###### tags: `CDA`
# Michael's Reading Responses (Set 2)

## Reading responses 5 out of 5

### Feb 28 - Shaped
It’s hard. It’s hard to be socially connected in our world because our social network mainly lives in the digital world. But it’s even harder for those who aren’t seen as the most outgoing, or maybe a part of a minority community or simply have a different personality and character than another person. It’s hard to create a positive environment that can accommodate people of different races, sexual orientations, and genders to bring together and share common interests. This is what Reagle (2019) is saying in “Reading the Comments". Reagle starts his chapter by talking about a person in the LGBTQIA+ community that was a victim of online bullying and the result of this led to the death of this individual. He then proceeds to address the complications of expressing your personality on these profiles and the comment culture behind it. But more interestingly, an individual may be criticized just as much for not having social profiles.

The expense paid for having these social profiles is not cheap. An online presence requires constant validation and affirmation to maintain a positive environment. But this then creates a culture that is not seeking truth and causes self-esteem damage to individuals who seek this validation. Reagle points out that individuals are becoming less and less satisfied with themselves, significantly decreasing the value of their self-concept – or the total thoughts and feelings about one’s self.

The chapter lays out the truth behind social media and how it has created discomfort in so many people. For me, this is very much the truth. I find myself subconsciously wanting validation and positive affirmation when I post on social media. Also, social media is terrifying for me because I have not come out as gay to my family at home, and having to suppress my personality to an extent is hard. Worrying about a sexuality slur or any type of negative comment that might expose my sexuality is scary. I hope that one day these social media companies find a way to balance a positive environment and bring together communities that can socially impact the digital world.

### March 03 - TikTok, fakes, and appropriation
I find myself guilty of using Instagram, Snapchat, and TikTok filters to enhance or change my facial features. Sometimes for a joke, sometimes to boost my self-esteem. And what do these companies do when they find these filters to be popular? Keep making more. And what do they do when these filters cause problematic cultural appropriation? Nothing. Jennings (2021) emphasizes that “Tech companies like Instagram, Snapchat, FaceTune, and the makers of FaceApp exploit this by giving us innumerable sophisticated tools to convincingly warp our identities.” It’s not a coincidence that there seem to be more and more cases of online catfishing, but more inappropriately, racially specific catfishing that is used to leverage racial fetishes for monetary gains. It truly is a shame that certain cultures are being exploited by people of other races and cultures to gain a larger following and popularity. Kim (2021) makes it evident that, “Some accounts played into an infantilizing and hypersexual view of the female Asian body— mirror selfies featuring Japanese school girl uniforms abounded.” The users of these accounts are dehumanizing people, and more specifically women, of this culture. When it comes down to the roots of the problem, social media is just another outlet that provokes cultural appropriation by promoting features like this on their platform. But it’s not just these filter features, users of the platform are also strategically styling themselves to imitate people of different cultures and endorse these fetishes to their audience.

Like everything that has come with the power and influence of social media, there is simply no line being drawn. But it's hard to even understand what the line is if this is happening offline as well. But an online medium allows for a much wider audience to be reached and convinced that this is appropriate. I steer away from accounts that are guilty of blackfishing, asianfishing, or any other type of cultural appropriation that dehumanizes people of certain backgrounds.

### March 14 - Living Alone

The thought of searching for a romantic partner naturally is a daunting task. Connecting through a friend, meeting at a bar or club, going up to a stranger at a coffee shop, or simply being introduced by a mutual friend are all ways that seem to be the conventional way to find a partner. But, as the theme of this course continues to shine a light on how digital technologies change our everyday lives, these technologies have dramatically changed the dating spectrum.

The introduction of online dating apps such as Tinder and Bumble has truly transformed access to meeting people. Having used these apps before, they allow you to "be picky" when selecting a potential match. The transition to dating apps, especially for the gay community has significantly increased because of the accessibility to other people in the gay community. Thompson (2019) emphasizes that the number of users on dating apps that identify as gay has grown by nearly 70% since the 90s. Of course, online dating apps provide a streamlined outlet for users to select their own partner, but it also raises many concerns that come from the individualism of online dating. Thompson continues to say that people are in more control of their life by making crafting their own preferences and selection, which can bring an overwhelming sense of freedom. I have certainly found this to be the case, especially now more than ever. Transitioning from a pause in romantic connection to an overstimulated dating scene, it is easy to be overwhelmed by the matching pool on dating apps. Even when there is a match, there seems to be such a gap between the intentions of people on these apps which ultimately raises other concerns as well. I have found that dating apps can significantly improve the opportunity for a romantic connection, but at what cost? Does it produce more anxiety because of the countless options? Are connections less meaningful because of the difference in dating intentions?

### March 17 - Ads & Social backgrounds

*"Navigate uncertain times with ease by choosing a cost-effective maintenance management software. Our free guide can help you make an informed decision."* This was an ad on my LinkedIn account about 10 minutes after looking for free recruiting software for a student organization. I am constantly bombarded with ads that are directly affiliated with my recent searches or even just based on my location. Online advertising has transformed the marketing efforts of the world's largest companies. These advertising strategies have allowed these companies to reach markets across the world, putting their products at the fingertips of millions of people. Stokes (2014) vividly explains that "Ad servers serve adverts across several websites, and can track a user visiting websites using cookies or IP addresses." But online advertising does not just show the ad to a user and forgets them, but rather tracks the engagement with the ad to improve and customize the ad even more. Thompson says "Not only can an advertiser tell how many times an advert has been seen (impressions), but also how many times the advert has been successful in sending visitors to the advertised website (clicks)." The evolution of online advertising is just at its beginning stages. The innovation of the internet and the free services provided by the internet come at a significant cost, and online advertising is what allows us access to these resources at little or no cost at all.

There is a doubled edge sword here because advertising sometimes affects the user experience on a site or application. I find this extremely annoying. But these ads essentially allow these sites and apps to perform at the level they do. Also, these advertisements show us what we want. The algorithms behind these embedded ads know us. They know what we like, and what we do not like, and can provide us with an experience that is focused on our preferences. But now we see ourselves falling victim to filter bubbles and constantly reviewing the same type of content over and over again. So how can we find a balance between an extremely personalized experience while also maintaining the integrity of our personal preferences?

### March 21 - Manipulated

"Let's go out to eat tonight. I'll look at some places and check the reviews," me every time I am looking to go out to eat, especially if it is a more formal outing. There are very few times where I have not visited Yelp or Google Reviews to select a restaurant, entertainment place, or sometimes even a shopping store. Reagle (2015) highlights "User comments, ratings, and reviews are valuable because, in economic terms, they address the marketplace problem of *information asymmetry*." Besides the actual ranking of the place, another major component of reviews that I certainly consider is the written portion of the review. If someone is taking the time to write a review, they certainly cared about their experience enough to write about it and this is reflected by the experience at a certain place. Typically, reviews are left from a horrible experience or a superb experience, and so knowing beforehand that I could find myself on either end of the spectrum is reassuring. But be careful when reading positive reviews because they can be exploited to make an experience look better than it is. Another concern to be aware of is fakers. Fake accounts are easy to create to spread malinformation, misinformation, or disinformation. Now, there is a technology that is designed to prevent these accounts from commenting or reviewing to help improve the integrity of reviews.

Online reviews can truly make or break the image of a company, and so being able to manage a bad review or a rating is important to the reputation of the company not just in the eye of the customer, but also in the eye of Google. Though Google's review algorithm is unknown, I have found that highly rated users tend to find their profile at the top of the list. But there have been so many experiences where the reviews did not reflect my experience, whether it was good or bad. I do not find much concern that people solely base all their decisions on these reviews, but they certainly do have an impact when deciding on one experience over another.