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title: Reading Responses (Set 2)

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# Reading Responses (Set 2)
 Checklist for a [good reading response](https://reagle.org/joseph/zwiki/Teaching/Best_Practices/Learning/Writing_Responses.html) of 250-350 words
- [ ] Begin with a punchy start.
- [ ] Mention specific ideas, details, and examples from the text and earlier classes.
- [ ] Offer something novel that you can offer towards class participation.
- [ ] Check for writing for clarity, concision, cohesion, and coherence.
- [ ] Send to professor with “hackmd” in the subject, with URL of this page and markdown of today’s response.


## Reading responses 5 out of 5

### Mar 19 Tue - Ads & Social Graph Background

In the ever-changing world of online advertising, marketers have infinite attention-grabbing tools at their disposal. From the ubiquitous banner ads to the once ubiquitous but now elusive pop-ups, the online advertising world is a dynamic and diversified environment. Banner advertising, interstitial ads, pop-ups, pop-unders, floating ads, wallpaper ads, video commercials, social media ads, search ads, and remarketing/retargeting ads are among the ad formats available, each with its distinct approaches to capturing audiences and driving interaction. Banner advertising are graphic pictures or animations that show on websites, whereas interstitial ads occur between website pages while you navigate. Pop-ups and pop-unders, appear in new windows, but their frequency has decreased due to pop-up blockers. Floating advertising displays above website content, while wallpaper ads modify the background of the page. Video advertising integrates video content and can take many forms, whereas social media ads use targeting capabilities and user data on sites such as Facebook and Twitter. Search advertisements are keyword-targeted while remarketing/retargeting ads target users who have already visited a page.

Understanding the strengths and limits of distinct online ads, enables marketers to optimise campaigns and choose the most successful ways to reach their target audiences. Each style of ad provides unique engagement and conversion potential.

Regarding the video from Vox, I completely agree that Facebook and Google are the two main companies in online advertising. These internet behemoths have a massive user base and access to a lot of user data, which allows them to target ads to certain demographics and interests successfully. With their broad reach and advanced targeting capabilities, Facebook and Google have established themselves as major powers in the digital advertising environment.

### Mar 26 Tue - Bemused

Who knows? Your “WTF” might just spark an interesting conversation or leave everyone bemused; therefore, the next time you leave a comment, consider the impact it may have. In chapter 7 of Joseph Reagle’s book, the author dives into the transformative impact of online comment in the digital age, emphasising the prevalence of user-generated material across many media formats. The chapter includes fascinating examples, such as the mapping of language use in geocoded tweets, which revealed regional patterns of discriminatory language and encouraged critical thought on the sociocultural consequences of online communication. Furthermore, examining geocoded tweets to identify probable food poisoning cases highlighted the usefulness of online comments for public health surveillance.

The emergence and recognition of autonomous sensory meridian response (ASMR), facilitated by online comment threads, exemplifies how digital spaces have encouraged the discovery and exploration of unique sensory experiences, challenging traditional notions of sensory responses and fostering a sense of community among people with similar sensitivities. This study demonstrates the transformative power of online discussion to shape and define sensory phenomena.

Furthermore, the "Three Wolf Moon" t-shirt story is an excellent example of how internet comments influence customer behaviour and product popularity. The "Three Wolf Moon" t-shirt phenomena demonstrate the power of internet discussion to shape consumer perceptions and drive product visibility and sales. The viral transmission of a single, hilarious comment from someone who had never purchased the product resulted in an increase in popularity, undermining standard marketing and advertising tactics. This case demonstrates the potential of online comments to capture and engage consumers, influencing their purchasing decisions and contributing to a product's success in the digital marketplace.

### Apr 02 Tue - Artificial intelligence

"Generative AI, when it's now possible for anyone to create new, original illustrations and text by simply sending a few instructions to a computer program" (Heilweil, 2023) As stated by Heilweil these technologies can create various types of content at a remarkable speed and quality. This brings us to very important questions what are going to be the implications of these advancements? 

One of the biggest implications is ethical and legal. The legal ownership of the content created by these bots is questionable. When this technology is used for creative reasons, it becomes difficult to identify the rightful owner of the information. This ambiguity can lead to legal conflicts and difficulties in establishing intellectual property rights.

Another implication is the skills impact it can have on humans, as we are using these bots more and more every day, this could lead to a loss of writing and thinking skills as well as creativity. 

Vicent's article from 2022 states how the recent updates to the Stable Diffusion AI image generator have made it more difficult for the software to generate particular types of images, such as nude and pornographic output, photorealistic photos of celebrities, and images that copy certain artists' artwork. These changes have sparked both controversy and condemnation, with users outraged by the update, which limits the software's capacity to generate NSFW output and images in the manner of specific artists. The constraints imposed on Stable Diffusion, such as the inability to generate NSFW content such as nudity, pornography, or explicit violence, are meant to ensure that the technology is used ethically and responsibly. However, some users attempt to circumvent these restrictions by creating NSFW images utilising Stable Diffusion to express their Creativity.

### Apr 05 Fri - Algorithmic bias

Algorithms have the potential to be biased, whether intentionally or unintentionally, due to a range of factors. As per O'Neil, algorithms 
first learn from past data, which may contain biases prevalent in society. If the training data is biased, the algorithm may reflect and amplify those prejudices, perpetuating gender, racial, and other types of discrimination. Furthermore, biases can be introduced during the algorithm's design phase, since developers' decisions on which characteristics to include or how to weigh particular elements might accidentally inject bias into the algorithm.

The absence of diversity in development teams can also contribute significantly to the occurrence of prejudices. Teams that lack diversity may ignore prejudices that affect various groups of people. Furthermore, algorithms that continuously learn and change in response to user interactions might result in feedback loops that reinforce prejudices. Complex and opaque models make it difficult to grasp how decisions are made, obscuring biases within the algorithm and making them harder to detect and rectify.
Additionally, if the goal function used to train an algorithm is not carefully developed to ensure justice and equity, it can introduce biases. This may cause the algorithm to optimise for certain outcomes at the expense of others. To reduce biases in algorithms, it is critical to foster diversity in development teams, carefully filter training data to eliminate biases, frequently audit algorithms for fairness, and build algorithms with openness and accountability in mind. Furthermore, adding ethical considerations into algorithm design and deployment can help to mitigate the impact of biases on decision-making processes.

Understanding these factors is essential for reducing algorithmic biases and promoting fair and equitable decision-making processes. By proactively taking action to eliminate biases at every stage of algorithm creation and deployment, we can reduce their impact and ensure that algorithms contribute to fair results.

### Apr 12 Fri - Digital Language and Generations
In today’s world, we are all internet people.  In chapter 3 of McCulloch's “Internet People” he explores the concept of forming friendships on the internet. He starts by giving us historical context, citing scholars from 1984 and 2008 who question the genuineness and practicality of online connections. Despite these initial reservations, he contended that a major proportion of our social life now occurs online. We are given examples of relationships between friends, family and interest-based communities, as well as how online communication can transfer into the physical world, citing the podcast “Welcome to Night Vale”. McCulloch also explores the ubiquity of online dating, claiming that a sizable proportion of Americans have used online dating services and that a large number of weddings have resulted from online meetings. 

It's interesting to see how the internet has evolved from a tool for exchanging information to a platform for social interactions. This transition matches societal developments and technological advancements. The authors' premise that online communities can move into the physical world calls into question the idea that online interactions are less ' real' or important than physical ones. However, one may argue that, while the internet has made social connection easier, it has also resulted in difficulties like cyberbullying and online harassment. This begs the question of how we can strike a balance between the advantages and disadvantages of online social connections.

The article from McCulloch and Cornish “Because Internet, a guide to our changing language, LOL” explains that internet language has its own set of standards, with an emphasis on how people perceive your tone of voice. This language evolution, which includes the changing use of "LOL", the passive-aggressive phase, the construction "because", and the trend of "key smash", emphasises the internet's tremendous influence on our lives.