenced a voice. For me, I never felt I was silenced, but I felt that the topics that I am so passionate about now were just so far away from me. I almost felt shielded, and having this blog forced me to open my eyes and see and hear and learn about those topics. 

Final Thoughts

 By Chloe Brussard

    Taking time to reflect on my time in Media Law and Literacy, I can confidently say that I came out of that class with a newfound understanding of the role that technology plays in not only my life, but in the lives of those around me. Technology isn't just something that you can give up for Lent. It's something that if taken away, would make lives extremely difficult. How would I be able to communicate with my parents all the way back in Massachusetts? My grandparents in Maine? Even my sister who lives up in Centennial II? 

    The convenience that my phone offers me is irreplaceable. Being able to check my emails right away has saved me countless minutes, and the same goes for Blackboard. I don't need to open my computer to check on my grades, I can just look on my phone. But this doesn't mean that my phone is becoming a replacement for my computer. I can't go to class and take notes on my phone. Being able to type up my notes in class is a time saver and allows me to focus on what the teacher is saying rather than trying to remember what they are saying while I handwrite my notes. 

    Do I understand my dependence on technology? Absolutely. I am well aware that I spend more time on my phone than some people, and the same goes for my computer. In any situation in which I am in that even contains the slightest bit of awkwardness, like standing in line at Starbucks, I take my phone out and scroll through Instagram or check up on my Snapchat. That way, it looks like I am doing something instead of just standing there. 

    But what's wrong with just standing there? In reality, nothing. But for me, and probably so many others, doing nothing feels wrong. I always feel the need to be doing something, because doing nothing means I'm being lazy, and I can't allow myself to be lazy. It's a vicious cycle that I have yet to break, and wonder if I will ever do so. 

    That's not the only problem, though. Social anxiety is a huge factor in how I present myself in public. If I'm with friends, I have no problem leaving my phone off and conversing with them, but if they leave and I am left alone, I get the feeling that I need to do something. If I just stand there, and tell myself not to reach for my phone, I have noticed that the anxiety that would be released if I had my phone presents itself in other ways. I start tapping my foot, playing with my hair, or fidgeting with my jewelry (rings, necklace, earrings). 

    If I had the choice to give up technology, even with all this knowledge I have about what it has done to my life, I am completely positive I would not give it up. Technology has become too important to me. It has helped my social life and my academic life. It helps me stay close to people who I am not physically close to. Like I said before, my phone is not something I would be able to give up for Lent. This isn't a situation like giving up a Nintendo DS. It would be like giving up a crutch. A crutch that I would love to get rid of but cannot. 

    Sometimes I think back to the days where I didn't have a phone or a computer. Where I would be playing outside with my sisters, whether it be sunshine or snowing. We didn't need technology to entertain ourselves because we were fully capable of finding things to do without it. Now it seems impossible to think of something to do that we don't need our phones for. Maybe one day I will come to the realization that I don't need to rely on my technological devices during my everyday life. But, unfortunately, that day will not be today.

Be Aware of False Flags

 By Chloe Brussard

    Imagine you were a dog, and your owner looked at you and promised that they would take you to the dog park. You get all happy and excited, and jump in the car. Everything is going extremely well, until the car stops and you get out. You're not at the dog park, but quite the opposite. You're at the vet. When you walk in, your owner is saying how sorry they are, and that the vet told them that you had to seem them. You were completely duped. One thing was expected, but another came. Now, imagine this on a much grander scale. A global scale. A military scale. That's what a false flag is. Committing an act with the intent of disguising the actual source of responsibility and pinning it on a second party. 

    False flags are popular among conspiracy theorists because they offer an easier explanation than what the truth may be. Some popular conspiracy theories include the Orlando nightclub shooting, the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, and even 9/11. Conspiracy theorists think that these were staged, and a way for the government to expand their surveillance on the American people. And the people who were involved in those acts were 'crisis actors', who act as bystanders to these events to make it seem more real. 

    The concept of a false flag could be interpreted as both positive and negative. Positive in the sense that the people are being protected from knowing top secret government information, but also negative because the government is essentially lying to the people. If the government had a superpower, it would be their lack of willingness to share things with the public. Conspiracy theories are some peoples main motivation. They believe that everything that has been done up to this point has been a plot created by the government to cover up actions that are very morally questionable. 

    Another easily understandable example of a false flag would include the JFK assassination. Here is what the public knows. President John F. Kennedy was riding in a motorcade in Dallas Texas when he was shot by former U.S. Marine, Lee Harvey Oswald. The car then sped to Parkland Memorial Hospital where Kennedy was then pronounced dead 30 minutes later. 

    Oswald was arrested by police a little over an hour after the shooting. Two days after the initial arrest, when he was being transferred from the city jail to the country jail, Oswald was fatally shot by nightclub owner Jack Ruby on live television. Here is where it gets interesting. It could be thought that Ruby shot Oswald as an overwhelming sense of patriotism, but conspiracy theorists believe that Oswald was shot so he couldn't expose the government for hiring him to kill the president. 

    It was also discovered that the HSCA (House Select Committee on Assassinations) found serious flaws in the original federal investigation into this act. There was also an audio recording that was found that offered a theory of there being a second gunman. But, it was determined that a sound found on the audio was from a different location in Dallas.

    The examples that I've outlined are just a few of the many false flag conspiracies. The government must have their reasons for essentially lying to the people, most obvious is for their protection and continuous cooperation. But there is always a possibility that their lies can put the American people in danger. The whole concept of a false flag is for there to be a cover for an operation so we never find out what really happened, but if truths were to come out, would the government have the power to cover them all up, or would it finally be time for them to give the people some answers?

Diffusion of Ideas: Snapchat Edition

 By Chloe Brussard

    Imagine. It's summer of 2011 and a new social media app was just released. The application is yellow with a small white ghost on it, and this app allows you to send photos to your friends. You can take a picture of the sun or of your face or anything you want, really, and share that moment with someone else, but only for a maximum of 10 seconds. After that, the photo disappears, never to be seen again. The popularity that this app has gained is tremendous, and nowadays, almost everyone has Snapchat on the home page of their phone.

    The app caught on by word of mouth, quite literally. Once one person got it, they urged their friends to get it too, so they can connect on this new messaging app. For me, the reason that I got Snapchat was because it was so new, when I was entering middle school. All my friends had it, and I would feel left out if I didn't have it. So, I begged my parents to let me get one, and eventually they did. And I have had it ever since. 

    But, just as there are upsides to social media, there are also downfalls. This app is extremely addicting, and people tend to use it all the time. Too much social media can be distracting, and take time away from academic studies or work. Even though you get to share things with your friends, now it just seem like people have it just for the sake of having it. 

    Over the years, Snapchat has updated itself to stay with the times, by adding stories, filters, and a media outlet on their app. But, maybe the most business smart move on their part was creating Snapchat Streaks. This is a feature that shows you how many days in a row that you and another person have been Snapchatting each other. Since I have had this app for over 5 years, some of the "Streaks" that I have with some friends are well over 1,000 days. 

    That's the reason that I haven't deleted that app yet. I feel an obligation to keep that streak going, because we worked on it for so long. It is practically meaningless, but since the number of days that me and some of my friends have is so large, we feel like it would be a waste to cut it off now. Sometimes I think to myself why so I still have this app, but it always comes back to the Streaks.

        Another interesting aspect of the app is the filters. You can have your camera screen your face and then you can change your appearance, to have dog ears, big eyes, or a flower crown etc. This app was created to send photos to friends, and now it is currently using it's camera privileges to screen their users faces. Whether or not they store the data they have is something I do not know, but if they wanted to they could have the faces of hundreds of thousands of people. 

    Even though I am well aware of the fact that I have probably an unhealthy dependence on my social medias, I am working to try and get better at limiting my screen time. The social media apps that I use are directly designed to keep their users on their app, and I can attest to the fact that it is working quite well. Maybe someday I will work up the nerve to delete some of my social media apps, but, unfortunately, that day isn't somewhere in the near future. 

Learn It, Teach It, Write It - The Radio

 By Chloe Brussard

    Walking to class everyday, I always make sure that my headphones are all charged so I can listen to music while I walk. For some reason, I don't like when I have to walk without my music. How would you feel if someone took away your music? Took away the convenience of listening to music whenever you want? That would be a reality if not for the invention of the radio. 

    We can thank Guglielmo Marconi for bringing electromagnetic waves into the world. He was awarded the first wireless telegraphy patent in 1896, and then in 1901. he founded his own commercial wireless company and broadcasted the first transatlantic signal (morse code). 

    It is so crazy to think that the radio began with morse code and is now so widely used. By 1998, over 95% of Americans report listening to the radio at least once a week. The radio was the first wireless mode of communication. Nowadays, we have wireless communication with us at all time like our phones and our computers. Even our cars can provide us with wireless communication, like hands free mode, where you can still talk to someone but without holding onto a phone. And along with hands free, we also have our radios.

    Driving into Boston for work, my dad would always listen to the same radio station: 98.5 The Sport Hub. He would catch up on sports games and the lives of athletes. Imagine if he couldn't do that. If he missed a game, he wouldn't have the chance to catch up on it the next day. The convenience that the radio gives people is so underrated. Driving in silence doesn't sound as fun as driving while listening to the radio, or Spotify or Pandora. 

    Once the radio became the new big thing, broadcasting companies were desperate to get onto it. Current broadcasting networks like NBC, BBC and CBS have been around since the 1920's and are still running today. Some of the networks, though, began to broadcast entertainment media, instead of just news, which made their channels much more popular. Before the 1920's, the radio was mostly used to contact ships at sea. They would communicate through morse code to neighboring ships during WW1. It wasn't until after the war ended when the radio gained popularity, eventually creating the Top 40 (which is similar to current day Top 100 Billboard Hits). 

    But, as a new invention comes to the U.S., the old must go. As the radio business grew, the record player business began to diminish. Buying a radio and getting the channels that came along with it was much cheaper than going out and buying record players for music. The record business didn't recover until around 40 years later, with the help of Millennial and Generation Z. Now, going record shopping has become an experience that people enjoy. With our desire to bring back old trends like mom jeans, scrunchies, high waisted jeans, and monochromatic outfits, the past is slowly becoming the present. 

    Spotify, Pandora, Amazon Music, SoundCloud, and Apple Music are all examples of radios that would not exist had the radio never been invented. Every day I would walk to class in while listening to the noises around me instead of listening to ABBA or Taylor Swift. And personally, I would much rather listen to ABBA than the roar of engines.  

    I feel like we kind of take for granted technology today. We have easy access to phones, the internet, the radio, and so much more. If all those things just up and left, the world would go into a frenzy. Communication between people would be limited and difficult. So next time you're driving in your car and listening to the radio, think about how it would feel to not have that. Begin to appreciate those pieces of technology that help make our days easier, because we never know if they'll just up and disappear.