If I could magically change something about how social media sites are designed, my top priority would be ensuring the ethical handling of data to address concerns about users feeling uncomfortable about their data usage. This involves giving users greater control over their personal information, being transparent about data collection, and offering clear insights into how the app uses the gathered data.

The main thing I took away from this course was the multitude of ethical considerations taken into account when implementing new features or actions within a social media application. Gaining deeper insights into the workings and purpose of social media has broadened my perspective on understanding how technology can influence and shape our digital interactions and society as a whole. It has also highlighted the potential dangers and concerns associated with information collection.

As a child, I initially thought programming languages were translations of other languages, but I soon discovered that this wasn't the case when I began learning how to code. Given that English was the language of choice in the early development of programming languages, it makes sense that many programs were designed using the same foundation. However, I believe that to promote global learning and ensure efficient access to this skill, we should explore ways to make coding more accessible in languages other than English.

I hadn't encountered the term 'Surveillance Capitalism' until this chapter. The extent of data and information retained by social media platforms is astonishing, and their manipulation of it for profit through personalized ads is worrisome. Facebook, being a well-established platform, has excelled in this venture, while Twitter is currently grappling with challenges, even before the acquisition by Elon.

With cancel culture prevalent throughout the internet, the question of what truly qualifies as something needing to be canceled has become prominent. Nazis undoubtedly committed horrific and objectively unforgivable acts, marking a dark period in history. However, individuals who come from the same family associated with them are often subjected to continuous harassment, even though they may have never endorsed or honored the terrible acts committed by their ancestors or had any connection to them.

I believe the primary purpose of public shaming is to either bring someone under control or inform them of their misbehavior. There's no justification for continuously shaming someone throughout their entire life, especially when there's no major connection with you. This is particularly true when it involves harassing the person's connections, such as family and friends.

I believe that crowd harassment can be justified when used to defend marginalized groups facing discriminatory scenarios. In many instances, the situations where a marginalized group is under attack can be considered forms of harassment themselves. Employing methods such as crowd intervention may be justifiable as a means to counteract these situations and, ideally, educate others about understanding and respecting diversity in society. It's important to note, however, that this does not suggest using the same approach in every scenario to resolve issues.

While it's true that a person could easily block the initial account of the harasser, I've come across numerous stories where individuals utilized troll bots to inundate others with annoying and vulgar messages. This kind of harassment can be practically impossible to evade unless a new account is created (assuming the harasser can't track you) or by taking a break from social media altogether.

A personal experience for me was when I decided to donate to a specific cause, one of them being the fight against hunger, and I also chose to promote it on my Instagram story. Social media is one of, if not the best, resources for reaching others within your community and even people who don't know you. You can spread the word to others, although this depends on whether people are allowed to see your account and the methods you use to promote it, such as using popular hashtags.

I have heard of situations where crowdfunding is misused unethically. People sometimes falsely claim an illness or pose as supporting someone, only to divert the raised funds for personal use. This underscores the recurring issue of internet anonymity and the potential lack of proper verification.

If information were to be leaked regarding which languages were not moderated, internet trolls or those with bad intentions could easily find ways to abuse this by using languages that Facebook isn't considering in their moderation. This, of course, could be problematic, considering other users may not know the language, and people who do will have to read the messages or be harassed without moderators being able to control or provide help to resolve or filter the comments.

For certain platforms, such as YouTube, I have seen cases where the reporting system has backfired for certain creators due to false flagging (reporting system for YouTube videos). There isn't much, if any, consequence for flagging someone incorrectly, but there are significant consequences for a creator since the video may end up being demonetized and potentially taken down, costing both revenue and time for them.

Although I am glad that platforms such as Facebook have taken initiative in designing algorithms to potentially protect a person's mental state (for example, identifying suicidal thoughts), it raises the question of whether it is ethical to record this information from people without them even knowing. I commend this sort of use of technology, but having this data stored could cause various ethical and systematic issues that need to be handled both safely and legally.

This was a common behavior exhibited by someone I knew, despite my prior warning about its detrimental impact on their mental well-being. Although I encouraged them to share their feelings occasionally and offered to lend a listening ear, they persisted in posting their negative thoughts and experiences through their stories. This only made their stress and anxiety worse, despite my attempts to help.

Although many people, especially kids, might believe that attracting attention is something everyone desires, I have heard numerous stories where this intention has led to negative consequences, even resulting in tragic incidents such as death. When individuals request not to be recorded, it is often an attempt to maintain their privacy and keep their lives off the internet, rather than being seen as rude (although this doesn't apply to those attempting to conceal harmful actions).

Modification of trending media has become a common practice across various social media platforms, as many individuals do it to capture the audience's interest. Although transforming others' ideas creatively can offer new and refreshing perspectives, the ethical implications of appropriating someone else's original idea are a subject of debate. YouTube serves as a prime example, where numerous viewers have expressed concerns about the platform promoting content creators who produce nearly identical videos.

In an ideal world, achieving a good balance between individual and systematic analysis would be crucial. However, based on the previous discussion about Individual vs. Systematic analysis, I believe it's essential to prioritize the individual aspect to minimize issues related to bias. Capturing everyone's personality, tastes, and beliefs accurately through a single algorithm seems practically impossible. Therefore, I think the responsibility of social media platforms should lie in understanding and catering to what users want, rather than dictating what a person should like. Of course, ethical considerations cannot be ignored, such as preventing explicit and inappropriate content. Addressing these concerns is vital to avoid offending the majority of the platform's community.

Ever since I started looking at food related post on Instagram, I had seen a variety of them show up on my feed, specifically local restaurants in my area. I found this to be handy since I can casually find new places to eat instead of having to research all over the internet on where the best spots around Seattle were.

Individuals often use disabilities as a way to insult others, especially in online gaming communities where some users feel safe to say anything. This is where the limitations of social anonymity become apparent. People shouldn't be allowed to get away with such behavior, even though it often leaves a digital trail for others to potentially discover. Despite this, some individuals seem to feel immune and entitled to use profoundly offensive language.

This reminds me of a design project I worked on in INFO 200. My group and I decided to focus on creating a Google extension to support individuals with disabilities. Our aim was to provide information about public areas that are accommodating and accessible for them. While observing and brainstorming features, we encountered the challenge of designing a universally inclusive application. Striking a balance between accommodating everyone's needs and maintaining a clear, uncluttered interface for users proved to be difficult.

As a kid, I was always confused about why many ads were either similar or exactly the same across different platforms I used, whether it was YouTube, Instagram, or even a gaming website. I eventually learned that many websites and media platforms can gather user information and replicate their potential interests through the advertisements shown. The whole idea of data mining makes a lot of sense, but it's also somewhat scary because these platforms are able to collect a lot of information about me by simply using/interacting with their product.

Once a person decides to download and create an account on any social media platform, they are giving consent to being data mined, with a few specific exceptions that the application may inquire about. For the most part, it's acceptable for any media platform to collect information, as it is primarily used to enhance the user experience. Without this data, many social media models wouldn't be as effective in both business and entertainment aspects.

I find it crazy how Elon decided to make the verification symbol accessible to anyone, even though there were issues with people having to fake their identity despite all the procedures that were put in place to prevent this. I understand that companies make design decisions influenced by business strategies, but letting anyone who pays a small fee to get "verified" defeats the whole purpose of what verification is.

Regardless of whether someone is doing it as a joke or is intentionally engaging in something with bad intent, trolls feed off of others' emotions and reactions to entertain themselves, which you could relate to egoism as an ethical framework. It's hard to say that letting someone continuously say volatile words is something that we should allow, but in the end, a good majority of these people are well aware of what they're saying and would continue to speak despite being addressed (which is kind of sad and disheartening, highlighting how oblivious and irrational people can be on the internet). So, I would say it's better not to give them any attention, as doing so only provides them with more reasons to continue.

Just like the relationship mentioned between YouTubers and their subscribers, I have also personally experienced and observed this dynamic within the gaming streaming application, Twitch. Many viewers tend to ask a lot of questions to whoever they're watching, and streamers will usually answer them (depending on the audience size). These questions can be about the content they are watching or even personal inquiries seeking advice. Even as a moderator for these streamers, although the response from the streamer sometimes feels authentic and personal, in reality, the streamer doesn't really know me, and I don't personally know how credible the person I'm asking is for whatever question I've given them. Many streamers tend to talk to their chat to show that they are interactive, but who knows whether this is an act of commitment or a way to make themselves look good to the public, hence the concept of the parasocial relationship.

I would say that the way I express myself online versus how I do in real life is almost transparent, aside from the certain filtering of the details I share, which I wouldn't consider to be inauthentic. Since my account is public and not private, anyone can see what I post on my Instagram, particularly my stories (as I am more active in doing that). As a result, I make sure that no personal information is disclosed, but I keep the details truthful, whether that's the details within a specific story I am sharing or a belief/position that I have in a particular scenario.

This is the exact reason why I have chosen not to download TikTok, which uses the infinite scroll design in its application. I am well aware of how addicting it can be to watch small clips of the most random things—whether they are entertaining, educational, or cringe-worthy. Many people have set a time limit on their phones just to prevent/counteract themselves from using the application more than they should.

The UI design of a social media platform is arguably one of the most important aspects to grab people's attention. Even though many platforms have similar aspects and features, every popular internet media has its own direction or unique UI that attracts its audience to use it (many of which end up being inspired by others and incorporating similar features into their own applications).

Much of the information we encounter is often simplified from the original conditions under which the data was recorded. It's not always possible to accommodate every scenario, even if the developer's intention is to cover all possible bases, whether we consider how the world continues to evolve or the limitations of how well technology can be optimized and handled.

Although this may be seen as an error on the developer's end, it was a common occurrence among many sign-up applications on the internet in the past and is still prevalent in certain areas such as video games, where only 'male' or 'female' are provided as gender identities. Nevertheless, just as we accept others in society, coders need to consider these things when designing their code.

This is a tool that I recognized during my learning in CSE 142. Although I personally didn't use it a ton, I would highly recommend it for beginner coders. Coding languages aren't directly self-explanatory, which is why people often use pseudocode and comments in their programs.

I never realized that many of these helpful features were operated by bots until reading this chapter. While I used to associate bots with malicious intent, I don't necessarily see them as inherently bad now.

Many people prefer expressing themselves online, especially for those uncomfortable with face-to-face interactions. However, the sense of anonymity that the internet provides enables inappropriate remarks, like Justine's racist tweet, leaving a lasting digital trail that could permanently affect her image (associated with the idea of whether or not the internet reflects real life).

Confucianism, an ancient philosophical ethic originating in China, has always been a part of my life due to the beliefs instilled by my Korean parents since I was little. Despite its age, this concept continues to hold a strong presence in Korean culture and other societies, where it is highly regarded as a fundamental social code.