Netflix

 If someone were to ask me what recent technological invention, I thought had the largest impact on my day-to-day life, I would have to choose Netflix. It is something that I use every day whether it be for fun like watching a tv show with friends in my dorm room or for educational purposes when I watch a documentary for class.

 

Although people were originally against the idea of Netflix it has turned out to be a huge success. In 1997 Marc Randolph and Reed Hastings got together and created Netflix, an online DVD sale and rental site, which was based upon Amazon’s idea of selling products over the internet. After one year of both selling and renting DVDs, Randolph and Hastings decided to focus only on rentals. An interesting fact about the creation of Netflix was that Amazon offered to buy it when Netflix was only two months old. Although Randolph thought the sale was a good plan Hastings turned it down as he owned seventy percent of the company. 

 

Many people believe Netflix was the reason that Blockbuster went out of business but that is actually not the case. A few years after they received the offer from Amazon, Netflix started to go downhill, and the creators tried to convince Blockbuster to buy the company. Unfortunately for Blockbuster they said no because they did not believe the dot com thing was going to take off. This ended being a good thing for Netflix as Blockbuster eventually tried to get into the online rental market but was not able to do so successfully due to infighting and corporate debt. https://www.cnbc.com/2020/09/22/how-netflix-almost-lost-the-movie-rental-wars-to-blockbuster.html. If Blockbuster had been successful, they might have crushed Netflix because they had so many more resources. It was Blockbuster’s lack of vision, that really allowed Netflix to survive and grow.  Today Netflix has taken off and Blockbuster has closed all but one of their stores. 

 

In 2007 Netflix expanded and began streaming over the internet with video on demand. Originally, they only had 1000 movies available to for streaming and everything else needed to be rented as a DVD online. In 2010 Netflix created its first standalone streaming service and expanded to Canada. 

 

In 2012 Netflix’s first original series, Lilyhammer was released. However, it was the Netflix original series House of Cards, which was released in 2013 that really drew attention to the service and helped launch Netflix as content creator. House of Card was also responsible for the concept of binge watching, something that had previously not occurred. This changed how consumers watched media and is a critical part of streaming services today. 

 

By 2016 Netflix had expanded and was available in more than 190 countries and territories. As you can see Netflix has grown and changed over time and is used worldwide. Netflix also saw significant growth in 2020 as the global pandemic and resulting lockdowns led to a huge demand for streaming services. https://www.bbc.com/news/business-52376022

Netflix future is not without potential problems, however. The company has seen as sharp decline in subscribers as the restrictions from Covid has loosened and some controversial shows such as Cuties have led to boycotts of the company. https://www.forbes.com/sites/joewalsh/2020/10/20/netflix-subscriber-growth-slows-after-surging-during-pandemic/ Additionally the concerns about the effects of binge watching are also growing https://www.verywellhealth.com/binge-watching-and-health-5092726 and could also impact the company. 

 

Netflix show “The Crown” recently won the prize for best drama at the 73^rd Emmy Awards and “The Queen’s Gambit” won for best limited series, so despite some possible setbacks, Netflix is also having successes. This is very good news for me, as I can absolutely state that I am a Netflix addict and I would really hate to see it go away.

Diffusion of Innovations

 When we began learning about Rogers’ Diffusion of Innovations theory my first thought was how it might apply to the COVID vaccine. This is a very new innovation in our county and the world, and I wanted to examine it and see how it could connect the bell curve to try to understand why people might or might not get vaccinated. 

 

Looking at the vaccine using Rogers’ theory, I would describe the innovators as the people who created the vaccine and the people who were willing to be test subjects for it. 

 

Then you have the early adopters. I would say these are the people who got vaccinated right after it received the first approvals. In this case it was mostly people that were not afraid to get it and were willing to take the risks. Many of these people were at high risk for severe affects from Covid, so they were willing to try the new innovation. 

 

Next we have the early majority, when the vaccine was available to a lot more people and everyone who wanted to could get it. It was widely available and more research was also available which gave people the confidence to try it. 

 

According to Rodgers’ theory, next you have the late majority. These are the people who get it after it's been available to everyone and they've seen how many people get it. Additionally, the vaccine has received additional approvals which led to more people being willing to take it. With 62 percent of eligible Americans fully vaccinated, https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/03/world/covid-cases-hospitalization.html I think we are now I think we are in the late majority at least in the United States. Some other countries such as Portugal, who currently has a 84 percent of its population vaccinated are reaching the point of the laggard stage. https://fortune.com/2021/09/25/portugal-leads-the-world-in-covid-19-vaccinations/

 

I also thought that Rodgers’ idea about adoption strategies can be seen with the rollout of the Covid vaccine. When it was first being presented to the public, government leaders and other key figures received their vaccines publicly to provide confidence and motivation for others. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/pence-set-receive-covid-vaccine-televised-appearance-n1251655. There have also been significant pushes to persuade people to get vaccinated by utilizing social media influencers. https://coloradosun.com/2021/09/01/coronavirus-vaccine-social-media-influencers/

https://www.ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/health/2021/08/02/white-house-enlists-army-of-social-media-influencers-to-promote-covid-19-vaccines. This has definitely had an impact on how quickly the United States got to the late majority stage. We are also starting to see mandates, both by the government and private companies, which I think will help as we enter the laggard stage. https://fortune.com/2021/08/23/companies-requiring-vaccines-workers-vaccination-mandatory/

 

I found it very interesting to examine the Covid vaccine in conjunction with Rogers’ theory and will be interested to see how quickly the United States does get to the laggard stage and how we compare to the rest of the world.

Blog #5

 

Before watching these videos about internet privacy issues, I was one of the people who used the Internet for everything. I was the type of person who had put their email in whenever the little screen popped up that says enter email for coupons and or to win a prize. After watching these videos, I’ve learned that is NOT what I should be doing. In fact, I'm giving all my private information away and anyone could take my identity and I wouldn't even notice. I have started to remember all the different times that I've had people pop onto my Facebook feed requesting to be friends that I thought I was already friends with like my grandma or some other close family friends and I realized it wasn't that it was not them, instead it was other people trying to pretend to be them. If I add them as friends, they then get access to all the things I am comfortable sharing with friends, but I would not share with strangers. 

When we are little, we are taught about the idea of “stranger danger”, but it is just as important of a concept when dealing with the internet. The idea of someone trying to take my identity or having access to my private moments is terrifying to me and watching these videos has taught me a very important lesson that I need to be more secure with what information I give out and to whom.  I wish there was more that the government was doing to stop identity theft and websites from being able to gather and sell your information. It was also scary to learn that in many cases, it is the government itself collecting the information. The idea that the government is tracking the movements of people going about their day without any reason to think they are doing anything illegal is very scary. 

 I hope that one day laws are put in place to prevent companies and governments from collecting this type of information and selling or sharing it without a very valid reason or the consent of the person from whom it is collected.  Until then I'll be taking the necessary steps to wipe as much as I can of myself from the Internet and will be limiting what is given out about my personal life and personal information online

Supreme Court

 

This week in class we talked about the Supreme Court system and how it works. To be on the Supreme Court you must be nominated by the current President and confirmed by the Senate.  An appointment to the Supreme Court is a lifetime appointment, once you are appointed, you stay there until you chose to leave. This is the highest court in the land and are the most powerful when it comes to checks and balances. They are who can overturn laws made by Congress for being unconstitutional. They also have the power to overturn verdicts made by other courts below them. The Supreme Court only hears about 100 cases a year due to the high number of cases sent to them.

 

Once the justices decide on a case to take, they research if they believe anything unconstitutional has happened in the case and if they need to review the lower-case decisions. If they decide to take the case, they hear arguments and vote. The majority decides which is why it is important to have an odd number of justices.  The justices then write the concurring and dissenting opinions based on their view for the cases. 

 

When looking into the history of the Supreme Court I found it interesting to learn that during their first term they did not hear any cases. They focused only on setting up the system and how it would work. I also found it interesting that the number of Justices has changed over time. Originally there were six, a chief justice and five associate justices. At one point there were ten justices. President Franklin Roosevelt actually tried to expand the court to fifteen justices. https://www.history.com/news/7-things-you-might-not-know-about-the-u-s-supreme-court

I think this very interesting considering the current debate about expanding the court. Biden unveils commission to study possible expansion of Supreme Court - The Washington Post

 

Overall, I feel the Supreme Court does a lot for our country when it comes to handling tough cases and I am so glad that they are here for checks and balances. Some of their most notable cases include Roe v. Wade, U.S. v. Nixon, and Obergefell v. Hodges. 

Key Post 1

This week we were asked to write a blog post on one of the eight values of freedom of expression. After reading over the values, I decided to choose the marketplace of ideas otherwise known as the discovery of truth. This value was highlighted by John Milton in his book Areopagitica. Milton is fighting for freedom of speech where you can print and publish whatever you want without needing the seal of approval from the government. Milton took this stance after he had issues with the English licensing board that had censored Milton’s writings about divorce. Milton argued that the government should not be restricting speech, particularly prior to it being published. Milton felt that truth would ultimately win out over lies and that government censorship would be more harmful than the publication of something that might be false. Areopagitica - Wikipedia

I am really torn on whether I agree with Milton or not. Although I agree people should have the right to free speech and limited government oversight or censorship, I also have the concern people of publishing stuff that is not true. In this day and age, with the Internet and social media channels like Facebook and Twitter, anyone can be considered an author and a publish whatever they want. There are so many different voices in the marketplace, it is hard to determine what is a credible source. For example, I am able to post this blog online with no one reading through it and censoring it. In many ways, that is a great thing but there are possible disadvantages, for all you know I could be lying and saying some outlandish fake news. Without restrictions, it is possible for something to be published that can cause harm to the people around you.  An example of this can be in the coverage of the current Coronavirus pandemic.  All-over social media I've seen different news articles telling me the best way to treat the virus. Everything from drinking bleach, to increasing vitamins, taking steroids, zinc or ivermectin are suggested as ways to get rid of the coronavirus. Media personalities such as Joe Rogan are promoting their own treatments https://www.instagram.com/p/CTSsA8wAR2-/  While some of these may be valid, there are so many ideas, that it is causing confusion rather than the truth rising up. This is resulting in real danger to people. Hospitals and poison control centers are seeing an increase in calls about possible poisoning from different treatments. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2021/08/25/ivermectin-livestock-deworming-drug-poison-control/5583817001/ 

https://www.statnews.com/2020/06/05/cdc-misusing-bleach-try-kill-coronavirus/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/nicholasreimann/2020/08/24/some-americans-are-tragically-still-drinking-bleach-as-a-coronavirus-cure/?sh=2f19e7366748

This is a real danger and leads me to wonder if maybe the government should be able to limit some of what is published to protect its citizens. 

 

However, I also worry that if we censor everything that is posted or read or written we could turn into a dictatorship. In other countries, you cannot talk or publish things without it being approved by the government and it must follow all the government rules and regulations. In North Korea or Russia, I could not go and write a blog about why I believe gay marriage is the best thing to happen to the world but here in the United States I have the freedom to do so. Dissenting views in those countries are not allowed and the governments censor writers. https://news.trust.org/item/20210831165627-n237e/

 

It seems like there is not an easy answer to this issue. One idea is to have the various social media platforms like Facebook or Twitter to regulate the content that is posted to their platforms but even that has potential risks and downsides. How does a media platform determine what is true or false? Do they employ fact checkers? What if the fact checkers are biased?  Another issue with big tech being able to censor what I post online is some large tech companies are working with the government. For example, last week it came out that Joe Biden and his team are working closely with Facebook which means the government is working with Facebook to look at my posts and to regulate and censor what I am putting out online for others to read. This is basically another form of government censorship, even if it being done by the platform. https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2021/08/joe-biden-has-had-it-up-to-here-with-facebook-covid-misinformation

https://www.forbes.com/sites/petersuciu/2021/09/01/social-media-influencer-suing-facebook-and-twitter/?sh=3470613f2f0e

I am honestly not sure what the correct answer to this is, but I hope that one day I will.