My 2 Cents on Everything!

                                                                  My 2 Cents on Everything!


In the past few months we have discussed multiple topics involving new age media and communication. Some was interesting, while others were downright scary. Never the less, what is exactly should we do with this information?


In my opinion, we should view most of these topics with enthusiasm. In the past 15 years, we have seen incredible new platforms and mediums for us to communicate emerge. Everyone now has an online persona on at least one platform, be it Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Myspace, or Snapchat just to name a few. Even our current president uses social media as his primary means of communication with the American people, and it is now emerging just how much social media's role played in the 2016 election. It just goes to show that the study of sociolinguistics is only in its initial stages, and will sure grow immensely with every new platform of communication that is added. We are only barely begging to understand how our new habits, and even old habits on new platforms, will affect our society. According to one report by Hootsuite, there are now just over 3 billion social media users online, and of course that number is ever growing!




The other thought I would like everyone to hopefully take from my posts is pretty clearly just how important the safety of you and your information really is. From identity theft to purchasing stolen credit cards on the darknet and even sending lewd photos of yourself electronically- the consequences and effects I documented personally. The capabilities and possibilities of what can be done with a phone or a computer or a social media account are only slightly known, and always changing. What is considered safe one day can be hacked the next. I would urge everyone to keep anything electronic whether it is a file, photo, video, record, or whatever that is personal to them in any way offline. Store it on a drive that you keep in your closet or cabinet, disconnected from your computer or phone. It is clear that anything connected to the internet or cellular signal can be hacked or compromised, and if it can not yet it soon will be! We should all remember as well that anything posted online or sent electronically is potentially in existence forever. What we say and do online will be viewable to others and still be there 5,10, even 20 years from now. For the first time, a large part of every persons casual daily communication is in fact becoming part of a permanent public record!


Stay safe and enjoy what new technology has to offer!

Morgan Thrift




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Doxxing - What it is and what it does!

Image
Doxxing An interesting phenomena that has developed within about the past decade is known as doxxing. Dictionary.com defines the word "dox" to mean to " search for and publish private or identifying information about (a particular individual) on the Internet, typically with malicious intent." It can mean even more than that actually, and we see more examples of it everyday in the media. A recent example of doxxing appeared following the Charlottesville protests and counter protests in early April of this year. Multiple people who were spotted at the Unite the Right far right rally waving confederate flags and holding torches were later ousted from their jobs and other memberships when they were identified through pictures of them at the rally.  New York Times - Doxxing The New York Times questions the ethics of such online vigilantism techniques, and even quotes certain people as calling passive aggressive violence. They also summarize multiple
Read more

Writing vs. Art: One and The Same?

Image
                                                                             Writing vs. Art: One and The Same? The question has been asked before: What’s the difference between a writer and an artist? Or is there one at all? In viewing “Exit Through the Gift Shop”, a Banksy documentary involving street art and the people behind it- I ask myself the same question. What exactly is the difference in say street art versus literature? The obvious difference to cover first is medium. Clearly literature and writing is more of the mind while art is a visual experience. Art involves viewing a something and understanding its meaning, while writing involves someone's imagination much more. Regardless of these differences I feel that art is just a more abbreviated form of writing, or writing with objects if you will. Both seek to communicate a certain message, or a specific feeling or emotion. They are both ways to express the creators thoughts or ideas, and to do so in a way that
Read more

The Darkweb World

Image
                                                                                   The Darkweb World You may have seen or heard the term "darkweb" before, do you know exactly what was being referenced? Similarly the terms "bitcoin", "dark net market, "tor", or "onion browser" may have have been included in the same conversation. These are all part of a growing hidden world world known as the "darknet". The darknet idea and origins actually stem from the U.S. Navy doing research on how to store secret information back in the mid 1990's. It was adapted and released to the public in the early 2000's, and really became popular in the last decade. The darknet is basically a hidden internet, with sites and other information hidden from public view. A specific program has to be used to view the darknet, with programs like Tor and Onion being the most popular. The main concept behind the darknet is that the people using it rem
Read more