Tag / social media
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Terms And Conditions Will Apply
Before the Fourth of July, I made a Facebook account for my summer job – I worked in Wash U’s Office of Scholar Programs and needed an account to invite scholars from the Class of 2023 to the official Facebook group of the Rodriguez Scholars Program. So I followed them, invited them all to the…
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AOC: From Resolutions To Red Lipstick
A few weeks ago, I was sitting at the counter of a small kitchen in the Bronx while Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) made black bean soup in an Instant Pot and told me about her transition into office. Well, it didn’t exactly happen like that. But Rep. Ocasio-Cortez did go on Instagram Live to talk…
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Advertising’s Insidious Role In Social Media Influencing
The screen illuminates, and dopamine is released. We eagerly bring the device to our face and we begin to light up as well. We swipe through dozens, even hundreds of digitized pieces of information. We scroll through the typical baby photos, the glamor-clad celebrities, and an ad or two. There goes another ad, a shot…
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Taking A Gigabyte Out Of Your Brain
Ever since Plato declared that writing will make people “cease to exercise memory because they rely on that which is written,” humans have had a tendency to criticize the newest methods of disseminating, recording, and representing ideas. The accusations are always similar to Plato’s: the precious internal memory is supplanted by external memory, making retention…
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The Modern Loss of Empathy
As I log onto Facebook I immediately notice the trending box on the right-hand side of the screen. I see, in blue letters, the name of a place. This is no ordinary place, but rather the site of a recent mass tragedy. Quickly scrolling down through my news feed I see that many people are…
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Astroturf Campaigning
The internet has been a powerful organizing tool for political movements. It has been used to organize revolutions in the Middle East and protests around the world. Understandably, politicians have good reason to closely monitor sentiment online. However, powerful interests can use the the internet to support their agendas by creating the false impression of…
