Blog Post No.4: Blogging, How Thoughts Are Shared In Today's Society

The history of blogging is intense and vast. The timeline starts in 1994 when Justin Hall created the first blog on links.net where he reviewed different examples of HTML. Hall called his website a personal homepage as the idea of a blog was not in circulation yet. That changed in 1997 when Jorn Barger defined the term “weblog”. Barger was the first person on record to create a specific term to define the idea of logging onto the web. The term went from “weblog” to the term we all use today “blog” in 1999. 

Blogging was revolutionized by the creation of the blogging platform Blogger in 1999 by Evan Williams and Meg Hourihan. Blogger made it simple and easy for the average person to create a blog and post anything that they pleased. In the early 2000s “Blogads” we created. This again revolutionized the blogging world as “Blogads” was the first broker of blog advertising and people began to make money from their posts. As of 2016, Blogads is no longer in service. 

We begin to see what we know as modern-day blogging in the 2000s. In 2005 YouTube was launched which gave way to a new form of video blogging or more commonly known as vlogging. Vlogging transformed the way people communicate online. Vlogging has become so popular today that some individuals do it as a career. Roughly a YouTuber can make three to five dollars per one thousand views. This may not seem like a lot of money but some YouTuber videos have over a hundred thousand views per video which roughly equivocates to 300,000 to 500,000 per video. A YouTuber can produce several videos per week which means their total yearly income can be in the millions. 

Another important social media that influenced the history of blogging was the creation of Twitter in 2006. Twitter has a very small character limit of 280 words per tweet. The limitations proposed by Twitter gave way to the idea of microblogging. Microblogging is the sharing of information in the smallest forum possible. Twitter gives anyone the ability to share their thoughts at any time without any restrictions. 

In 2016 personal blogs got a new domain. WordPress created the domain .blog to help separate the blogs from other types of websites on the internet. This is where and how the majority of modern blogging is done. People can now create their own personal blog with the domain .blog. 

Blogs have a great positive and negative impact on and in society. People are able to connect from all parts of the world through shared interests because of blogging. Blogs give the voiceless a platform to express themselves. However, this can lead to the further radicalization of impressionable individuals. Some people become more alienated from society and extremists by looking at the blog post of those who also share their ideas. Ultimately, blogs are an important form of communication that has shaped modern day society for better and worst.

Blog Post No.3 : Promote and Protect The American Way

The most important value of the eight values of free expression is the protection of dissent and the promotion of tolerance. The most notable example of the protection of dissent and the promotion of tolerance is the Texas v. Johnson Supreme Court Case. Gregory Lee Johnson burned an American flag in protest of Reagan administration policies. This action violated Texas state law which made it a crime to desecrate the American Flag. The case was appealed eventually reaching the Supreme Court of the United States where the question “Is the desecration of an American flag, by burning or otherwise, a form of speech that is protected under the First Amendment?” is answered. The Supreme Court ruled that the burning of an American flag was formed of expression that is protected by the First Amendment of the Constitution. The court ruled in favor of Johnson due to the message behind his action. 

 In class, we discussed the difference between protected and unprotected speech. Actions, especially those that create public safety concerts or endangers other, are not considered protected. This idea of unprotected actions is most noted in the Supreme Court case Schenck v. the United States which creates the clear and present danger doctrine. Expressive actions or expressive conduct are actions that are protected under the First Amendment due to action conveying a message to others. Johnson burnt an American flag is a form of political protest which is expressive conduct and is protected.

 The Johnson v. Texas case is a great example of why the protection of dissent and the promotion of tolerance values of the eight values of free expression are so important. In relation to the protection of dissent. Johnson was protesting the Regan Administration policies which is exactly what the founder intended by stating the freedom of assembly and petition in the First Amendment. The anti-federalists wanted to ensure that the people are given certain liberties that could not be taken away. It was so significant to the founders the people had the protected right to express their grievances with the government they would not support the Constitution until this right was specifically stated. 

    In reference to the promotion of tolerance, many people did not support the idea of burning the United States flag no matter the reason. I personally do not have an issue burning the flag as a form of expressive conduct but others view the action as disrespectful to the military and those who have fought for our country. I am not against burning the flag for the same reason I believe the promotion of tolerance is such an important value,  society learns valuable lessons from it. Once a person is exposed to something they become either more tolerant of it or they learn why it is not proper. A good example of tolerance growing is lgtbq+ representation in media, as more people are exposed the more tolerant they become. 

Ultimately, These two values are at the core of Americans' patriotic duties. In today’s society, the only thing really people own is their beliefs and the ability to express said beliefs no matter how others feel. 

Blog Post No.2: The Most Powerful Court

The United States Supreme Court is the most powerful judiciary body on Earth. However, the court’s authority was weakened after Chief Justice Rogers Brookf Tanfy declared that congress has no power to ban slavery and blacks could not be citizens. I found this very surprising and It took years for the court to gain back power. I learned many facts from the video I was not aware of. More than 100 new cases every week and about 7,000 cases a year are reviewed for consideration to be argued in front of the Supreme Court. I found it surprising that throughout history there have been about 100 Supreme Court judges and justices. It is important to understand where the power of the court is derived from. Article Three of the United States Constitution established the Supreme Court without elections and term limits for judges and justices, but there are not a lot of enumerated powers for the court. The Supreme Court is only responsible for the law without direct public influence. The most important take-away point about the Supreme Court, from the video, is the power of the court is from the trust earned from the American people. Overall the Supreme Court is one of the most important aspects for democratic change in America, as its the last place major issues and debates go to be decided on 

Blog Post No.1: News and Creditability

BBC News: BBC stands for The British Broadcasting Corporation. I trust BBC News when it reports on issues occurring in the United States of America. The news company is based in the UK so it has less bias compared to other news outlets based in America. It is important to me to consider the bias of a new outlet when considering its credibility. However, BBC does come with its flaws. When it comes to news in Europe I do not trust BBC compared to other sources. There is a level of bias when reporting European news due to the location.  

 

MSNBC: MSNBC (Microsoft/National Broadcasting Company) is most often watched by my family which makes it one of my most trusted news outlets. My family and I normally discuss the events reported on MSNBC together. The familiarity of MSNBC allows me to trust the news outlet more as it creates a sense of comfortability. I understand that MSNBC comes with a level of bias toward views of the left and the Democratic party which can affect its credibility. However, I believe by acknowledging the bias in the reporting I do view the news with a small level of caution specifically when the Republican party is discussed. MSNBC, in my opinion, is less biased compared to other left-leaning news outlets which is one of the reasons I prefer to get my news from it.  

GZERO Media: As a political science major I must stay up to date on global issues. One of my professors from the political science department recommended GZERO Media stay up to date on the Ukraine-Russia conflict. Quickly, it has become one of my favorite news outlets for global affairs. GZERO Media's goal is to create engaging content that is not too polarizing or political. There are several different forms of media used to report on the news; videos, articles, podcasts, graphics, and many more. My favorite section is “In 60 Seconds” which is a credible recap of important events from the day or major political events in one minute. 

 CNN News: CNN (Cable News Network) is an extremely left-leaning news outlet that reports on current events in the United States. It is important to acknowledge the extreme bias of the news outlet when viewing the information reported. It is evident by my other reasoning, I pick the credibility of a news source based on the level of bias I perceive. I enjoy watching CNN, despite the bias, as it aligns more with my political views and CNN. A great aspect of CNN is “CNN 10” which is a 10-minute weekly segment that reports on the news for the week with the target audience being students ages 12 to 18. As a student, I would watch these weekly segments in high and middle school and they would be very informative and interesting without being overly complex.        

Fox News: Fox News, in a sense, is the right-leaning counterpart to CNN. Fox also reports on current events in the United States with a bias towards the right and Republican parties. Fox News does not normally align with my political views and I do not particularly enjoy the newscasters on Fox so I tend to watch it less. However, I think it is important to understand any event from the perspective of both political parties.