Unit 1 Draft

Unit 1 Draft - Source Analysis

First Source: 

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/10/technology/personaltech/technology-loneliness.html 

Analysis:

My first source analysis was a New York Times article titled, “How Tech Creates a ‘Recipe for Loneliness’ ”. The article goes into depth on how researchers have found that technology and loneliness are interlinked, which is exasperated by the way we interact on social media, texting, and binge-watching. The article details how the consensus among scholars who have researched topics such as social media, technology, and psychology, all agreed that, “While there was proof that tech directly made people lonely, there was a strong correlation between the two…”. While this article goes more into depth, detailing specific studies conducting similar surveys of teenagers and different groups, most if not all reached similar conclusions. 

What stands out to me throughout this article is how it doesn’t necessarily blame teenagers, or generation-z for their loneliness, which is a scapegoat many other articles/authors may have used. Instead, it focuses on the links behind technology and its influence on users to develop certain negative social tendencies, such as anxiety, or FOMO (fear of missing out), as it relates to simply viewing what other users may post. The article’s ethotic use of thorough surveys and recently conducted research attribute to what make it such a compelling article. By layering information about social media and its negative effects on top of one another, the author clearly articulates why it is that social loneliness is a growing epidemic in today’s culture. 

Second Source:

The Social Network (2010) - David Fincher

Analysis: 

my second source is the 2010 film, The Social Network directed by David Fincher. Set in the early 2000s it follows a young Mark Zuckerberg and details his journey of how he founded Facebook, and the enemies that he created along the way. I always find this film interesting, as the story of Mark Zuckerberg is far from over, meaning how this movie portrays him, especially during this pivotal moment in his life, is constantly evolving to what it represents, and how it foreshadows events during his later years. The creation of Facebook changed how we as people communicate every day. As one of the first largest social media platforms, Facebook’s influence on popular culture, and our everyday lives cannot be underestimated. During the beginning of the movie we see a young Zuckerberg post to his public blog. However, after the creation and launch of Facebook, we see new users quickly mention how addicting it is. Mark no longer posts to any blogs, and people now use the phrase, ‘Facebook me’. Quickly this new social media site started to influence our lives, and it continues to do such even to this day.  

What was once a platform to connect college students, and update others about our personal lives quickly evolved into a multi-billion dollar industry, creating new job fields, influencing political elections, and establishing the ability to connect to seemingly anyone in the world. Social Media such as Facebook has changed the way we go about our daily lives, transforming technology such as smartphones to not only possess the ability to call and text others, but to entertain us, and keep us scrolling for as long as possible. The Social Network as a work of film does an impeccable job at expanding upon just that thought. The influence that technology has played in our daily lives cannot be understated, and its influence in how we communicate, whether that be over text, blogging, or calling, all have rapidly changed in the last few decades, whether that be for the best or worst is in the eyes of the beholder.

Third Source:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3M8ZxQiK4qo&t=9s 

Analysis:

My third source is a Ted Talk titled, “How social media is changing how you talk”, given by Adam Aleksic. In this Ted Talk, Aleksic details the entomology behind many common slang words today, and how they came about. Unlike common slang words from previous generations, social media algorithms are greatly influencing daily use of certain words over others. Due to how many social media algorithms work in popular social media sights, using trending words such as, “Rizz”, or, “-core” can inflate viewcounts and user impressions, yet it subsequently influences these words to be unconsciously added to the daily lexicon of many people. 

Giving certain genres or types of content different labels is also crucial to algorithmic learning. Programs use these very specific key phrases/words to better help understand the users preferences/habits. Aleksic says that social media algorithms want you to identify with these hyper compartmentalized labels, so that they can in turn feed you more of that exact content-type. I find these types of Ted Talks very fascinating, as it an everyday experience is unique and/or changing in a way we may not have observed. In this specific instance, social media and technology has greatly influenced the way in which newer generations such as myself speak to one another. The language we use, as well as the language we dont use, all are greatly influenced by the algorithms of the many social media platforms that we spend so much time on every day.