Diffusion of Innovations: TikTok

Diffusion of innovations is a theory that seeks to explain how, why, and at what rate new ideas and technology spread. Everett Rogers argues that diffusion is the process by which an innovation is communicated over time among the participants in a social system. The origins of the diffusion of innovations theory are varied and span multiple disciplines. So a innovation I found that is new to our world is the app TikTok.

TikTok is a free app that was created by a Chinese company called Douyin which is a video sharing networking service owned by ByteDance. The company launched in September 2016. The app was not well known at the time until merging with another app named Musically. Musically was a  platform where users could create and share short lip-sync videos their choice and post for their friends to see. After the merge TikTok became an app where people could post funny videos, tutorials, dances and many other forms o expression. The app allow there to be a friends page and a public page. If the user only want their friends to see it they can post it to just friends but if they want the video to be public they have a public page where other users can engage in the post and like it. The merge happened in 2018 and was available in 40 different languages.

The catch and spreader seemed from entertainment. The app is fun and diverse but has also developed into an influencer app. TikTok had deemed users that receive lots of likes "popular creatures." These popular creatures have developed a branded following and have created a fan base on TikTok. These popular creatures became stars overnight. 

TikTok's current most popular creator Charli D'amelio. She has 49.1 million followers 

People in fact in adopt this app early because by February of 2019 nearly a year after merging TikTok had 1 billion global downloads. TikTok became the 7th most downloaded app go the decade of 2010-2019. In one years time the app was able to become a top ten downloaded app.

In 2018 the app extended itself again to 150 markets and added 35 additional languages to the app. Adopters are minimal units od analysis. In most studies, adopters are individuals  but can be groups as well. The app currently has 800 million active users. In the United States, 52% of TikTok users are iPhone users. 44% of TikTok users are female while 56% are male. TikTok has proven to attract the younger generation, as 41% of its users are between the ages of 16 and 24. Among these TikTok users, 90% say they use the app on a daily basis. 

Some negatives to TikTok have been  reported that the app is very addictive and can take up hours of the users day. The apps videos are mostly for fun and have yes actual added value to a user except entertainment. 

The 8 Values of Free Expression

Free speech and expression is what is called a lifeblood of democracy. It contains things like facilitating open debate, the proper consideration of diverse interests and perspectives, and the negotiation and compromise necessary for consensual policy decisions. The Supreme Court has written that this freedom is "the matrix, the indispensable condition of nearly every other form of freedom." Without it, other fundamental rights, like the right to vote, would wither and die. (FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION). With this there can always be problems, with peace and stability and sometimes unseen problems that can occur.

With this being said I personally felt that the most important of the 8 freedoms of expression is innovation. Innovation is a community in which free speech is valued and protected is likely to be a more energized, creative, interesting society as its citizens actively fulfill themselves in many diverse and interesting ways and also requires experimentation, and implementation. I believe a big part of innovation is being authentic and original, which is derived from creativity. Creativity is defined as the use of the imagination or original ideas. If you take an original idea or a creative thought it can turn into a creation, a creation is change, or an addition.

What goes hand and hand best with this idea that innovation is creative, is creation. To be innovative you must be different, bring something to the table. With is freedom to do so has allowed us to grow so high from the original start line of the world. To innovate you have to be allowed to create. No one should ever stop you from creating, in which is why we are protected by freedom of expression in 8 different categories.

An example of this freedom is the article Facebook warns of risks to innovation, freedom of expression ahead of EU rules. The article talks about how Facebook warned of threats and freedom of expression on the release of a raft of rules set to them by the EU (European Union) in regard to rein in the US and Chineses companies. The complaints are that Facebook allows hate speech and other illegal speech to be posted on their platform. The EU is trying to hold the internet companies responsible for these posts. "Such liability would stifle innovation as well as individuals' freedom of expression," said Zuckerberg in his white paper response to the issue.

So in this right to expression there is always issues and problem but I felt it is a very important right that we should all be aware of. Innovation is the key to creation.

History of the First Personal Computer

We all know and love the invention of the personal computer. It has made life extremely accessible to outlets where we can grow in knowledge. What are you reading this blog on right now, your personal computer. Can you imagine a time when you had to wait 6 hours for you search engine to retrieve information or if you had to use a certain code of switches to output one email. Today the world is dominated by technologies such computers and I am gong to tell you how that came about.

In 1613 the word computer only meant one thing, it meant someone that could preform calculations or configuration of some sort. It was not until 1822 that a huge created was made by Charles Babbage. Babbage created what was known as the first computer. I was large and did no resemble anything we have today relating to a computer. It was extremely slow and could not do much. This invention then sparked 153 years later in 1974 the first at home personal computer created by Ed Roberts. It was called the MITS Altair 8800 and was sold at the price of $750.

                                                                                                                  

The computer was accessible for people at home but that did not mean it was the most convenient at home. The Altair 8800 was composed three parts, the screen, the switch board and the mouse. SO when purchasing a Altair 8800 you had to buy all 3 items that were called a kit. IN the selling process Roberts thought that he would have minimal success and sell around one hundred computers for personal use. Instead he was extremely successful and sold computers by the thousands in the first few months.

The computers where sold by mail and could be purchased by radio or magazine ads. The computer would then be mailed to the home as kits and the consumer would then easily assemble the computer in their home. This invention sparked what is considered the first step to the revolution of computers. The computers necessary, Roberts had Altair 8800 being sold to homes, universities, schools and companies. At the start of Roberts launch he told his banker that he had to sell at least 800 computers to break even on his invention.  The realize date for the Altair 8800 was December 19th 1974 and by the month of February Roberts had 1,000 orders. Roberts was finding himself having to hire more employees to answer the over whelming amounts of orders being called in. In August of 1975 Roberts had over 5,000 orders and are his employees from 20 to 90 by that time. The delivery processes was long, it took about 60 days in average to receive the computer, although the over whelming amount of orders that came in, the delivery times got longer.

The computer held about 256 bytes which is about 1024 words of memory. Roberts knew people would need more storage is he began to sell additional memory and interface boards. This could hold more words, more memory and basic language. Roberts later announced that the computers would still be sold around $750 but then decided to provide options to add one or two more memory boards would cost around $496. In a break down the computer kit cost $496, you have the choice to decided between 1024 word memory board for $176, or 4069 word memory for $264. Roberts also offered a Parallel Interface Board for $92.

In that January in 1975 Roberts was contacted by two undergraduates from Harvard University contacted Roberts about helping design more Basic Language for the Altair MITS 8800. The two men where Bill Gates and Paul Allen. Roberts allowed them to show their interest in helping him out. Although Gates and Allen had no Basic Language offer yet but they began to work on a self-made simulator for the computer. The two worked very hard to create a software that would change the computer game, and they did. Competitors from others began to creep in so the two decided to race the new design to Roberts and it was launched.

In 1977 Roberts sold MITTS to Pertec Computer Corps for $6 million. After the sell Roberts went to Mercer Univesity and enrolled in their medical program and later became a doctor. He moved to Cochran, Georgia and continued on as a doctor until he passed away on April 1st 2010.

The invention of the first personal computer was huge and sparked so much technologies that we have today. Soon after the release of the MITTS Altair 8800, a company decided to start manufacturing computer, the companies name was Apple. If it was not for Roberts our technology might not be what it is today, and Apple would probably be different.

The Invention Of The Printing Press

How Did It All Start?

The Printing Press was first invented in 1440 by Johannes Gutenberg in Mainz, Germany. This device allowed for the printing of uniformed matters such as pamphlets, books and newspapers. This invention would later be referred to as the printer, which would later become a common household device. Gutenberg had sparked the idea of the invention when using his winemaker in which was the retrofitted to develop the printing press. Each letter was made of brass or lead and was placed on the wooden bed. Gutenberg discovered how to make his own ink and later printed his first and now very rare book, the Gutenberg Bible.

Before this invention East Asia had been using something similar to the printing press in the Tang Dynasty in China around the time of the 8th century. Even before the Tang Dynasty there had been sketched iof type of printing press as early as the 3rd century. The printing press made history for itself by revolutionizing the world. The printing press led to the Renaissance, Enlightenment and Industrial Revolution due to its ability to print quick, easy and fast distributions.

The press works with an inked surface and paper in which it is transcribed by using nink to brush and rub onto the paper continuously to eventually complete an ink transfer. The machine is made up of several screw mechanisms. This also led to the extensive use of the assembly-line so that mass production of text products could be made and sent out as fast as possible. 

The printing press affected the world greatly. With this new invention the rapid spread of information fluished. People were able to receive information internationally so much faster. Newspapers were a hit, everyone wanted a newspaper to keep up with what is going on, soon newspapers would be printed every single day! It also leads to a wide spread of religion. People were able to print bibles and religious words all around the world and it was exposing people to religion. Scientific journals and theories were printed inspiring people to think to greater heights. The ability to mass produce words was an outlet to people's ability to learn and understand more. With the printing press the world has changed and is considered one of the best inneton of all time.

In conclusion I think that the printing press has done wonderful things for us. Learning about it has me really thinking how much I read and learn everyday. That is possible through Gutenberg and his invention of the printing press.
https://www.history.com/topics/inventions/printing-press

https://interestingengineering.com/the-invention-and-history-of-the-printing-press

Why Anti-War Is Not Spoke About In New Medias

Why Not Talk About Anti-War Websites?

Why anti-war isn't talked about much in the news. I personally believe that as a country that is known for it's power in war, we do not promote nor not promote anti-war acts that often. If we talk about how we do not believe in war our country could be viewed as weak, which could put a target on our backs from other malicious countries . Unfortunately, this world can be a cruel an inhuman place where other countries would love to see the United States fall and that is one reason I think the anti-war acts and promotions are not actively talked about in the news as one reason.

I have never heard of these websites and they have voices of people who truly want to make a change and put an end to all the unnecessary fighting and tragedy that war can bring and inflict, which is POWERFUL. I believe these views should be seen like any other views in the media and be promoted. I just believe that in this world we live in today, we are proud of the strength and title the United States has earned from its ability to serve and product its civilians. I think that anti-war is promoted in a way. I do not know anyone that likes war and anyone that wants to endorse it but it does seem that way from the media sometimes. 

I think that some reasons that the mainstream media does not talk about these websites and voices because they are essentially doing their job. News media wants their media out to the public first because we have to remember they are a business first. They want their own content out to the public for others to see and read about first. They also want to appeal to as many parts of the audience as possible and at the moment people seem to want to know whats going on with the war. They want to know whats going on because it is based on fear and wanting to learn where our country is at, because it is a scary topic. 

So news medias will produce what the consumers want to hear. I think another reason is that if the media doesn't inform us on the horrible informations of current war statuses it will not educate those on how awful it truly is, which in a way is an anti-war promotion without actually promoting website such as the ones we just read. Talking about the devastations of war make people HATE war.

I think the news medias know that we have to go to war until everyone gets on the same page if we want to keep everything that soldiers and people died for, everything we stand for as a country for now. I do hope and pray the day comes that no child has to loose a parent or no wife or husband has to raise his or her children alone due to the deaths and violences war brings, I pray for these soldiers protection and that the leaders in charge do what is best for us and them to bring them home to their families and end the war.

Google Finds Itself in an Anti-Trust Investigation

         An article was posted September 10th 2019 that 48 states have launched an investigations on Google for violations of the anti-trust laws. First off what is an anti-trust law? An anti-trust law is competition laws, these laws are statutes developed by the U.S. government to protect consumers from predatory business practices. They ensure that fair competition exists in an open-market economy.
         Google has become the highest form of advertisement and controls major parts of the internet when it comes to advertising. Google is being accused of becoming proficient in stomping out smaller advertising companies. Many small advertisers have tried their best to fight Google on its stranglehold on the market that has recently become a system of whatever Google say goes...
          Investigators are currently working to look into Google and its elegized over dominance in the online adverting marketing world where they have also been seen to control the internet searches. In March 2019 European Regulators fined Google 1.7 billion dollars for forcing advertisers to only advertise with Google.
          This potential monopolistic behavior from Google has investigators focused on current firms control of online advertising,markets and search traffic. This year Google will have a 31% of control of global digital ad dollar, according to some estimations. In this fight against Google Missouri's Attorney General Eric Schmitt had some words about the situation, he said "It's like if you were trying to buy a house, and Google owned the house, and a lot of houses on your block. And they were the buyer's agent and also the seller's agent," he also said "It would raise questions, certainly."
       Jen King who is the director of privacy at Stanford's Center for Internet and Society spoke out and said "There's definitely concern on the part of the advertisers themselves that Google wields way too much power in setting rates and favoring their own services over others," Google speaks back and states that their business is large and it provides useful and beneficial services to consumers. They also said that it does appear regulars are growing more concern to not just the effects on the regular internet users but on its smaller companies also.




Source: Ivanova, I. (n.d.). 48 States Launched Antitrust Investigation into Google. Retrieved from https://www.cbsnews.com/news/google-antitrust-probe-48-u-s-states-launch-antitrust-investigation-of-google-dominance-in-search-ads-and-data/

The Workings of the United States Supreme Court

When you think United States power, what do you think of? If you said Supreme Court you are correct, the US Supreme Court is the most powerful judicial body. The members of the Supreme Court are responsible for preserving the union, safeguarding liberty and upholding the rule of law. With this the Constitution gives the court legitimacy but the public give them power, where they can make private decisions and choose which petitions will make it to court each year.

John Marshall Statue located in the Supreme Court

            

                                                                                                                       John Marshall                                                 

Our Supreme Court still looks to the Constitution today to resolve national problems that was established by John Marshal in the early 1800's. In 1801 the government was moved to Washington, D.C and John Marshal a lawyer from Virginia was elected the 1st Chief Justice of the United States.

Later on in the 1820's the court faced its most divisive issue in American history to this day. An enslaved man name Dred Scott from Missouri went to the court to claim his freedom under justice. The court ruled that the court could not declare any slave citizenship to the United States. Later on the Civil War ended slavery but the courts decision on Dred Scott was never forgotten and went down as the courts greatest self-inflicting wound. After the war the Constitution was amended and slavery was abolished and rights were given, rights like the ability to vote.

                                                                                                                                      United States current Supreme Court

Today the Supreme Court is made up of 1 Chief Justice and 8 Assisant Justices. To be in the Supreme Court the individual must be nominated and sworn in by a President. Serving on the Supreme Court lasts until death, each member serves on average 16-20 years. Once a member passes away another justice is nominated and brought into the court. There has been 102 Supreme Court members in history.

The Supreme Court receives around 7,000 petitions a year. These petitions are sorted and divided between justices. Each week the justices will review the petitions and will all meet at the end of the week for a conference to decide which petitions will make it to court.