There is no question Zoom has essentially ballooned overnight, with more than 200 million daily meetings as compared to the 10 million daily meetings it was hosting last December. But with Zoom’s ballooning, concerns have been growing over the companies privacy policies (this comes from a recent trend called “ZoomBombing” where outsiders join meeting to disrupt with illicit content). New York’s Attorney General has even weighed in saying:

Zoom’s existing security practices might not be sufficient to adapt to the recent and sudden surge in both the volume and sensitivity of data being passed through its network

Letitia James, Attorney General.

This growing concern has prompted New York City to ban all use of the videoconferencing app by city schools and has instructed them to move to other approved applications like Google Meet or Microsoft Teams. Other cities may follow suite unless Zoom can begin to implement improved security measures.

To learn more about this, follow the link below:

NYC schools step away as Zoom sets remediation plan

In theory, social media should be a great unifier. It has the ability to reach people across the political aisle, people of all ages, and people off all different walks of life. However, in the case of the political sphere, this isn’t usually the case. Social media tends to be skewed towards younger people who generally lean a bit more left than average. This can lead to data extrapolated from social media to be inaccurate. An article by an assistant professor of public relations at the University of North Carolina gives four reasons as to why data can be misread.

The first reason is what’s known as “filter bubbles.” The basic premise is that the political information you consume is mostly likely in a bubble. You look at content that’s relevant to you, that content usually being from perspectives that. you identify with or agree with. Algorithms are used to keep you engaged and in your bubble, and that applies to journalists too.

The second reason is Twitter bias. Twitter is looked at by journalists and the public much more than Facebook, despite Facebook being used by 70% of Americans as opposed to the 22% American usage of Twitter. Twitter users are also not representative of their parties. On average, Democratic voters on Twitter are much more progressive than the traditional party member.

The third reason is the older voter blind spot. Despite being one of the highest voting groups, most older voters do not use social media much. Two large political social media platforms, Reddit and Twitter, get ridiculously low usage numbers from the elderly population. This leads to an active and loud voice on these platforms that doesn’t represent actual voting numbers.

To read about these three and the final reason more in depth, check out the previously mentioned article here: https://theconversation.com/4-reasons-why-social-media-election-data-can-misread-public-opinion-121403

Many of us know that the Internet and social media censorship laws in China know no bounds. China has become known for just how strict and sensitive their censorship laws and algorithms are. Now that all of the classes in China have shifted from in-person to online because of the deadly coronavirus, it has become even more apparent just how strict the censorship laws and policies are. Because of this, it has been hard for some professors and teachers to teach their students online. Not only do teachers and professors have to worry about putting all of their lectures and materials online, they also have to worry about whether or not the content they teach is going to be censored by the Chinese government.

Internet pornography is an area of the Internet that faces a lot of censorship in China. While this may seem appropriate, many now online medical and science classes in China are beginning to face censorship as they become dubbed as “internet pornography”. For example, according to this article, an online nursing class depicting childbirth in a video and a biology class depicting meiosis, the division of sex cells, can both be subject to censorship for being “internet pornography”.

While I completely understand that the Chinese government wants to actively censor any online content that involves pornography, I do not agree with the Chinese government censoring any material that professors and teachers are using to educate students. Professors and teachers should not have to worry about the content they teach being censored or removed. I think the idea that the Chinese government has about what constitutes “pornography” needs some work. If the Chinese government would go as far as to dub meiosis “pornography”, then I can only imagine just how much unreasonable the Internet censorship is there.

Check out this New York Times article about China dealing with the digital divide so you can follow along in my blog. 

About the Digital Divide

The Digital Divide refers to the gap between people who have access to internet/technology and people who don’t. Though it may seem like everyone has access to the internet nowadays, the amount of people who don’t is still a reality that needs to be addressed. According to the article linked aboved, around 56 million kids in China are lacking internet connection or web devices. That number is truly astounding.

How it Affects Children

While the digital divide can cause an issue referred to as the homework gap, bigger problems are arising. The novel COVID-19 virus is spreading to countries all around the world, putting a halt to everyday life. Schools are closing and educators are frantically trying to provide lessons and assignments to students. Many of them are resorting to the use of technology and the internet. This CAN be a good thing, as long as children have access. And as explained in the above paragraph, millions do not. While some schools are aware of this gap, and are trying to provide learning alternatives to children who are left out, it seems kids will still have to resort to teaching themselves the material or requesting parental help. Then it becomes a responsibility of the parents or child, and many parents are still required to work or simply don’t have involvement in the child’s studies. This digital divide will affect children in ways never seen before. 

Moving Forward 

It’s safe to say that after this pandemic is over things will be different. And they should be. Hopefully this shines some light onto the families who struggle to meet these technological needs. Schools and educators could work together to provide programs where students can rent devices and request internet services. Schools could also work towards moving towards an online learning management system, in case a situation like this ever happens again. In a new world full of innovative ideas, I’m positive that in the near future we will find a way to provide technology to anyone who needs it. 

Looking to change your major to Influencing? Schools like University of Southern California are implementing courses to keep up with this fast-growing and high-paying new trendy career. While USC has not officially declared ‘influencing’ a major, the school has taken action to provide a class in the subject (Influencer Relations) and on-campus clubs. Read More.

More and more companies are hiring influencers that are not actually influencers, specifically, they do not necessarily have 20K + followers. Companies like Lyft are hopping on this new trend as a strategy to “create a top-down approach that’s proven very effective for their brand.” This method uses huge stars and micro-influencers to appeal to a large demographic. Read More.

Colton Underwood, the former ABC Bachelor, was recently diagnosed with Corona Virus and has since been very open with his journey on social media. The star and his girlfriend have been very vocal and have documented much of the experience on Instagram. These stars are using their influencer status for good to educate the public and promote social distancing and quarantine practices. Read More.

Influencers are known for using their platforms to promote brands, charities, causes, and other important or intriguing topics/products/places. Influencer, Arielle Charnas, unfortunately recently chose to use her platform to flaunt her recent vacation following her Corona Virus diagnosis. Click the following link to learn more about how this influencer ignored social distancing practices and how she’s been forced to make a public apology since. Read More.

With the recent advancements in artificial intelligence, there are many reasons why insurance companies should implement it into their daily work. AI can process unstructured data from customers, saving employees huge amounts of time. In addition, AI is able to analyze historical data and create algorithms to better predict the risks of insuring a customer.

The claims process can be a very long process, but with AI it can be done in hours, or even minutes. Also, AI can provide customers with 24/7 support, instant replies, and even complete certain processes for the customer. https://www.neutrinos.co/ai-insurance-industry/

Everything we do is shared on social media, the cup of coffee you drank, the run you just went on, and the dog you just bought. People are obsessed with sharing every detail of their lives. But for what purpose? Out of genuine desire to share their current events, or is it out of the desire to feel validated for each notification of a “like” you receive. Everyone wants to feel liked, everyone wants to feel validated. But where is that really getting us? Is the temporary validation we feel on social media enough to really leave us feeling fulfilled? The answer is no, and while the temporary validation we receive from social media is good, there are much greater things to be gained without it.

If we stop looking to social media for validation, we will start to feel more confident in ourselves, gain a new sense of purpose, and so much more. While all of this is much easier said than done, I think that all of us could benefit by striving towards what this article describes. https://medium.com/@thestevenpost/what-happens-when-we-stop-seeking-validation-on-social-media-1a74e6c605ca