OTM: Facebook Throws Out the Rule Book

Facebook is no longer "human". This world-wide social media is run by machines. The machines took humans out of the picture by creating algorithms. While there are still humans involved in the background, the algorithms were created to fill our timelines with things that they think we would like to see. The editors behind these algorithms are mostly college graduates from the Cupertino, CA area.

This week on On The Media, I listened to the segment called "Facebook Throws Out the Rule Book". It was interesting for me to listen to because of the impact that Facebook has on my everyday life. They covered the issue of the decision that Facebook made to delete the post by Norwegian writer, Tom Egeland. He posted a series of photos that he thought changed the history of warfare. The reason for deleting it, is because it included a picture of a 9 year old little girl, Kim Phuc, running down the war struck streets of Vietnam. The only issue with the picture is that Phuc is seen running naked. Facebook's "robots" flagged this as nudity and immediately removed the post even though it is an important photograph in our world's history.

Facebook users immediately began attacking Mark Zuckerberg for the removal of the post. Users are claiming that he is abusing his power and trying to filter what is seen on this social media platform. After searching Facebook, many posts appeared regarding the issue.

After the article was removed, Norway's largest newspaper released an article regarding Facebook's censorship and it also included the photo of the "Naplam Girl". Soon after it was posted, Facebook removed this article as well.

"Naplam Girl"

In the show, they talked about how Facebook has changed human behavior and media consumptionon a grand scale. None of this information would have been so readily available before Facebook. Our world has become completely dependent on Facebook, and it leaves many people wondering why they can't do better. But in all reality, we will never be able to get all Facebook users to agree. Our world and culture has become so mentally addicted to this platform, that we would not be able to function without it. 

As a millennial, I use Facebook every single day. It is something that my generation revolves around. It has become part of my culture. Facebook has made it so that everyday tasks, like wishing a friend a happy birthday, all the way to trying to find a place to live can all be done in one place. Chances are, without Facebook, I wouldn't even see war images like this. It has almost become socially unacceptable to not have a Facebook. Incidents like this come and go, but Facebook will never lose. They have created something that the human race now depends on.

Well Informed 2.0: Race Baiting

Simply by googling "race baiting" you get the exact definition of the term. It is the act of using racially derisive language, actions, or other forms of communication in order to anger or intimidate or coerce. After researching more details and social media platforms, it turns out to be more than just that.

After searching the issue on Twitter, many of the related tweets included the presidential candidates and President Obama for being supporters of the issue. Many of the tweets contain biased opinions, defensive statements and many news articles. One tweet that I found that stuck out to me was this:
"@Protocolflow: It's sad that after several decades of racial and economic movement and acceptance we now have race baiting victim profiteers."

I began researching race baiting on Facebook and found even more controversial posts. Multiple people that I am friends with have posted things on this issue that I did not even realize. When you search it, the most popular results is race baiting against blacks. But after seeing multiple posts on Facebook, I noticed that is also happens against whites. Similar to Twitter, many of the posts were about President Obama and the presidential candidates. There were also posts involving Beyonce, various judges, and some news casters. 

Out of curiosity, I searched the issue on Pinterest to see what they would have. I was shocked with how many memes and cartoons they had regarding the issue. 

From a cultural standpoint, all of this is hard for me to believe. I grew up in Southern Utah and do not have very much exposure to real issues like this. I have a few black friends and some black classmates, but when I see things in the news, it is hard for me to believe. Because I have never been exposed to these types of things, it is sad and shocking, and almost unreal to me, that these things happen in our society today.

Race baiting is dividing our country, tearing apart communities, and causing hatred across the nation. It is sad and scary that something as simple as someone's race is still an issue in our society. Police brutality and race is hard. It is something that is a very sensitive subject for most and leaves many people feeling scared and unsafe around police officers. It is a hard issue because many people don't take the time to learn about the real issues and only base their issues off of what they see in the media or on the news. Those platforms give completely biased opinions and only tell people what they want to hear. It is something that needs to be researched and learned about before forming a valid opinion for yourself. 

OTM: Kids These Days

Everyone has something that they are sensitive about, something that they get defensive about, or something that makes them feel just completely uncomfortable. As university students, we all come from very different backgrounds, and that is where trigger warnings come in to play.

Many people believe that trigger warnings are wrongful and are actually "coddling" today's university students. The professor in the podcast, Kate Man, who teaches Philosophy at Cornell, defends the use of trigger warnings. She believes they are beneficial to her students' mental health. Trigger warnings and safe spaces give people the opportunity to step back and enter the conversation when they are ready, and to step away when they are not. Everyone comes to class with a different background, different experiences and different opinions, but things still need to be talked about. When trigger warnings are given by the professor or other students, they help to enhance and enrich conversations because people are more willing and involved in the interaction. A trigger warning is something that can be as simple as a single sentence heads up. It can be something that a professor provides so that a student can come prepared to dive in to topics. A trigger warning can even be considered a simple act of kindness.

On the other hand, many universities do not support trigger warnings. With school starting this Fall, many universities sent out letters to all of their students stating that trigger warnings will not be allowed on their campus. Some universities think that colleges need to change as society changes and that can not be possible with things like trigger warnings and safe spaces. Many universities are trying to recruit diverse student bodies and conform with new times and new measures. Some universities think that people need to be taught offensive things and they need to learn to deal with it, and that can't happen with trigger warnings and safe spaces.

If you haven't caught on, people of older generations believe that us millennials are ruining the world. We are killing the housing market, the car sales and even the napkin industry. Millennials are sometimes referred to as a "13 year old from last century". People think that we are afraid of commitment, afraid of moving out of our parents house, and easily offended. While some of these may be right, the use of trigger warnings and safe spaces do not relate. I think that just out of common courtesy, these practices should be used. People should be able to feel safe and to be comfortable in their surroundings.