# Ad Blocking Knowing what we know about online advertising, should users be able to easily block ads? If so, who then pays for the free content and services we consume? There should be a balance in advertisments between the consumer and the produdcer, but it always seems to find a way to tilt to one side. I think that people should be able to scroll on CNN without their articles being completely disrupted by the obnoxious adds that pop up for things that they would never buy. Yet, I do think it is important to have some medium for advertisers to share their content and for these webistes that have them to profit. But, I think that it has gotten out of hand with the tracking sponsored by the organizations who implement these ads. I think that Taylor made interesting points in his *Restore Privacy* article, including "These trackers allow the ad networks to gather all sorts of information about your online activities. The end result is a database of information that often includes very private details gleaned from the trackers." This means that they can then tailor your ads so that they are more relavant to you, but it is all done without your consent. This is a major threat to cyber privacy and with all of our data. In most other avenues of technology, it has been made a priority to protect user's data. Apple especially has implemented a lot of provacy software so that the users are more protected, but the Ad Blocker is flying under the radar of a lot of people. Installing the uBolck Origin Ad Blocker ![](https://i.imgur.com/qkTDTaA.jpg) CNN website before using an Ad Blocker ![](https://i.imgur.com/r5IHhrn.jpg) CNN website after using an Ad Blocker ![](https://i.imgur.com/bckbx4x.jpg)
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Simone Ritcheson
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WIKI TUTORIAL

Quotes that stood out to me "Many people who are steeped in history and committed to evidence-based decision-making are experiencing a collective sense of being gaslit—the concept that emerges from a film on domestic violence to explain how someone’s sense of reality can be intentionally destabilized by an abuser. " "It’s about purposefully and intentionally seeding doubt to fragment society. To fragment epistemologies. This is a tactic that was well-honed by propagandists." "By exploiting the data void, or the lack of viable information, media manipulators can help fragment knowledge and seed doubt." My Thoughts I thought that this article was very interesting and thought provoking. It was interesting to learn about data voids and other concepts that you don't learn a lot about.

12/9/2022
Reading Responses (Set 2)

First Reading Response (Nov 8) People will go to extreme measures to get the attention they feel they deserve on social media. When people my age were in middle school, even before the Instagram algorithm changed, there was a large wave of downloading apps where you would like other people's posts and they would like yours. These were complete strangers who would just want the like count on their post to go up. Yet, it was a very hidden thing that was not talked about. People wanted to be popular, or seem so at least, and would do behind the scenes things to make it happen. Now, with the algorithm based on engagement around your account and your post, it makes it even that much harder for influencers or people that want their content displayed to have a chance to do so. Yet, the amount of like for like exchanges are going down. I think that even with the concept of "pods" being born, the influencers have realized that the engagement has to be genuine or else they will not grow to where they want to be. As Forsey said, "Your engagement metrics will also be skewed, and you'll no longer be able to tell if your content is resonating with your potential customers." I think the fact that Instagram has also changed their settings to allow for likes to be hidden encourages and promotes more authenticity. On a personal level, since Instagram has given us the ability to take away the comment section and hide the like count, it has created a much less stressful environment to feel free to post whatever you want. Second Reading Response (Nov 18) As most computer scientists know, it is really hard to not make mistakes. When making any code, any software, or any visualizations, it is impossible to get it right on the first try and probably even the second. Producing code, and algorithms especially, comes from a lot of trial and error. In my classes we talk about the ethical importance behind what we are doing. Last week, we were making a recommender system for Boston housing, and we had to take into account that Boston has a really awful history of redlining districts - segregating based on race and income levels. At the end of the day, behind these algorithms are humans who are making them. I think that it would be hard to find someone who was making an algorithm for big companies that has malintent. The intent is never to have only white people show up on google searches, or for the unprofessional hairstyles show women with natural hair. Yet, it does happen. I think that in the conception of the internet and these big companies especially, it was a lot of white men making these algorithms and with that, came their inherent biases towards their life experiences. Algorithms are especially tricky in this endeavor. In the Buzzfeed article it mentioned the "project is not intended to illustrate racism on Google’s part, but to highlight wider societal biases that are brought into relief by the algorithm"(Rutherford, White). The algorithm is just accentuating what society has already searched and looked at. Algoirthms are fast and smart things that pick up on patterns with the information they are given. Therefore, it is most important that the makers behind them make them ethically and with all these factors in mind. Third Reading Response (Nov 29) It is really hard to be authentic online when you know most people are not doing the same. A lot of influencers have come to a realization that in their history of being in the public eye, they have not been themselves. There was a group of “lifestyle” influencers in the 2014-2017 years who were always perfect in keeping up their aesthetic on YouTube. All of them were basically the same person but in a different “font”. They all did morning routines, night routines, DIYs, back to school videos, and more videos like that for years on end. That is what the audience wanted and is what got them their following, and frankly, what kept it. Yet, as they matured, they realized slowly that those videos were not them; in fact, they were basically playing characters of being perfect girly girls who had no qualms in life, which lead to extreme burnout. They always had to be happy and chirpy and at the end of the day - inauthentic. So, they started to stray from that and have found themselves in the past couple years. People can still say that social media and the online world is a “highlight reel,” which I do agree with, but I think that more and more the past couple years people have been more so pushed to be more real. Which, in turn, gave rise for apps like BeReal to thrive. People were tired of the filters, the stories, the perfection. As Duffy says, “BeReal represents the latest iteration in the cycle of social media sites that spring from the push-and-pull tension of authenticity and performance.” Yet, Duffy makes another point about the uncertainty of the longevity of the app. In my opinion, BeReal was destined to be a fad. It was meant to be a break from normal social media and people were bound to fall in love with it, get excited with the time sensitive notifications, and have a break from regularly scheduled social media. Yet, as much as people hate the angle of perfection on social media, people love to seem perfect. This perpetuates a cycle on social media which will inevitably make BeReal fail unless they have something new and shiny for us again. Fourth Reading Response (Dec 2)

12/5/2022
Privacy Footprint

Despite being in the midst of a technological revolution, I have always tried to stay as private as possible online. I had alwasy tried to protect my name online, whether it be through private accounts or just staying away from certain apps or websites. I have never had Facebook or TikTok becuase I try to protext my personal information and data as much as possible, even though I know at the end of the day, I cannot do much to stop the data monitoring of many apps and companies. Not too much comes up online when I search my name, but a good amount from highschool, LinkedIn, and even these HackMD pages. I find it very weird that we can look people up and find where they are, who they buy their cellular plans on, and other personal informaton for $0.95. I have always said that I feel like my phone is listening to me when I get an creepily accurate add on my phone. Yet, as it was said in the New Atlas article, the truth is so much worse. I had known of the fact that phones track the networks of people around you - explaining why my roomates have similar For You Pages on TikTok or why my sister and I get the same ads. But, never did I realize that they could take screenshots and, for lack of a better term, monitor our screens. It is a very unsettling thing to think about especially becuase we have no idea how or when it happens and what they do with that information. There is a lot that goes on behind the scenes that makes it feel like there is no way that you can actually protect yourself from being on the internet. It makes it seem like because we use the internet this is just what happens, when in reality we should be able to protect ourselves and our data. I think that with much more legislation going trough the government on previously unregulated technology, something about this is bound to come up very soon.

11/22/2022
Home Page

Required assignments Wiki tutorial Web search and evaluation Filter and label your email Adblocking Privacy footprint Reading response sets

11/21/2022
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