This source describes Albert Einstein's role in the development of atomic weapons during World War II. It clarifies that his assistance was quite "indirect" since he didn't actually have the security clearance to work on the project. The source details Einstein's feelings toward the bomb, and how he only advocated for its development so that the Nazis didn't build one first.

     If I could magically change anything about the way people behave on social media, I would make people act online as if they had to say what they wanted to say to someone to their face. This wouldn't fix, but would resolve a lot of the harassment that people face online because of users' perceived anonymity and exemption from typical social consequences. This change would result in overall more positive social interactions on social media sites.

     This source describes the multiple uses and definitions of the term "cornering a market." Its meaning varies from establishing a dominating or high majority share within a particular market area to having so much stock so as to effectively control the market's price. The site notes that this activity can be illegal when it annihilates any chance for competition within the market.

     I live in the United States of America, and since it is a capitalist economy, it pervades virtually all aspects of my life. The food I buy is determined by what is available near me, and what is available near me has been determined by previous competition between stores and businesses in my area. Businesses are always competing for my money and what I spend it on, whether it be textbooks for school, clothes, or entertainment.

     This post describes differing audience reactions to Jimmy Kimmel's Halloween candy prank, where some view it as harmless others view it as potentially traumatic. The author warns that children are at different levels of brain development at different ages, and ideally this prank should be avoided if the victim is below ten years old. Additionally, the author notes that while this prank can cause unnecessary problems and emotional distress in children, it is not an example of trauma.

     I imagine a retracted tweet as having an exclamation mark within a circle at the top of the post, preceding text that says: "This author has rescinded the content of this post." Additionally, the post background might have a slight grey lowlight instead of a traditionally white background. This would help to distinguish retracted posts but not necessarily call large attention to them.

     This source describes the hub within which 4chan harbors hate-mongers and inter-site trolls. A study of 8 million posts on 4chan's political board by the article's authors found that comments posted on YouTube videos recently linked to the site's political board were more likely to contain offensive content, suggesting that 4chan plays a major role in implanting hateful ideas across the internet. Additionally, 4chan users used the names of large tech companies as euphemisms for cultural groups in an attempt to dodge anti-trolling safeguards.

     I often witness people online harassing people in the comments of their videos or posts after they did something wrong, or if the perpetrators just don't like the person. I have seen multiple attempts of people inauthentically portraying themselves as other people, for example, people will try to pose as someone else by making an account, using someone else's name and profile picture, and try to follow the people that the other person follows in an attempt to either make them look bad or hack their main account. I have in one instance seen my friend's account get hacked, and the hacker started posting offensive content that my friend would never post.

     This source describes the findings of a study by Purdue University on the demographics and contribution of Wikipedia users. It found not only that most of the editors were male (91%) but that only 1% of editors contributed to over three quarters of the site's articles. Additionally, the site notes that the study's researchers recommend that Wikipedia's goal should not be to increase the total amount of editors, but to diversify its editor base with people of different genders and ethnicities.

     I have participated in crowdsourcing online by way of being an editor on Wookieepedia. Wookieepedia is an online encyclopedia for the Star Wars Fandom and, like Wikipedia, allows anybody with an account to make edits to the site's articles. The objective given to the crowd in this instance is to log all information about elements of the Star Wars franchise on this website.

     This source describes through what process the Georgia Institute of Technology studied Reddit's toxic subreddit bans to answer the question of if it worked to decrease hate speech. Through analyzing users on the toxic subreddits that were banned, as well as users on hate subreddits that were not banned, they found that although many jumped ship from Reddit, the users who stayed showed a significant decrease in the amount of hate speech they engaged in. Additionally, it notes that while it may not have eliminated racism and hate on a cultural scale, it did make it harder to engage in those activities on Reddit's platform.

     I have reported posts and comments that violate social media platform rules. I usually found these types of replies on posts that concerned current politics and political figures. I also have some experience as a content moderator when I was a Discord moderator on an attached discord server for the Star Wars Wikipedia "Wookieepedia." Users would mention me regarding a rule violation, and I'd determine how best to handle the situation to make sure everyone had fun and were respecting each other.

     I have found that social media can be very bad for my mental health, in that it can compound pre-existing negative feelings about oneself and perpetuate them. I experienced this most strongly when I was going through a breakup, and to feel better I spent more time on Instagram, but in return Instagram was just showing me more sad/negative content. I've also found that social media also has a strong effect in changing my mood, usually for the worse.

     This source describes the author's early realization that the internet could be used to talk to other people about the books they've read. Beyond books, it could be used to connect different people and make new friends. The author professionally studies the internet, and contrary to popular belief says that our worlds might be more negative and isolating if we weren't connected via the internet.

     This source describes an incident in which Trump retweeted a quote from Benito Mussolini that was posted by a bot that posts his quotes. The article expands upon this by dictating how Trump sees negative attention as better than no attention. It goes on to say that tech companies are working to "automate [user's] attention" on social media sites so that their profits don't subside.

     I've seen other people attempt to go viral using a number of little "tricks." One of these involves cutting your video and removing the "awkward" pauses, breaths, or other breaks between your speaking, so that the video is shorter and more digestible for users with shorter attention spans. Another method people use is overlaying trending music or audio bites on their video or meme to make it more humorous or enjoyable for the viewer.

     This post details the ethical implications of the effect weighing the "angry" emoji on Facebook 5 times higher than the "like" had on its users. It was found that since the weighing was modified, users who used the angry emoji were more often exposed to posts that would derive the same reaction from them such as misinformation and violence, instead of having them suppressed. Currently, the angry emoji is weighed as zero, resulting in more optimal experiences for users and no change in the user's time spent on the platform, despite fears that changing the angry emoji's weight might impact Facebook's profitability.

     I've had a few experiences of social media sites making particularly bad recommendations for me, including videos depicting violent tragedies and death. Fortunately, most social media sites have a feature that allows you to mark your disinterest in a particular recommendation. I've also been aware that sites remember when you "hover" over a post even if you didn't directly interact with it, and so whenever I find that a post makes me uncomfortable, I try to move on as quick as possible so as to not receive more posts like that in the future.

     This source describes the legality and effectiveness of the practice of conversion therapy. As of 2023, 22+ US states and territories have laws against the practice of conversion therapy on LGBTQ+ individuals. Additionally, it was found that not only does this practice not work to change gender identity or sexual orientation, but it also actively puts subjected individuals under a higher risk of depression, drug use, and suicide.

     An example of another ability-based design on social media is text descriptions of posted images for people who are blind/have vision disabilities. If an image has a corresponding text description, a computer program can read that text aloud in a voice so that the blind person can understand what is in the image. On Reddit there is a bot that detects when a user submits a post with an image on a member subreddit but does not include a text description. When this happens, the bot notifies other users in a dedicated subreddit who comment on the original poster's post and includes a text description of the posted image.

     This article details the risks that are posed when parents post photos of their children online. While many parents believe only their friends and family will see these intimate photos, it can often fall into the hands of people with bad intentions. As this practice continues, this source says that an increase in child legal cases against their parents and the photos they posted will increase.

     The fact that Facebook collects and infers data about people who are not users on their platform kind of irks me. People who do not use a particular platform may not use it for a variety of other reasons than they simply lack awareness of the site, and not being on the platform in of itself is a withholding of consent to data collection. I do not think Facebook should engage in this practice.

     This source describes the three methods in which researchers have suggested people use their data to keep tech companies in check. These include data strikes, data poisoning, and conscious data contributing. The first entails somehow deleting your data from a site or platform, the next using secondary applications to misdirect advertisement algorithms, and the last providing authentic data to a company's competitor.

     What was accurate about my Google ad profile was that I'm a male, I speak English, and that I'm not a parent. What was inaccurate was my age, my income, and my home ownership status. Personally, I'm surprised by how much information Google has been able to glean about me from my activity, especially considering that I don't use the site that much.

     This source details the events following the release of the smart phone application iWatch Dallas by the Dallas Police Department, intended for users to document illegal activity at George Floyd protests. Members of the K-Pop fandom swarmed the app, publishing low-rating reviews and uploading music videos. The source also clarifies that the app's temporary outage was either due to the high traffic or the police department taking it out of service.

     While I partially agree with Film Crit Hulk that "skilled moderation" should be utilized in the disempowerment of online trolls, I remain of the persuasion that the best way someone can deal with a troll is to report them (or directly contact an administrator), block them, and not respond to them. I've had my fair share of experiences with trolls in the past and it took me a minute to figure out that it's easy to preserve your own mental well-being when you detach yourself from online interactions and not engage in the mind game the troll wishes to play. The amusement they derive from the reaction you give them is intoxicating and addictive; you wouldn't give an alcoholic more liquor, don't give a troll your time.

     This source is a statement released by Twitter outlining the justification for banning Donald Trump after his activity on the site suggesting support for the people who violently attacked the capitol of the United States on January 6th, 2021. The source cites two tweets from Trump as grounds for a permanent ban, one labeling the attackers as patriots and the other stating that he will not attend Biden's upcoming inauguration. The source states that the tweets violated the site's "Glorification of Violence Policy" in particular.

     This "incentive" not to betray someone seemingly grows less and less of an incentive as the amount of power you wield grows (wealth, social status, executive stake in large businesses like social media, etc.). There is less of a danger to you if the person you betrayed is limited in their abilities to potentially retaliate due to the shock of inauthenticity. Conversely, if you depend on that type of person for your livelihood (social media user) and you commit this offense against enough people, the aforementioned incentive never diminished in the first place.

     I often hear Myspace as being the precursor to Facebook in many different facets. Regarding comedy, I recall hearing that it gave many comedians their start, as there were video skit competitions hosted on Myspace that of course involved a large number of viewers and monetary prizes. I am still unsure of how exactly Myspace differed from other sites at the time.

     The "Web 1.0" subtopic of the History subsection of the Web 2.0 Wikipedia page outlines the specific functions, uses, and distinctions of the early social sites compared to those after the turn of the century. Of particular interest is the commenting function users were capable of with a "guestbook" on a user's personal page. Due to technology at the time, if comments were too long on a user's multiple pages, the website would slow down significantly.

     For the profile page of an Instagram user, the handle, name, and biography may be represented using strings. The number of posts, follower count, and following count may use integers. The biography may be a simplification of reality since it does not represent the user's voice, or how they'd pronounce their text. While names can be written in other languages, Instagram handles can only be written with English letters. All of this initial data is directly provided by the user.

     This article from The Onion is a satirical replication of the aforementioned "pernicious ignorance" one may have when deciding to post about travel abroad experiences they have had without regard for the implications of posting other people online. It highlights the traveler's cognitive dissonance between valuing the confidentiality of the people/children they meet/help and their own want for praise and recognition for a good deed. This reminds me of, and I feel is similar to, the question of whether or not babies should be posted online or not, by their parents or others. The posters may think it is harmless and what matters is the joy they'll feel when others see this cute baby, but the baby that grows up may feel very uncomfortable with the fact that a significant portion of their childhood was documented online for people to see.

     This source describes the findings of a research paper by a USC professor on the authenticity of negative fan reactions to Rian Johnson's Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi. The main points presented here are that about half of the negative tweets about the movie were either not posted by humans or were Russian purveyors, and that the aversion to the prominent political ideas in this film that are little different from previous Star Wars films can be attributed to political polarization caused by Trump's presidency. When this film first came out, I remember asking my friends what they didn't like about it, and to me it seemed like they had parroted a lot of the stuff that was being said about it online; no one seemed to have a reason that stemmed from their own personal observations for not liking it.

     In my research on the different varieties of Twitter bots, one that particularly piqued my interest was <a data-hyp-mention="" data-userid="acct:NYPDedits@hypothes.is">@NYPDedits</a>. This bot constantly watches the recent edit history of articles on Wikipedia for edits written by IP addresses that originate from the New York City Police Department, and posts when these edits are made. I like this bot because it plays an important role in keeping law enforcement accountable, especially when concealment of wrongdoing by the police department is attempted.

     Another definition of Ubuntu (according to the Montreal AI Ethics Institute) is that "An act is wrong---only if it fails to honor those that commune or [are to be] communed with." This suggests that the way one makes others feel is directly indicative of the type of person they are. One who is not actively conscious of their effect on other people does not embody the ethical framework of Ubuntu.

     I believe the people who spoke with Kumail Nanjiani didn't have answers to his questions about ethical implications, because perhaps humanities studies were not as emphasized as technical training within their higher education programs. I myself have a friend in engineering who doesn't necessarily have time to take classes that aren't STEM related. This lack of awareness of possible ethical issues may be a consequence of imbalanced studies.