Antiwar

Opinions on war have always caused a divide in the country, and antiwar dissent opinions are never very popular within the mainstream media. The simple fact behind the lack of antiwar voices on the news comes from the lack of popularity of the group's opinion. 

Promoting the antiwar voice has never been easy for the group. Antiwar dissent has been muted through many historical efforts. The Espionage Act created by Woodrow Wilson was aimed to suppress any actions that would undermine war efforts. This act also criminalized those who interfered with war efforts. The Espionage Act was later paired with the Sedition Act a year later. The Sedition Act further placed restrictions on free speech and criticism of the government or the war effort, and I hate to say it, but the government has controlled the popularity of antiwar dissent. Historically, the antiwar voice has never been supported by the U.S. government, causing little popularity on the subject within society.

While society consumes mainstream media, people want to hear about sports, entertainment, the weather, politics, the economy, and international news. There just isn't a want for antiwar opinions in the news. So, why would mainstream news companies cover unpopular subjects? They don't cover unpopular subjects because it doesn't give them views or make them money. Mainstream news also strays away from antiwar dissent because, again, it is unapproved by the government, and it's a sticky subject to highlight. Especially in these times today, as a public figure, it's a good idea to stay away from controversial subjects if possible. Overall, antiwar dissent isn't reaching mainstream media because society has deemed it as unpopular.

Even though antiwar dissent doesn't reach mainstream media, there are voices. The Antiwar.Com site and the American Conservative are both informative sites that voice the antiwar opinion. These sites are difficult to come across but are available for browsing. The websites enable antiwar voices to be heard despite the lack of coverage on mainstream media.

 

EOTO #2 Reactions

In class, I learned a lot of new information about information and whether that's misinformation, disinformation, or a hoax. These types of information can take on different forms that consist of awareness, mediasphere, theories, and policy. The presentations that caught my interest were the five eyes, total information awareness, false flags, and propaganda. 

Prior to the presentation, I wasn't very informed about the Five Eyes. My classmate explained how the five nations came together to share intelligence to monitor global threats. Although this was the original intent for the program, today, they focus on espionage and cyber security threats. This presentation was super cool because I learned a lot.

Total information awareness is the collection and analysis of vast amounts of data to predict behaviors or identify threats. This is done through data integration, surveillance, and predictive analysis. I think the total information awareness is great for our nation, and I like all of the tools we have to protect ourselves.

The false flags presentation was interesting to me because it's pretty vengeful. False flags are operations put in place by the party at fault to pin the blame on another party. This leads to a lot of conspiracies and the loss of public trust. These flags are most commonly used on a political or military stage. Nations carry this out by staging attacks on their own side and blaming the enemy for it. I enjoyed learning about false flags, and the presentation left me feeling educated. 

I was drawn to the propaganda presentation because I hear about it a lot in class, on the news, and in my everyday life. Propaganda involves the deliberate spreading of information, rumors, or ideas to sway public opinion. Propaganda is half truths. I think propaganda is huge in advertising and needs to be addressed more. I enjoyed what my peer had to teach the class about propaganda. 

Overall, I learned a lot from my peers during the Each One Teach One #2 Presentations. Some of the information was things I hadn't heard about before, and some presentations gave me more insight into topics I had already been familiar with. There's a mass of information in society and it's important how we perceive it.

EOTO #2 Online Influencers

An Online Influencer is someone with a large following whom businesses hire to promote their brand and product. With the pay and benefits the influencers receive to promote these brands, there are negative and positive repercussions. In this blog post, I will be exploring how online influencers affect different segments and the impact of online influencers.

Influencers and Brands mutually benefit from their relationships. Brands positively benefit from their relationships with Online Influencers because an influencer's endorsement leverages trust with viewers and customers. Traditional advertising struggles to achieve this level of authenticity. As for the influencers, they are monetarily benefiting from this relationship. For example, on Instagram, influencers with a million followers receive thousands for a single post. Overall, influencers earn income from Paid partnerships, brand collaborations, and affiliate marketing. Paid partnerships form when brands pay influencers to promote their products online. The Instagram post is a good example of a paid partnership. Brand collabs are cool because they allow influencers to work with brands and create a product that connects with their followers. Lastly, affiliate marketing allows influencers to gain income through sales through link clicks. Overall, both of these power-hungry figures are heavily monetarily benefiting from their relationship, leaving the customers and viewers out of the loop.

The power of the brand-influencer partnership creates the younger generation as naive customers, which adds to the weakening public trust in information. The younger generation sees their favorite online influencers promoting a brand or product, and because they relate to or admire them, they are more likely to trust and follow their recommendations. This makes them naive customers, allowing room for improper purchases. In fact, it's reported that 74% of U.S shoppers have purchased a product because an online influencer recommended it. In 2021, a popular influencer, Charlie D'Amelio, collaborated with the skin care brand CeraVe. Her campaign promoting the product received over 132 million views, and CeraVe gained 300,000 followers and a substantial amount of sales. Much of the engagement from this ad came from Gen Z. The power brands earn by using online influencers' endorsements can create a fake reality for society. 

Online Influencers have the opportunity to influence society as a whole. Good and bad. Influencers impact society through trends, lifestyles, consumer habits, and the economy. Influencers' followers look to them to set the newest trends. A popular trend right now is getting active and eating clean. Influencers that feed into this trend share their lifestyle so their followers can view their diets, workout routines, etc. Influencers have become such a powerful tool for business because they can determine consumer habits. Studies have shown that consumers trust recommendations from influencers more than family. This is an interesting factor for society. By affecting consumer habits, the economy is also affected. The rise of trends allows for different departments to see a rise in sales. 

In conclusion, online influencers have a great impact on society, whether it's through trends or the economy. This impact comes from the monetary benefit they are receiving and the power of trust that brands earn by partnering with certain influencers. As a consumer in society, it's important to not get wrapped up in the online world.