People often post content just to upset a large group of people, and the internet is oversaturated with these types of posts. The internet is said to be a problem for both Gen Z and even Generation Alpha, who are assumed to have many mental issues in the future. I wonder how we could fix this problem, and is the internet the only thing to blame in this situation?

This is one of the most frustrating aspects of social media the prevalent belief or presentation that everyone online is a saint. It draws a parallel to historical figures like Eli Whitney, who, with the invention of the cotton gin, aimed to reduce slavery but inadvertently worsened the situation. Alfred Nobel, inventing dynamite for constructive purposes, had to establish the Nobel Prizes due to the unexpected destructive consequences. Albert Einstein, advocating for nuclear weapons with the intention of securing peace, later regretted the harm caused. Aza Raskin, in creating infinite scroll for user engagement, unintentionally perpetuated issues.

In both historical and digital contexts, individuals often do certain actions with sincere intentions, only to realize later the unintended harm caused to others. The notion of being a saint on the internet, while concealing personal imperfections, mirrors the complexities of those who believed they were making a positive impact but inadvertently ended up causing harm to others.

I never knew this; I always assumed that other languages would have the same programming structure, but with the replacement of some statements with words from their respective languages. I did a quick search, and Java, JavaScript, and Python are the most popular coding languages in Germany. The list continues, and there doesn't seem to be a programming language that's unique to Germany.

Meta owns every social media app that I commonly use, and I wonder which other social media sites Meta will own moving forward. Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger that's a lot of social media platforms to handle all at once, and you'd have to imagine that a significant number of employees would be needed to successfully manage them all. Although Meta isn't a stranger to laying off a large sum of their employees, I wonder if they're having their employees manage multiple apps instead of having multiple departments for every app listed.

There are clear cases when enforcing norms, cancel culture, and everything else seems justifiable, but it ignores the individual. Sometimes, people cancel someone who did nothing wrong and is only being accused, and sometimes norms are being enforced upon someone who has a developmental disorder and might process information differently. Is it ethical to tell someone who might perceive things differently that they're wrong for not being what you consider to be 'normal'? Personally, I think that should be canceled.

As a people pleaser, shame is something I often feel, especially over something small. I sometimes say things that may be misinterpreted as rude without the intention of being rude. Then, I convince myself that I am rude and pretend to be rude to satisfy the person who thinks I'm rude. This is a cycle and a bad habit that I picked up from childhood because people would often call me the devil for reasons unknown to me. I grew up religious, attended Bible study, and a few years later, had a different opinion on the subject as a whole due to feeling shamed and ostracized.

I've been harassed for my race online, even though I'm somewhat racially ambiguous. People often point out, 'Yeah, you're black,' or 'You must be Mexican.' I am Black and Sicilian, with Spanish descent and almost 50% of my family being Italian. However, people rarely acknowledge this, and I am often bullied for having unique features compared to the majority of people. I once met a 'friend' from Bumble who only insulted me online.

Another challenging aspect is seeing people share their racist encounters online, while those in Seattle tend to minimize the issue as if it doesn't exist. If you show them proof, you're considered the problem or deemed too negative. I never felt like I was being negative because, from my perspective, I don't care about it. You eventually grow numb to it, but that doesn't mean you stop looking for a solution.

It's easier to find someone bullying others online compared to real life. Check out any post where someone has a different opinion in a thread where there might be people with a strong opinion or someone who's a 14-year-old keyboard warrior arguing the semantics of something that probably doesn't matter compared to what the person being targeted is saying. There have also been many content creators, mainly female, doxxing a male viewer after receiving a hate donation, which I find annoying when you can see through their crocodile tears.

There are many times when you read YouTube comments and see a user post something about the creator that seems possible but probably isn't true at all. For example, 'I saw this person punch an old lady at Walmart. Why do you people still watch them?' There are many people on the internet who'd rather see someone's downfall than see them succeed because that individual probably has many insecurities caused by social media itself. People only show the best parts of their life on social media, and little Timmy posting this rumor might be a bit jealous of the fictional content creator that I just made up for this comment.

Personally, I see similar stuff to this online. People are always trying to force their morals onto others, and in certain areas of the internet, people will collaborate to erase something that doesn't align with their moral code or beliefs. I often see people defending others and adopting a hive mind mentality when, in reality, the thing I said wasn't meant to set anyone off or be rude in the first place. Since I was already marked as an enemy, those who want to protect someone online often end up doing a terrifying action that they were originally fighting against. I observe this behavior frequently, and I usually call out people who engage in these types of actions because nobody is perfect, and everyone has their own story. The internet, when it comes to helping, is similar to playing a large game of telephone; eventually, the message will be misinterpreted, causing negative actions.

If the website is being partially moderated by bots, there might be a chance that the moderator would avoid traumatizing posts. I highly doubt that the mod would be able to avoid negativity for long, especially if that person needs to filter out all negative comments directed at a politician. Personally, I can't think of anything that might help poor people avoid being taken advantage of because what if that's their only source of income?

I could imagine that if someone is unpaid and willing to moderate a subreddit without compensation, they are more than likely someone who enjoys the creator of that subreddit and is moderating because it's something that individual finds a sense of accomplishment in. I personally don't think it's any of Reddit's business; instead, it's the business of the person in charge of the subreddit. If there wasn't an agreement already for the moderator to be paid, then there shouldn't be an issue. If there isn't any attempt to form a contract later on, assuming this individual wanted compensation down the line, then it isn't the creator's fault.

Social contracts shaped by people in power mean that they are for the benefit of those in power. I find it amusing how individuals in positions of power often prevent certain contracts from passing because they don't benefit them; instead, the advantages go to those already in a position of power. I find this to be one of the most twisted aspects of the world. We can observe instances that connect to this when discussing redlining, denying BIPOC people a mortgage because they are considered a risk, which also denies them the advantage of accumulating wealth from property. Those who are often in charge label people as lazy and unmotivated to justify their unwillingness to help others, instead of acknowledging that the system itself is flawed. From the moment you are born, you can probably predict the struggles that person would face at a point in their lifetime.

During this class, my Reddit bot was banned. I posted too many times to the class subreddit, and Reddit shadow-banned the bot. I conducted several tests to confirm the shadow ban and later contacted Reddit, explaining the situation. I emphasized that I am a human and that this activity was for a class. I apologized and explained that I forgot to use fake PRAW.

Social media has been detrimental to my mental health because I'm constantly exposed to negativity. People online can be much meaner and are even willing to say things they wouldn't in person, leaving you to ponder, 'What did I do to deserve that, yikes?' However, social media also has its positives, as it connected me with one of my longtime friends since 2014. He's a German guy with similar interests, and I've become friends with his best friend too. He's always supportive, helping me through whatever I'm going through at the time. This is significant, considering I don't have anyone in my actual life with the 'mental capacity' for even the tiniest piece of upsetting news.

This survey is not comprehensive because there is evidence that various factors contribute to the decline in mental health, affecting both males and females. While social media is implicated, in 2019, there were additional influences affecting me personally. During COVID, I was just beginning to adapt to socializing, but everything I had learned was erased, and it seemed like others were also struggling to express themselves. It felt as if the world around me had changed. Moreover, it's not limited to just Generation Z; millennials are also facing challenges, and there are concerns that Generation Alpha may struggle as well.

After I quit streaming, I became a freelance video editor. I assisted many smaller content creators and former larger streamers by managing their chat, creating stream commands, and applying knowledge from my own streaming experience to known resources, such as useful bots.

I'm not entirely sure if editing a video that gained many views constitutes my contribution to it going viral. Nevertheless, I consistently supported the people I streamed for by interacting with their community. I became someone everyone knew and loved in the card game community, especially the Yu-Gi-Oh! community. I would always leave a like on their videos, retweet whenever they posted, and participate in whatever they were promoting. One of these promotions was Dkayed's creation of his own cryptocurrency called 'DLM Coin,' and I was considered a founder of that project.

I believe that many of the things mentioned above contribute to something going viral because they make the content known and spread it to a wider audience.

During my freshman year of college, when I was just doing this for fun and didn't have a goal in mind, I would stream on Twitch, gaining a following primarily composed of college students. I also served as a moderator for multiple large card game streamers and became known as that one guy who happened to be in every stream at once.

This experience taught me that attention can be exhausting, especially when it turns negative. I believe that people who go viral:

Gain a massive following, either desired or undesired.

Might potentially regret the type of attention received from their following.

Some people follow you just to hate you, while others may have good intentions. However, there's always a line between your personal identity and the persona you present online.

Echo chambers often occur in sections of certain fandoms where developed opinions may not align with different perspectives. I recall participating in a discussion on Discord about a recently released manga chapter, contributing with a theory that I had while reading. However, I was labeled a "simp" because I assumed one of the female characters would make an appearance. Subsequently, others expressed negativity because I didn't mention a character considered 'cool,' opting instead for one popular in some groups but disliked by others prompting a broader discussion about the challenges of female representation in media due to writing. Echo chambers are prevalent not only on Discord but also on platforms such as YouTube, Facebook groups, Instagram, and especially Reddit. I might be confusing this with hive mind mentality, but the two concepts are closely related.

Last summer, I attended a seminar at the University of Washington while awaiting an acceptance letter from the university. I enrolled in a class taught by Professor Minarchek on mycology, which is the study of mushrooms. After completing the course, I returned home and noticed that YouTube was recommending videos on mushrooms, even though I hadn't searched for anything related to the topic. Facebook exhibited a similar behavior. The only platform that did not recommend anything related to the subject at that time was Instagram.

A good recommendation would be whenever YouTube suggests a card game to me. One of my general interests is card games, and I play multiple trading card games, as well as other card games like poker.

There are many instances where YouTube recommends something that I'm not interested in at all, such as the strange mobile game ads that are hypersexualized and just outright weird. The game play is never interesting.

There are many things that assist individuals with disabilities nowadays, but it doesn't necessarily change the way people perceive those with disabilities. As someone with high-functioning autism, there is always someone saying, 'He doesn't seem right,' based on certain actions, even through the mask that I put on. I don't put too much effort into this mask anymore because acting 'normal' is exhausting and, from my perspective, seemingly pointless.

As far as I'm aware, there is only one significant factor aiding individuals on the autism spectrum, and that is catching it early and providing extensive therapy – something I didn't receive because people often assumed I was just a kid having fun. I've always been someone who mimics actions or expresses myself without speaking, using expressions rather than words. I feel that autism is under explored, and I've written a few research papers on the subject. I wonder about the types of technology that could benefit individuals on the spectrum today and where we could explore to address this issue.

I've seen a few knock-off websites before, and the one thing that stood out, indicating it wasn't to be trusted, was that after I entered my email and password, it asked for my social security number. You may come across websites that resemble Amazon, UPS, and so on. However, this website wasn't even well-developed. As I've gotten older, it's easier to identify websites created by individuals with malicious intentions.

The world is such a scary place. I wonder if two-factor authentication and my three rotating passwords are enough to protect my private information. I often get spam mail from scammers, which potentially indicates that these emails are in a database for everyone to see. Just today, an old middle school email of mine got an email from PayPal saying I sent over $2,000 in PayPal. It asked to call this number if you didn't make this purchase. I checked my bank account in a panic, and there wasn't a single charge. There are also many false delivery service scam emails.

Wondering which would take more effort for Kellogg: would it take less time to hire new employees or to provide them with better working conditions? It's sad to think of what businesses would do if it means making a quick million dollars rather than seeing their employees as individuals. The protest method itself is clever and something I'd personally be afraid to take part in because of the fear of legal consequences.

Note: If Kellogg were to hire new employees, would they even care about the quality of the employee? Assuming the amount of time it would take to replace 1,400 employees seems pricey from a business point of view.

Google knows a fair bit about me: my age, income, college attendance, and much more. One shocking thing is that Google assumes I'm fluent in two languages, perhaps because I have about a year's worth of coding experience in both Python and Java. However, I guess it's not completely wrong; I'm currently practicing German for when I move to Leipzig after college. Google doesn't know my house size, though I have Googled things in the past that should have given that away. It's also unsure of my employment status. It's good to know that even Google isn't always correct about the people using the website. Personally, I'm fully aware of it because Google gives me some of the worst ads that barely relate to any of my interests at all.

The one lesson I learned early on is never to mess with K-pop stans; they will relentlessly troll you until you either delete your account or face even worse consequences. I recall a creator who, with as little as a negative comment on a picture of a K-pop singer, endured harassment from K-pop fans for a little over two years, as per their shared experience. I wouldn't be surprised if, each time someone comes across that comment (unless it was deleted), they miss no opportunity to attack the creator, defending their para-social relationship with the pop star.

This type of trolling is prevalent in the anime and manga communities, and it becomes particularly peculiar when ingroup members engage in arguments, especially when their positions are incorrect compared to what the outgroup is asserting.

An illustrative incident occurred within the Naruto community, of which I was once an active member. However, my enthusiasm for Naruto diminished after the original series concluded, and Shippuden received less attention in the West, ultimately not living up to the original's standards.

Fans within the community often dispute factual statements from light novels, which constitute canon content, simply because the information wasn't presented in the anime or manga but in a light novel. Despite my extensive knowledge of media, derived from my interest in film study and character analysis, I've observed fans rejecting accurate information simply because it doesn't align with their interpretation of events in a specific medium. This resistance persists even when the information is well-explained during movie reviews or character analyses, demonstrating a reluctance to accept ideas that challenge their preconceived notions.

This still happens quite frequently, which is amusing. On Twitter, people often notice when a content creator engages in something that doesn't align with their own views. This observation is sometimes blown out of proportion, leading the creator to clarify that it's not reflective of reality; they simply enjoy telling stories.

While I can't pinpoint that specific incident, there has been recent drama surrounding Pokimane and her overpriced cookies. It was alleged that these cookies were already available from another company, with the only differences being the price and the claim that they contained vitamin D due to added mushroom powder, suggesting health benefits.

This incident sparked backlash because she came across as very condescending, which didn't sit well with people. Personally, I'm not surprised that these cookies were overpriced; merchandise from content creators often tends to be somewhat expensive for what you're getting and should primarily serve to support that specific creator.

Her actions didn't seem authentic, and it felt like her apology was only a move to pacify the media and move on from what has been labeled as a scam.

This is a phenomenon frequently observed on social media platforms like YouTube comments, Twitter, and Reddit—anywhere that allows users to post comments. Some individuals feel comfortable using the N-word even if they are not black, viewing it as harmless in today's context.

As a mixed-race black man, I understand that within the black community, the word is often used as a term of endearment—a term that has been reclaimed and its meaning transformed. I've experienced instances where the N-word is thrown at me casually, akin to saying "What's up," and discerning the intent often depends on the tone used.

The meaning of the word can vary significantly based on who is saying it, and it feels disingenuous for individuals of a different race to claim ownership of a word reclaimed by a specific group.

Many argue that it's unfair to be prohibited from using the word, and as a black, light-skinned male, I often encounter statements like "You aren't black enough," despite growing up in a predominantly black culture. This sometimes triggers a mini identity crisis for me.

One could argue that there's a fear among some people that I might not be authentic in wanting to use a word that, in their view, carries a different meaning and power depending on the person.

I have reservations about 4chan, but whenever it's mentioned, I find myself wanting to read a few threads to form my own judgment. There have been some horrific stories circulating about 4chan and the content shared on the platform. The main reason I haven't checked it out is because of how people talk about it.

4chan doesn't strike me as a website that cool people would use, and am I cool? Well, nah, I'm a complete nerd, but that's old Markell. A website without rules or restrictions sounds horrible, especially considering how confident people can get when behind a screen. I'm a fairly shy person when I'm not on stage.

If individuals were able to express whatever they wanted freely on the internet, there would likely be numerous stories of people complaining about controversial topics. It would be much harder to deny many things, such as racism, sexism, and homophobia, which some believe don't exist anymore. If you dig deep enough, you could pull up recent comments that say otherwise.

Then again, the other thing to consider is that there are about 8.1 billion people, and the majority are not likely to post terrible things online, right?

During lab 2, I found myself wondering, "How do they expect us to accomplish this task without loops?" Loops and lists make everything in programming easier. I remember programming at North Seattle College, and Bill Barry would get mad at me for Googling something and adding it to my code. It resulted in a small deduction, but it made me realize how many lines of code lists and loops could reduce, rather than using another method that might take longer. For example, instead of using print() or display() for multiple posts before display() -> and then sleep() several times, you could use a loop to write 7 different posts and send them to Reddit, reducing 14 lines of code to 7 or fewer. Personally, I struggle with loop syntax compared to arrays and lists, and even something like file I/O. That's one reason why I decided to take this class and hopefully learn more about informatics for my next legendary essay, which hopefully doesn't get denied.

I don’t dislike Bill at all if that’s what you got from this. He was one of the most challenging professors but also rewarding. He limited which code we could use in a project, giving us tasks that would be easier with a list, array, or loop, and then emphasized the need for conciseness to reduce the number of bugs. He taught the class as if we were Microsoft employees, solving problems with a strict class style guide. One difference between his class and classes at the University of Washington is that some lines of code displayed on class slides are confusing to me because they have multiple lines that almost look identical to something you'd write in Java, when realistically in Python, you could write all of that in just a single line.

Googling introduced me to many different codes, and there are numerous ways to solve a single problem when programming. Often, there is code that isn’t pretty to look at and not as easy to read, which I think Bill wanted his students to avoid, given his background as a former Microsoft employee.

One way to solve this problem of the apples having a difference in size we could measure their dimensions, taking into consideration the apple's circumference, and diameter, or even weighing the apple. However, for simplicity, we can establish a standard size for granny smith apples given out during snack time to weigh 8 ounces per apple. This standardized approach ensures that each person receives about the same amount of apple per bite.

We could connect this to programming using the min() and man() functions and use each of the apple's weights and assign them a number based on the measurement.

apples = [8, 8, 9, 8, 7]

maximum = max(apples) print(maximum)

minimum = min(apples) print(minimum)

filtered = [apple for apple in apples if apple == 8] print(filtered)

A code that finds the min and the max apples in size and then filters them out if it doesn’t equal 8 ounces. This code should filter out and help the teachers know which apples to keep or throw out, or if you want to fool a kid just grab an apple of about the same size and cut it into smaller pieces problem solved.

I would quickly identify this as fake news. Given the substantial number of individuals on social media at any given time, generating a flood of bots wouldn't be challenging. My assumption is that there might be more bots than actual people on Earth due to the diverse uses of bots.

When it comes to data, it's crucial to consider that information could be fabricated. For instance, when examining the statement "Twitter said that spam bots represent less than 5%," Google asserts that the 5% mentioned refers to monetizable user accounts, and the actual bot population on Twitter ranges from 21-29%. This implies that the misleading data was intentionally provided to mislead Elon Musk with a false statistic, making Twitter appear more valuable inflating the price.

This reminds me of the situation happening in connection with the movie "Scream 7." Melissa Barrera, who portrays the successor to Sidney Prescott in the latest "Scream" movies, was dismissed for sharing "an antisemitic trope that suggests Jews control the media." Despite the departure of the two main sisters from the project, "Scream" aimed to move forward with the production. Melissa appeared to be encouraging people to think for themselves, questioning why Western media doesn't cover what's happening on the other side.

Regarding Justine, there isn't much information available to form an opinion. However, based on what little we know, she appears to be irredeemable in this situation. As for Justine Sacco's statement, I'm uncertain about its exact meaning, but it seems to convey a sense of superiority over Africans due to her being white, suggesting an immunity to AIDS. I could be mistaken, but that's the impression I get from the post, given my limited knowledge of Africa in 2013.

When it comes to ethical theories, I find Virtue Ethics particularly appealing as it aligns well with my own values and beliefs. I don’t see everything as just good or bad. I question individual actions and think about the other person’s perspective, looking for a middle ground when considering their actions and even my own actions that might have caused them to respond in a negative way. It focuses on the individual’s values and how it affects the people around them. Depending on the social context, people might think differently than you. I was born in Seattle, and it would be considered a norm violation to speak to someone passing by; in a place like Kenya, it wouldn’t be a big deal.

Phronesis, or practical wisdom, is crucial for making rational decisions based on experience. If you were to travel from Seattle to Kenya, how would that play out, and would you change your morals to reflect the morals of that specific culture? Virtue ethics is not about agreeing to a set of rules, making it a flexible framework compared to Consequentialism, which aims to make the most people happy and would probably thrive in a different location, and Deontology, which believes in absolute moral rules.

There are multiple reasons why someone might want to create a bot. Using a bot can assist with handling tedious tasks, such as mass deleting multiple emails at once, moderating servers, promoting products, or even sharing sketchy links. Bots can also be employed to deceive individuals into interacting with content, as the person on the receiving end might mistakenly believe the bot is human.

There's a bot called Dyno that simplifies Discord server management. It offers a range of tools to assist content creators, allowing them to kick, ban, mute, or warn community members. Dyno can also automatically assign roles, enable streamers to log server events, execute custom commands, and more. This bot essentially performs the tasks of a regular moderator, with the additional benefit of music commands, although it's worth noting that playing music in a server without a bot is also possible.

The bot can handle a large number of bad actors simultaneously and enables community members to choose their own roles. This eliminates the need for a moderator or the server owner to click on each individual name and assign roles, or ban manually.