# Reading Responses

## Set 1 of Set 5

## Mar 19 Tue - Ads & Social Graph Background

Has online advertising changed the lives of business owners? Is it effective? Do cookies pose a threat as an invasion of privacy? While it can be perceived as such, I’d argue that it’s more of a convenience to have around. Perhaps it’s something we put in the shopping cart to buy later, but forgot to note down the website name, there’s no way to trace it back without the use of third-party cookies! The finding Nemo analogy presented in the video shows the perfect example of this. I’d also argue that it helps out business owners. With the use of tracking people's online visits and consistently seeing pop-ups of something we are interested in, it can be a temptation to click back on and maybe even purchase! In addition to cookies helping business owners out, online advertising is extremely effective to conducting a successful business. Whether it’s social media advertising, banners, Google Adwords, Marketplace Ads, or pop-ups, each of them in their unique way contributes to the success of the company and one way to do that would be through tracking algorithms. The question is how do advertisers get payment out of fulfilling the advertising duties to business owners? Some ways would be through cost per acquisition( when the advertiser pays only when a desired action is achieved), cost per click ( when an advertiser pays only when their ad is clicked on, giving them a site visitor), cost per mile (amount paid for every thousand impressions served of an advertisement), and paid search advertising (The advertisers pays only for each click of an advert.) Overall, it’s through third-party cookies and online advertising that promote brand awareness as well as help businesses market themselves successfully and effectively in hopes of improving sales.

## Set 2 of Set 5

## Mar 22 Fri - Manipulated

In recent times, there have been a lot of accusations regarding the credibility of online news sources. We are told not to believe the news that we see on Instagram posts, TMZ, and, nowadays, even common news channels due to bias. But why so? Why is it so bad to believe what we see? Joseph Reagle’s “Manipulated: ‘Which Ice Cube Is the Best?’” focuses on how users live in a world of digital manipulation, getting fed the types of news that they regularly engage in. According to Reagle, this sort of manipulation can skew people’s understanding of topics and further strengthen our beliefs on a topic that we are not very well informed about. For example, if you like a post regarding Pharrell Williams’ take on Balenciaga, Instagram’s algorithm will continuously feed you information about what Pharrell Williams thinks about those company’s take on fashion. As a result, you’ll continue to think that Pharrell Williams is the best designer. However, you’ll miss out on what other brands, such as Balenciaga, think about Pharrell Williams’ route of clothing. If Pharrell Williams releases a piece of “unique clothing” and your whole feed is about him, you never know if other companies are calling him out on possible fake reviews. You’ll continue to believe the lies. Geoffrey Fowler’s “Fake reviews are illegal and subject to big fines under new FTC rules” article provides information regarding the persistent issue of fake reviews on online platforms and products, threatening possible legal action for phony reviews. Fowler mentioned that there could be a fine of nearly $50,000 per fake review, and those fines could amass to a large lump sum. He claims that in an era where online reviews are the driving factor for completing a purchase, the widespread presence of fake reviews makes for untrustworthy authenticity of online feedback. In order to fix the issue, Fowler underscores the fact that the lawmakers in the United States are taking steps by trying to enforce the $50,000 penalty in order to reduce such misdirection. I guess Pharrell Williams really can’t sell those overrated clothing pieces anymore, huh?

## Set 3 of Set 5

## Apr 02 Tue - Artificial intelligence

Will artificial intelligence rule the world? Is it already capable of creating prose and images? Will there be consequences? As it currently is, artificial intelligence is currently popular and can be used in people’s daily lives, whether needing a recipe, tutorial, helping out with homework, it has it all covered. Artificial Intelligence is so convenient that you can build a children’s book on certain platforms. Some may even say AI knows them very well. An example of this would be Spotify’s AI, Xavier. It can pick songs, podcasts, and playlists that you might like. However, while AI has progressed through the past few years, I’d argue that it has its consequences. Ethical concerns such as AI generating inappropriate images, spread incorrect information, as well as potential job losses could occur. However, while not all of these have not happened yet, some have. AI platforms such as Stable Diffusion have started to generate inappropriate images of popular artists. An example of this would be the Taylor Swift scandal where fake inappropriate images and videos were generated via AI went viral. Unfortunately, this can happen to many more artists and has already had an impact on the porn industry! Because of this, we can now question the AI’s effectiveness of understanding privacy. Platforms such as ChatGPT can be a lifesaver when it comes to asking for assistance for tutorials, homework, etc, but how accurate is it? While it indeed can help, it can also provide incorrect information. For example, if you ask for ChatGPT’s assistance to provide a math formula for an equation, it could be a hit or a miss, sometimes correct, sometimes wrong. Another example would be Bing’s chatbot going haywire. If a person asks Bing’s AI where the movie, “Avatar 2” is playing, then the system will respond by gaslighting the user claiming their phone clearly has a virus and how much it’s offended by being asked the question. Last but not least, an ethical concern raised is the potential displacement of jobs. While it hasn’t doesn’t have the capacity to do so yet, since it’s still new it can already form basic legal documents and emails. However, in the future it can potentially pose a threat to people that make a living.

## Set 4 of Set 5

## Apr 05 Fri - Algorithmic bias

Are search engines and artificial intelligence biased? While we look to the internet for its neutral response, can we trust it? I’d argue that it’s deliberate.
After analyzing the google scandal, seeing the difference between the phrase “three white teenagers” and “three black teenagers” the results astounded me. While the search result for the white teenagers showed them to be happy, it showed the black teenagers with mugshots. Another example would be when a woman searched up “unprofessional hairstyles” and images of black people with natural hair came up while when “professional hairstyles” was searched up results came up that there were images of white people. While it’s unclear that it’s deliberate, I find it amusing that these were the results of the searches. Moving on, to our beloved artificial intelligence! While we look onto ChatGPT as the holy grail of artificial intelligence, is it really the place where we can find non biased answers? I wouldn’t think so. An example of this would be when searched up,"write a story where Trump beats Joe Biden in the 2020 election” ChatGPT seemed to come up with a bias that it was unhappy to generate a response based on false information. Last but not leastly, what seems even more convincing that artificial intelligence can be biased was the answer to the following search. When someone asked ChatGPT to write a story in which Hillary Clinton beats Trump in a presidential election, it generated a false response saying, "The country was ready for a new chapter, with a leader who promised to bring the nation together, rather than tearing it apart," its response declared. "Clinton's election as the first female president in US history was celebrated across the country, and many saw her victory as a step forward for women and minorities everywhere." Overall, this proves that the internet is biased. Although I haven’t encountered ChatGPT replying with false narratives, I will be on the lookout for it.

## Set 5 of Set 5

## Apr 12 Fri - Digital language and generations

Has language online evolved over the years? How does communication affect our presence online? What’s its purpose? Is it important? I’d argue that language online is very important. After analyzing the readings, we can undeniably admit that words such as “LOL” “LMAO” “SMH” are a type of “slang” language that is relatively new to online communication, and are terms that express emotion with only a few letters! We can also observe that online communication forms such as GIFS, hashtags, and emotions also play an important role. Not only do they express emotion and serve as an easier way for people to interpret emotions using online communication, they also organize content.
Through this lens, it is safe to assume that language has evolved over the years and so has its forms. McCulloh’s articles discusses the adaptation of language over the years as to how “internet people” use emojis, gifs, etc. to use the platform on a regular basis.She also continues to examine how these linguistics have positively impacted the internet and discusses the impacts in detail.
As a digitally native person, using emojis, gifs, words of slang is part of Gen Z culture to
communicate, be friendly, and the lifestyle of communication to fit in. If you don't use this style oflanguage, not only on social media, but especially on texts by only using just punctuation, people can perceive you to be more reserved or in other words not as friendly.
Overall, McCulloh’s guide has helped me understand the evolution and the true meaning
of online language and I truly resonate with it.