Whether we like it or not, we are always being watched. In this day and age we are always monitored, whether that be in public through security cameras, or at home through our internet data, someone, somewhere knows what we are doing.

The question is do we really care if the government and companies are taking our storing our data? I think the majority of the world can see the benefits of having our data recorded and stored, the most obvious is stopping crimes and terrorist acts, and I think people are willy for their privacy to be encroached on a little if it means stopping the bad guys.

The use of advanced surveillance cameras in places like China are put in place to keep the citizens safe. But what about the ranking of people for the actions they take, a future where you cant mess up, not even once, or your personal score will go down.

It is a scary future, the days of mucking around as a kid may soon be over.

Would you like to live in a world that is just open, open to be changed and developed in any way possible, but not everything works smoothly? Or would you like to live in a world where you have near to no control over changes, but everything is crisp and perfectly executed?

Well we live in a world with both, we often have the freedom to explore, but laws and restrictions keep us in line. This is also seen in the tech world with android being considered an open source, and Apples ios considered closed.

Closed-source operating systems use code that is proprietary and kept secret to prevent its use by other entities. Whilst open-source operating systems use code that is freely-distributed and available to anyone to use, even for commercial purposes.

Open source allows for user development and collaboration that can create software that can dramatically change an operating system, essentially ‘jail-breaking’, but without the need to break in. This is where android encourages users to develop, and Apples ios try’s to shut them out.

We live in a world full of media content, from songs, movies, games, online videos, TV series, etc. With all of this readily available content comes a wealth of fan made creativity and ideas, however it is a fine line when using content owned by others, content they have copyrighted.

The argument comes when somebody re-shares, or uses some one else’s content for their monetary gain. But then there is the other side of the coin, where you could argue that people sharing and remaking or mixing content that is not their own is fair use once the original publisher has made their content public, and that it could also be seen as free advertisement, as the content may be seen by users who would have not come across it originally.

But it is a fine line between fair use and copyright, and moving into the future we may see similar systems like article 13 in the UK all across the world.

When starting my digital artefact I wasn’t too sure as to where it was going to go, and how i would communicate content. After experimenting for a couple of weeks with different types of content, posted at different times, and with different hashtags and captions, I think I have found a mix that works relatively well.

As you can see most of the posts in my DA have gained relatively good traction, some far better than other. This is due to experimenting with different types of content, at different times, and with some different hashtags. I have seen dramatic changes in traction when using different sets of hashtags, and can see a clear difference in those in which users interact with more.

Moving forward I think I will stick to the content that I know the users engage with, as well as use the hashtags that bring in the most new users. I could also try and change the content and try and target a specific audience.

A lot of the content is being seen by many users that are not following the page, this is possibly one area in which I could improve upon and find out ways to get users to interact with the page and posts more.

However overall I am happy how my digital artefact is progressing, and think with a few changes I may be able to create greater user interaction, and encourage more users to follow my account.

https://www.instagram.com/futuretech5000/?hl=en

As a race we are advancing so fast that in the not so distant future we may not need to interact with another human being again, and that’s pretty crazy. We have an unhealthy relationship with technology, but can you blame us, everything you could possibly want can be found on the internet.

Technology and the internet has placed us as individuals in a bubble where in a lot of situations we no longer need a physical human interaction, and if do need to speak to another person, we do so over the internet.

This however would not be a healthy way to live. As much as you can learn from the internet, nothing can supplement real life experience, and as much as you can feel as though you have experienced something through a screen, it cant match what it is like to experience it in person.

Living on an online world allows users to show all the perfections in their life, a frame of their reality. This is why living in the moment and experiencing things first hand is so important. I hope my kids grow up in a world that is still full of real life experiences, and not just YouTube videos.

Framing is used to present an event or story in a particular way. The media does this to portray stories to their viewers, readers, and listeners in a certain light. Whilst it can often be useful, it also has the ability to mislead what an event is actually about, and persuade peoples opinions.

I think a good example of media framing is how music festivals are portrayed in the news, especially in relation to drug use. The media would have you believe that music festivals are all about the drugs, with little security checks, and is a great danger to younger people.

However I just recently attended my first large scale music festival and it was far different to what the media would have you believe. The idea that you can walk into a music festival and find and take any drug you want is simply not true, whilst there is always going to be people consuming drugs, it is not easily accessible and around every corner as the media would have you believe.

There was also a large security and paramedic presence around the entire festival, and when people needed assistance they were attended to immediately. At no point was I approached to buy drugs, and I felt safe the whole time I was there. The number of tragic events that often happen at these music festivals are often in very small proportion to the amount of people who attend and remain safe.

This is why the way the media frames stories and events can often be misleading, and start a moral panic among those who are just viewing the story on a surface level. Whilst of course there is always some truth to a story, like the dangers of music festivals, the way the media frame it can often lead to a misleading understanding, and not provide a well rounded picture of events.

The media often frame stories to create a moral panic, and that in itself is not a safe practice for our society.

Memes were once seen as funny cat pictures, that 10 year old would see, laugh, and then wonder what exactly was so funny about it. Now meme culture and internet culture has changed, and created platforms for individuals to have serious impact in the world, such as the Hillary Clinton #draftourdaughters campaign run by Donald Trump supporters to sway the opinion of voters.

This begs the question of ‘who can we really trust’, is it someone running to be the president, or is it the internet users who expose said person? The answer is, well neither really, both parties lie and manipulate to try and gain an edge, and thus make a large mess of whats true and whats false.

It also makes you wonder just how far this could go, and how much the internet and people with no direct coloration to an event can have an impact on how it is seen by others. I think in future political parties and people of high influence will need to create some kind of stamp to show it is what they are truly saying or has come from them, almost like a watermark, but for life.

Memes and internet culture can be creative and funny, we just need to be sure not to give it too much power.

In the days without internet, peoples content went through a gatekeeper, and editor, someone who can cut pieces and then distribute it to the masses, one to many.

Today people can upload content directly with weak or no gatekeepers at all, to show the full picture, not just snippets. This has allowed for what was the audience, to now be the creators, and work together to develop content, many to many.

Which then leads onto the examples of collective intelligence in the internet community, who can now harness people with different skills from right around the world, coming together to develop ideas and concepts.

This is a video I found which show just how powerful and influential the internet can be when used for the right reasons. It shows a group of people working together, taking bits of information from different sources, putting them together, and using their findings for good.

You also need to consider the lack of filter on much of the internet, which eliminates a lot of the #fakenews that legacy media put out, and holds them accountable to their reporting.

But I also wouldn’t trust everything on the internet.

Back in the day, when life was simple, manufacturing companies produced products that were just that, simple. Simple in the fact that with little innovation from rival manufacturers, companies had the ability to mass produce products, giving everyone the same car, same clothes, same entertainment.

However this is no longer the case, largely thanks to the internet, it now not only companies producing for consumers, its individuals creating their own content to then share with others. It has bridged the gap between producers and consumers, with individuals having the ability to produce high quality content on their own like YouTube videos.

It also leads to content being continually developed and changed to suit different groups. An example of this is a meme, the original meme is modified and developed hundreds if not thousands of times to then be shared. This type of content is also far cheaper, and far quicker to produce than traditional methods.

You may not necessarily be able to physically build a car on the internet, but the internet can open up unlimited possibilities to continually update and improve the car, eg: Tesla software updates.