EOTO 2: The Spiral of Silence

My EOTO presentation was on the Spiral of Silence. The concept of spiral of silence was created by Elisabeth Noelle Neumann, who was a German political scientist. I believe that the modern day definition of spiral of silence is self-censorship. However, Britannica defines it as “the study of human communication and public opinion, the theory that people’s willingness to express their opinions on controversial public issues is affected by their largely unconscious perception of those opinions as being either popular or unpopular.”

The spiral of silence is present in every-day life. I believe it’s present in modern day life because many people are afraid to speak up or speak out for fear of being judged or having a minority opinion. Examples of the spiral of silence are having opposing views and not speaking out during political campaigns because of differing candidates and strong opinions about each candidate.

Another example would be not speaking out against workplace discrimination. I use the example of workplace discrimination, because many workforces experience issues of discrimination, but I feel that more often than not many people do not speak out because if it’s ignored then the problem will dissipate and supposedly disappear. The last example that I felt is present in every-day life is disagreeing with a majority opinion, but keeping your thoughts to yourself for fear of being the minority opinion. 

 The spiral of silence as any other theory has its positives and negatives. For example, the positives of the spiral of silence are the ability that everyone is able to have an opinion, another positive is the role of popular opinions and influence. However, every positive has its negatives. I feel that a major negative of the spiral of silence is the lack of opinions being heard, another negative is that it makes other people’s opinions the minority if they disagree. Lastly, I feel that the spiral of silence can misconstrue public opinion. A quote I feel aligns with the spiral of silence comes from an article in The CUT from Elizabeth Suhay which states “The majority just assumes that everybody thinks like them,” “and people in the minority think they’re the only ones.” The spiral of silence can also affect different groups on the basis of race, gender, and social class. 

For example, systemic racism and prejudice can affect how people of color are viewed and judged in the work-force, sexism is another illustration of judgement of women in their personal or work lives. Whereas classism and elitism are judgements based on your social class. 

Lastly, the personal effects I have from the spiral of silence are my inability to voice my opinion if I feel that I’ll be judged. I also struggle to listen to other people’s opinions if I disagree, and I have noticed that I am more open to listen to other people if we have the same views or opinions. Throughout my research I have learned that the spiral of silence is a part of a bigger scheme of theories that describe different phenomenon's in the world. In closing, I believe the spiral of silence is a very important theory that can help explain why people are not likely to share their opinions.

The Diffusion of Innovation: The Telegraph and iPhone

The devices I will be talking about in the diffusion of innovation are the telegraph and the iPhone. The first phone was attributed to Alexander Graham Bell. Alexander Graham Bell created the telegraph, which I believe to be the first semblance of the telephone. The growth of the telephone from Alexander Graham Bell in 1876 to the present day iPhone from Steve Jobs in 2007, has a long history of progress. The telephone has progressed over one hundred forty-eight years. Whereas the iPhone has progressed over an eighteen year time span.

I feel that the telephone and the iPhone are great examples of a device that went through innovation. I believe the iPhone caught on to people’s attention, because of the idea of a computer becoming a handheld cell phone. The iPhone craze became very prevalent, because of its small compact size and affordability. The individuals who first purchased iPhones became early adopters, which I believe can be attributed to convenience and the excitement of being the first individuals to try a new product.  However, the vise versa of early adopters are late adopters. The late adopters of the iPhone may be people who are weary to new forms of technology that may not have felt the need for it.

 For example, I would consider my dad a late adopter because he was an android user and an avid individual who did not want an iPhone. My dad did not get an iPhone until I got to my first year of middle school. Once I got an iPhone my family decided to all switch over to iPhone permanently. Diffusion of innovation is great. However, it does not diminish the downsides of technology. For example, iPhone's are an addicting device that constantly releases large amounts of dopamine and our brains are constantly overstimulated when we sit on our phones for hours endlessly scrolling.

The Progressive Era

The lack of open strong Anti-War Voices is most likely correlated with the government and the United States being a country that tends to be pro-war. The United States is a country that is known to be in trillions of dollars of debt for war. I feel that anti-war voices are not being heard. The reason behind the lack of anti-war voices is because the United States is a country that thrives on war, and the anti-war voices such as the Anti-War website and The American Conservative is a website that gives a different perspective from the mainstream media. 

 I believe websites like the American Conservative and others like them need to be more open to the public, because anti-war voices need to be shown more than war voices. I feel that anti-war voices are hidden, because the government does not want anyone to speak out against them. For example, the alien-sedition act discussed in class and in this clip here talks about how it’s a crime to criticize the government. The government is able to throw you in jail for speaking out against them. The  alien-sedition act was repealed in 1802. However, the government still has tendencies to silence anti-war voices or voices that criticize the government. I believe the reason the government tries to silence the voices of others is because they do not appreciate opposition.

For example, Mahmoud Khalil is a great example of an anti-war voice. He did not agree with the Israel and Palestine conflict and the United States silenced him. The United States government revoked his student visa taking away his ability to complete his higher education. He also had his citizenship revoked in the process and he was later detained by immigration and customs enforcement(ICE) and eventually put on a flight to Louisiana. His detainment by ICE for his protest against the Palestine and Israel conflict is a great example of an anti-war voice who was silenced and he now risks deportation. In closing, I feel that anti-war voices are necessary, because they speak out against injustices and are a positive attribution to further the anti-war platform.

EOTO #1 reaction post

The ending of dvd’s and the diminishing of cable tv occurred when streaming services became rampant in the late 2000’s. For example, when Blockbuster was created by David Cook in 1985, it lasted twenty-five years, before streaming services became mainstream and more specifically Netflix. The creation of streaming services is important to viewership. However, it creates a negative impact on our bodies and relationships. I personally love Netflix and HBO Max. However, I can personally say that some days, I binge-watch a single show in one sitting. The creation of streaming services is great to have for entertainment. However, it does not dismiss the negative impacts of sitting on your tv or computer screen for hours. While letting your time and energy waste away.

The creation of streaming services is great to have for entertainment. However, it does not dismiss the negative impacts of sitting in your tv or computer screen for hours. While letting your time and energy waste away. The creation of streaming services is a blessing and also a downfall of society. I was surprised to learn that Netflix was originally not a streaming service but a dvd-rental company that grew to be one of the biggest streaming services today, as opposed to Hulu or Prime Video.

a personal image of my favorite streaming apps

If I had to choose a favorite streaming service, I would choose Netflix, because it is the first streaming service my family and I bought in our household. Netflix has become a top streaming service in our household compared to when we originally had cable tv. The removal of cable tv from our household, happened because the cost of cable was rising, but the quality of the service was trending in the opposite direction.

Overall, I enjoy streaming services, because of the easy access to shows at your fingertips. For example, all the streaming services mentioned by Mackenzie in her presentation from Netflix, HBO Max, Paramount+, and so many more are available on the appstore for download. The apps can be put on your cell phone and computer, which I can say from personal experience that it is nice to have, but it can also become a negative distraction from the real world.

Privacy Online and Off

The overall message of all the TED Talks are about the importance of cyber safety and our overall privacy when it comes to the use of technology. The first TED Talk I watched by Juan Enriquez: Your Online Life, Permanent As A Tattoo was intriguing yet creepy. The video was interesting, yet creepy because of the comparison he made about tattoos and our digital footprint following us forever. I had always known our digital footprint always existed, however it was shocking to hear him also talk about the scope of how much our personal information is openly available to the public like our credit cards, our public records, and much more private information.  

The issues discussed in all the TED Talks are very important, but it is very scary to know that anyone and even the government has such easy feasibility in finding our private information and keeping it for their own personal agenda.  The issues of privacy that came up in all the discussions are important to highlight that technology is an important tool in our lives. However, to protect ourselves from further invasion of privacy, we can make efforts to use the encryption software already on our devices that was pointed out in Christopher Soghoian’s TED talk: How to Avoid surveillance...with your phone in your pocket.

In closing, after watching all the different TED Talks about how we essentially have no digital privacy, I want to make one more important note that comes from Darieth Chisolm’s TED Talk: How Revenge Porn Turns Lives Upside Down. She made the statement “Our cyber civil rights are at stake.” I believe this statement she made is so crucial to our use of the internet and mobile devices, and how more protections should be in place. For example, the government should work to enact a law that strictly protects our internet data from being sold, viewed, or hacked from foreign entities and companies that would use the data for any negative purposes . 

Key Post EOTO: The Amazon Kindle

                                      

The Amazon Kindle is a staple device in the technology community that is used as another device for reading. The Amazon Kindle was first created in 2008. The creator of the Amazon Kindle is also the founder of Amazon prime Jeff Bezos. The original kindle’s release was met with pushback because of its pricey cost of four hundred dollars. The design of the first kindle was a large white device with a keyboard attached to it. The evolution of the Amazon Kindle created a revolution in reading and electronic devices. 

The Amazon Kindle is a device that uses what Britannica called “electronic paper”, which produces a sharp screen image that resembles text printed on paper.” (Britannica Encyclopedia, 2025). The Amazon Kindle is a great device that is loved by many for its small design and easy readability. However, as a Kindle user myself some of the drawbacks are no brightness setting, and unfortunately you do not own the rights to the books you purchase. However, I do appreciate having a device that I am able to take with me anywhere. 

The growth of the Kindle device since 2008 is astonishing, because according to a ten year history of the amazon kindle, the device has many different attributes and attachments to the device. For example, a year after Kindle was released in 2009 Amazon released a second version named Kindle 2 that featured an option to read the text aloud from the device.

The evolution of the Kindle continued further when sales became global in the year 2009. According to Amazon news “October 2009 Kindle goes global building on the mission of making every book, ever written, in any language, available in 60 seconds or less, customers around the world now had access to Kindle.” (Amazon, 2017). The Kindle has become a staple in the reading community. However, behind every positive device, there are downsides to it. The Kindle’s downsides are the inability to fully own the digital books you purchase

 

For example, According to Digital Matters the University of Utah,  “As a business model, this makes a certain amount of sense; it’s standard practice to protect media content from easy replication and redistribution. However, even if a user has bought and paid for an eBook (which isn’t actually the case), any manipulation of that file is jealously guarded” (David Roh, 2018). The protections around Kindle users and the inability to share books with your friends or family members can be annoying. However, I understand the reason Amazon does it to avoid pirating and a loss of revenue if books are not paid for in full

In closing, the Amazon Kindle is a device that is very influential in the reading community. The creation by Jeff Bezos went on to become a cult favorite in the United States and across the world. The Amazon Kindle was a device that changed the way people read and retained information. The Amazon Kindle became a staple device because of its capabilities and large digital library capacity attached to Amazon. Amazon and its creation of the Kindle device led to a large expansion of digital reading instead of strictly physical books.