35 Matching Annotations
  1. Last 7 days
    1. Most programming languages are based in English, and there are very few non-English programming languages, and those that exist are rarely used. The reason few non-English programming languages exist is due to the network effect, which we mentioned last chapter. Once English became the standard language for programming, people who learn programming learn English (or enough to program with it). Attempts to create a non-English programming language face an uphill battle, since even those that know that language would still have to re-learn all their programming terms in the non-English language.

      The network effect means that once English became the standard, everyone had to learn it to participate in programming, making it very hard for non-English programming languages to gain traction. Even native speakers of other languages would face challenges, as they would have to relearn terms they already know in English. This makes me reflect on how deeply language and technology are intertwined and how this might create barriers for people who don’t speak English fluently.

    1. In capitalism, business decisions are accountable to the people who own the business. In a publicly traded business, that is the shareholders. The more money someone has invested in a company, the more say they have. And generally in a capitalist system, the rich have the most say in what happens (both as business owners and customers), and the poor have very little say in what happens.

      Shareholders, who own parts of the business, have decision-making power based on how much money they’ve invested, meaning the rich have the most influence. From my perspective, this system seems unfair to the poor, who have little say despite being impacted by business decisions, like when companies prioritize profits over employee wages or environmental concerns.

  2. Nov 2024
    1. While public criticism and shaming have always been a part of human culture, the Internet and social media have created new ways of doing so.

      Unlike traditional environments, where shaming is limited to smaller communities, online platforms can instantly impact millions of people with a single post or comment. For example, viral “call-out” posts can expose someone's mistakes to a global audience, often leading to lasting consequences far beyond the initial criticism.

    1. In at least some views about shame and childhood1, shame and guilt hold different roles in childhood development: Shame is the feeling that “I am bad,” and the natural response to shame is for the individual to hide, or the community to ostracize the person.

      The distinction between shame and guilt in childhood is fascinating. Shame often leads to isolation, like when a child avoids others after being scolded. For example, I remember a classmate who withdrew from group activities after being publicly criticized, which shows how shame can affect self-perception and social interactions.

    1. Social media then allows new ways for crowd harassment to occur. Crowd harassment includes all the forms of individual harassment we already mentioned (like bullying, stalking, etc.), but done by a group of people. Additionally, we can consider the following forms of crowd harassment: Dogpiling: When a crowd of people targets or harasses the same person.

      I’ve noticed how social media can create new ways for crowd harassment to happen. For example, I’ve seen someone get dogpiled online, where hundreds of people sent hateful comments to them just because they shared an unpopular opinion. It’s like bullying or stalking but amplified because it’s done by a large group, making it even harder to deal with.

    1. There are many methods by which through social media. This can be done privately through things like: Bullying: like sending mean messages through DMs

      I’ve seen how social media can be used negatively, like when someone sends mean messages through private DMs. For example, a classmate once received cruel comments about their appearance, which really hurt their confidence. This shows how bullying can happen even in private spaces online.

    1. When social media users work together, we can consider what problem they are solving. For example, for some of the Tiktok Duet videos from the virality chapter, the “problem” would be something like “how do we create music out of this source video” and the different musicians contribute their own piece to the solution

      When social media users collaborate, they often focus on solving a creative or communal "problem." For example, with some Tiktok Duet videos, the challenge might be “how to build a song around this original video,” with different musicians adding their unique parts to create a shared musical piece. This collective effort reflects how users creatively contribute to a common goal.

    1. Because of these (and other) differences, different forms of communication might be preferable for different tasks. For example, you might send an email to the person sitting next at work to you if you want to keep an archive of the communication (which is also conveniently grouped into email threads). Or you might send a text message to the person sitting next to you if you are criticizing the teacher, but want to do so discretely, so the teacher doesn’t notice. These different forms of communication can then support different methods of crowdsourcing.

      Different forms of communication suit different needs. For instance, I might email my colleague about a project update so I can keep a record of it. On the other hand, if I have quick feedback or a discreet opinion to share, I might use a direct message instead. Each method has its own purpose and can shape how we collaborate and gather input from others.

    1. After a company starts working on moderation, they might decide to invest in teams specifically dedicated to content moderation.

      This must be the most efficient way to do content moderation, the only thing to consider is the company's operating costs, so many companies do not want to do this either!

    1. Another category is content that users or advertisers might find offensive. If users see things that offend them too often, they might leave the site, and if advertisers see their ads next to too much offensive content, they might stop paying for ads on the site.

      Such messages are, I think, the most common on the whole site. Because everyone can publish any content on the Internet without any obstacles, when some extremists publish some potentially offensive messages, their remarks may make some Internet users feel “violated” and quit using the Internet, which is a result that advertisers do not want to see! This is an outcome that advertisers do not want to see, because it will make their advertisements less effective.

    1. Sometimes people will harm their bodies (called “self-harm”) as a way of expressing or trying to deal with negative emotions or situations.

      Self-harm is a harmful and dangerous way for people to express deep emotions or relieve stress. Some posts on social media can also be considered a form of "self-harm" online, as they may create or encourage negative communities, potentially leading to effects that are as damaging as physical harm.

    1. people walked with their heads up, looking at the water, the sky, the sand” — now, “they often walk with their heads down, typing.”

      With the rapid growth of technology and the social media industry, daily life is changing significantly. People are now more inclined to engage with their devices, even while walking, rather than staying idle. This trend amplifies the influence of social media on our lives.

    1. When physical mail was dominant in the 1900s, one type of mail that spread around the US was a chain letter. Chain letters were letters that instructed the recipient to make their own copies of the letter and send them to people they knew.

      Mentioning about the Chain letters in the past, this is the dominant way for people to transfer information and is also the most convenient way. However, using the chain letters wasting people's time and effort for make the letters transferred. That's the reason why people are getting rid of them when time goes by.

    1. A meme is a piece of culture that might reproduce in an evolutionary fashion, like a hummable tune that someone hears and starts humming to themselves, perhaps changing it, and then others overhearing next. In this view, any piece of human culture can be considered a meme that is spreading (or failing to spread) according to evolutionary forces.

      Imagine if every person who heard it felt inspired to put their own twist on it. In this way, memes aren’t just spreading unchanged; they’re evolving with each interaction, becoming richer or more varied as they pass through different minds.

  3. Oct 2024
    1. Automated reminders can go poorly when they give users unwanted or painful reminders, such as for miscarriages, funerals, or break-ups

      I’ve experienced automated reminders going wrong when they bring up painful memories, like reminders about a missed event, a funeral, or even an old relationship. It can feel insensitive and make a tough moment even harder.

    2. Advertisements can go poorly if they become part of discrimination (like only showing housing ads to certain demographics of people), or reveal private information (like revealing to a family that someone is pregnant)

      I've seen ads go wrong when they target only certain groups—like when only some people see housing ads, which feels unfair. I’ve also had ads reveal private information, like hinting at a pregnancy in front of family.

    1. What experiences do you have of social media sites making particularly bad recommendations for you?

      I've had social media recommend visual-heavy content without captions or descriptions, making it hard to engage. Sometimes, brief interactions with niche topics lead to an overload of similar content, ignoring accessibility settings and real preferences.

    1. And, in general, cultures shift in many ways all the time, making things better or worse for different disabled people.

      I once saw a woman in a handicapped parking lot accusing a seemingly “able-bodied” person of parking in a handicapped parking lot in a car with a “handicapped sign”, arguing that the driver was not handicapped, and that normal people were not handicapped. Parking in a disabled parking space is a use of public resources, which made the woman very unhappy, and at the same time caused an argument, which is the disadvantage of such a policy, the disabled need to self-certify that they are disabled in order to enjoy the right to be entitled to, which is not right.

    1. While we have our concerns about the privacy of our information, we often share it with social media platforms under the understanding that they will hold that information securely. But social media companies often fail at keeping our information secure.

      For Internet users, the possibility of personal information leakage is always there, and there is no way for us as individuals to ensure that our information will be completely and thoroughly protected by companies and governments, so cybersecurity and cyber information leakage are both a concern for people.

    1. There are many reasons, both good and bad, that we might want to keep information private.

      Privacy is complex and that people might seek it for morally sound or questionable reasons. That's the reflection of how cautious and concerned people have on security of their private information online.

    1. One of the main goals of social media sites is to increase the time users are spending on their social media sites.

      By learning about a range of users, social media platforms can precisely push information and content to users' preferences, a practice that can go a long way toward ensuring that users spend time using social media while increasing advertising revenue.

    1. For example, social media data about who you are friends with might be used to infer your sexual orientation. Social media data might also be used to infer people’s:

      After a series of learning, a machine can infer people's race by using some relevant data. For example, the race of a social media user can be easily determined based on the common language used in a person's online posts

    1. If the immediate goal of the action of trolling is to cause disruption or provoke emotional reactions, what is it that makes people want to do this disruption or provoking of emotional reactions?

      All of the ones mentioned below could be the purpose of trolling, but such a purpose is more about fulfilling certain desires of the publisher, such as wishing to make themselves more popular through this.

    2. Trolling is when an Internet user posts inauthentically (often false, upsetting, or strange) with the goal of causing disruption or provoking an emotional reaction.

      Trolling has always existed, especially in the last few years, and the recent increase in internet surveillance has only made it less common, but before that people were trolling for their own specific purposes, so people need to be on their guard.

    1. That means that both of us have an incentive not to betray or take advantage of each other, for our mutual protection.

      Long-standing social relations have led to the result that direct communication between people and cooperation is based on honesty, so that society can develop in the long term, therefore, when one of the two parties has a problem with honesty, it will immediately lead to a breakdown of the relationship and the transaction stops, which is why the society has to make rules to restrain people.

    2. Though, even after users discovered it was fictional, the channel continued to grow in popularity.

      When people have realized that the girl's behavior is acting, virtual and not real, why do they continue to watch while allowing the girl's channel to continue to explode in popularity, my personal opinion is that on the internet, the line of judging authenticity has become relatively blurred as most of the views are that most of the content on the internet is virtual, and that when the girl's behavior doesn't live up to the fraudulent When the girl's behavior does not amount to fraud, people will choose to forgive her.

    1. 2003 saw the launch of several popular social networking services: Friendster, Myspace, and LinkedIn. These were websites where the primary purpose was to build personal profiles and create a network of connections with other people, and communicate with them. Facebook was launched in 2004 and soon put most of its competitors out of business, while YouTube, launched in 2005 became a different sort of social networking site built around video.

      In today's society, the social media platforms we use have strong social attributes. People utilize social media to showcase themselves, share their lives, and network with others. Platforms like YouTube, as a form of social media, take a more innovative approach by delivering information through videos, offering a more dynamic and multifaceted way to convey content.

    1. In the 1980s and 1990s, Bulletin board system (BBS) provided more communal ways of communicating and sharing messages. In these systems, someone would start a “thread” by posting an initial message. Others could reply to the previous set of messages in the thread.

      The Bulletin Board System (BBS) is still a popular way to transmit information today. Unlike the monotonous bulletin boards of the past, when we visit any modern popular website, we often find such message boards present.

    1. As a social media user, we hope you learn how social media sites influence you, from how your data gets used or abused, to how harassment and spam bots operate, to how platforms manipulate your emotions and mental state.

      Using social media nowadays becoming the cautious behavior since so many spam bots are hiding behind the internet potentially. That is also the drawbacks of identity verified social medias. We need to stay cautious and clear.A

    1. When looking at real-life data claims and datasets, you will likely run into many different problems and pitfalls in using that data. Any dataset you find might have:

      As students studying data science, there are many situations where we cannot come across perfect databases, missing data, bias or uncertainty are very common data issues and we need to be alert at all times, and when we encounter these data issues, we need to perform a series of data cleansing to solve the problem

    1. In most cases, after the initial data representation is created, the computer runs a compression algorithm, which takes the image, sound, or video, and finds a way of storing it in much less computer memory, often losing some of the quality when doing so.

      This sentence simply summarizes how computers run algorithms to compress the memory of an image, sound or video, its saves memory but loses quality, the following icon is a more graphic representation of this feature and is very interesting

    1. On the other hand, some bots are made with the intention of harming, countering, or deceiving others. For example, people use bots to spam advertisements at people. You can use bots as a way of buying fake followers, or making fake crowds that appear to support a cause (called Astroturfing).

      Seeing how antagonistic bots can create fake support or spam ads makes me more aware of how automation can be misused, and it reminds me to be cautious when interacting with online content.

    1. We will not consider those to be bots, since they aren’t run by a computer.

      I was attempting to use code to automate publishing tweets on Reddit, but the website detected my activity, and my account was banned. I'm now wondering how I can prevent this in the future when running a bot. How can I make the bot’s actions more discreet and avoid detection?

    1. John Hartley points out that you could consider almost all of culture as “social media.”

      I really like this definition of referring to platforms involving computers, the internet, communication, and connecting people as "social media." This approach highlights its strong social nature, as people use these mediums to exchange information and enhance social interaction, much like another version of society, but existing online. Therefore, "social media" possesses the same societal attributes.

    1. Rejects Confucian focus on ceremonies/rituals. Prefers spontaneity and play.

      Based on the general patterns in the history of world religions, most religions tend to have exclusivity. However, Confucianism emphasizes placing others at the center, even advocating for self-sacrifice to benefit others. In contrast, Taoism resists this idea and focuses on the importance of individual life, taking personal values as its foundation. Taoism explores how to achieve spiritual happiness and the immortality of life, rather than putting others first.