HOPR1955 Wiki

''' Welcome to HOPR's Wiki: A Student's Guide to the Internet! '''

If you would like to know more about digital literacy and how you could get the most out of digital media and community then this is the page for you! This page contains a variety of topics regarding digital media such as features, issues or concerns, and intersections. Read on to find out how these topics can impact you whether you realize it or not.

Available Pages
Accessibility: Technology provides a platform to help members of a community connect with each other. Telemedicine is one form of such technology that connects those in the healthcare provider and recipient community. Although telemedicine is still in the early stages of its development, its increased outreach and accessibility provides a practical service to people in need of care.

There are some drawbacks and barriers to these technologies that can impact care such as a lack of access and digital literacy. The digital divide is a term used to identify the gap between demographics and regions; where some communities have access to advanced communication and informational technology or the internet, and others don’t; this impacts their access to healthcare, education, and other areas.

Algorithms: With advancements in technology, algorithms have become a pillar to the functioning of businesses. With the use of algorithms efficiency and exposure of personalized content is significantly increased utilizing various factors such as proximity, popularity, and the digital footprint of individual users. However, with growing applications regarding algorithms, there are many consequences and implications that must be considered such as lack of employment or increasing societal polarization. In addition to discussing the benefits and consequences, the future potential of algorithms is also discussed to gain insight as to the extent that algorithms can be used for.

Body Image: Social media offers its users greater convenience and connectivity, and therefore, 82% of Americans are active on social media platforms. However, the more time an individual spends on social media, the risk of experiencing the negative implications that affect individual's body image and mental health drastically increases. This page discusses social media’s impact on body image related issues. An important aspect of this topic is understanding what the negative impacts of social media are on body image and which platforms account for these issues. Positive communities and resources were found to educate users on good accounts to interact with. Additionally, readers can learn ways to make the social media environment more positive for general users.

Expression: Online expression is unique for several reasons. It offers opportunities for people to express themselves more freely. Online expression is similar to physical expression because it is similarly protected under free speech rights. There are many ways to express yourself online, and most of them take the form of posts. The differences between online and in-person expression are further discussed in this section, highlighting topics such as disinhibition, authenticity, anonymity, and their consequences.

Free Speech: With the uprising of questions as to what free speech is in digital media and what the government can and cannot restrict the people from saying/doing, this page serves as an means to answer such questions. This page goes into detail on how protests have been shaped by the use of media and what other governments have done to help/hurt these protests. Additionally, this page explains about what exactly user free speech consists of, what users are entitled to do, and how to stand up for our rights given to us by the Constitution of the United States. Furthermore, there are certain restrictions on social media, and free speech has been hindered through these platforms either by censoring people or not having a clear line of what is acceptable- which this pages goes into further detail about.

Identity and Information: Information is an external factor from which our identity perceives and act upon. Information has been revolutionized in this digital era which has profound implications on how we consume information and, furthermore, our identities. The Internet has provided people with a fast and easy way to share information and data, leading to many opportunities to connect and grow as a society. However, this easy access to personal data has lead to some negative effects. This page explores those topics.

Political Misinformation: As social media has continued to grow people have increasingly turned to it as a source for news for a wide variety of subjects including politics. During the 2016 US Presidential election one poll found that 14% of Americans considered social media their most important source of information.

As social media use increases so does accessibility to information that can be rapidly spread worldwide. This also opens the door however for the vast dissemination of misinformation as well. Political misinformation is considered content relating to politics or government that is considered inaccurate or misleading.

Social Media and Social Justice: In the past couple years, there has been an increased awareness of racism in the United States. With the Black and Asian American Pacific Islander communities being disproportionately affected by systemic discrimination as well as ignorance, it is imperative for the public to understand the consequences of bigotry and ignorance that plagues American society. Social media has played an essential role in spreading information and awareness of social injustices that continue to persist. It gives everyone a platform from which people can voice their concern for many social justice issues. For example, NFL players capitalize on their football fame to influence their followers to start discussions and encourage change. Social media has also increased a "cancel culture" that shuts down certain influencers for their past actions, character or beliefs. Although accountability is crucial for a well-functioning community, the culture can become extreme and toxic. Therefore, awareness of the impact of social media on a community enables one to make informed decisions and be more conscious of how they utilize social media.

Social Media Trends: In today's online culture, social media is used as a space where users can come together and bond over their love or interest for a given topic. This can be seen through music, sports, books, movies, musicals, news, and so much more. Social media creates community spaces for people to connect over certain topics that are going on in mainstream popular culture. Expression of interests is the key idea in social media content sharing. From gatekeeping on Instagram to the different communities represented on TikTok, social media is a key function of online culture today.

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