This past week we got to learn more about Big Tech and the control they have. Mr. Miller started off by saying that we need systemic changes to technology. He also believes that we should have decentralized entities that limit a lot of power. On the slide behind him, there is a graphic that says "Digital Pandemic" and I think that is very interesting. I have never really thought about the power of technology has become like a pandemic. It takes over our entire world and can affect us in many different ways. Mentally and even physically. Something he touches on, is cancel culture. The example he gave was that someone posted a video on Youtube about masks, and he was banned for saying that the K-95 masks don't work. This should not be able to happen. Just because you don't agree with an opinion doesn't mean that it's right to remove it off the internet.
We all have a right to free speech, and Big Tech has too much power to be able to ban someone. Another thing that Mr. Miller said was that we are the product of Google and they collude with the government. This is known as surveillance privacy. Basically nothing is private. I think in class, Professor Trost mentioned that we are the products of Google, so I thought this connection to this video was interesting. He then goes in to say that data collection modifies us. I was in a psychology class in the fall semester and I thought it was interesting that Miller tied things back to Pavlov's dog and BF Skinner. The internet search engines are modifying our brains with propaganda. The way that it is available online makes it easier for people and especially children to be brainwashed. It disgusts me that technology is being used for bad things. I know that it was bound to happen eventually, but I am sad at the fact that this has gotten so big. Miller started talking about how if we are hanging out with friends, we think "I wonder how many likes I got". This has definitely happened to me. I haven't had this feeling in a while because I don't really care about that anymore, but when I was in middle school until I was a junior in high school, I cared about this. Social media altered the way my brain worked. This is a very serious manner. More awareness needs to be created about suicide due to social media effects. There have been more depressed young people than ever before. Another thing that I think is crazy is that the creators of Google and other platforms like this don't let their kids have phones. If this doesn't show how bad technology is, I don't know what does.
