Harper J's Blog

The First Amendment is important because it gives people the right to speak out, even when their opinions are unpopular. After watching the assigned videos ( https://www.youtube.com/watchv=0he_OScdFec    https://www.youtube.com/watchv=RbZ2eaCIttg&t=8s   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwrUvjkRMI8&t=67s ), I learned that during World War I many people who opposed the war were arrested or sent to jail simply for expressing their opinions. Even though the First Amendment existed, the government still punished people for sharing antiwar views. Looking at today, it seems like strong antiwar opinions are much harder to find in mainstream news. Before this assignment, I had never heard of Antiwar.com  or The American Conservative . It made me wonder why these viewpoints are not discussed more often. I think one reason is that mainstream news tends to focus on stories and perspectives that appeal to the largest audiences. Antiwar opinions can be controversial, so the...

     After watching the TED Talks about privacy, I realized how much personal information is collected about us every day. Before watching the videos, I mostly thought about privacy in terms of social media, but I learned that privacy concerns go much further than that. Technology can track where we go, what we search for, and even information about our daily habits. These videos made me think more carefully about how much information I share online and who might have access to it.      One TED Talk that stood out to me was "Your Online Life, Permanent as a Tattoo" by Juan Enriquez . In his TED Talk, he explained how information posted online can stay there forever, even if we think it has been deleted. This was surprising because people my age share so much of their lives online through photos, videos, and social media posts. It made me think about how easily our digital footprints can follow us into the future and potentially affect opportunities later i...

  Instagram: A Communication Technology I Use Every Day For the Each One Teach One project, I decided to research Instagram because it is one of the communication technologies that I use the most. I open Instagram multiple times a day, whether I am looking at what my friends are posting, sharing pictures from a trip, or just scrolling through reels when I have free time. Before researching it, I knew Instagram was popular, but I had never really thought about how it was created or how much it has changed communication. One thing I learned was that Instagram was created in 2010 by Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger. They wanted to make it easier for people to share photos through their smartphones. Today that seems completely normal, but before Instagram, sharing photos online was not nearly as simple. People often had to upload pictures from a computer or use websites that were much less user-friendly. Learning about Instagram's history made me realize how quickly technology has change...

When I read through the Eight Values of Free Expression, the one that stood out to me the most was individual self-fulfillment. As someone who is studying communication and minoring in photography, I think being able to express yourself is extremely important. Whether it is through speaking, writing, photography, or social media, people should have the freedom to share their thoughts, opinions, and creativity. I never really thought about free expression beyond it being a constitutional right, but after learning about these theories, I realized how much it affects everyday life. I also connected with the Marketplace of Ideas theory. I see this theory in action every day on social media. Like a lot of people my age, I get a lot of information from TikTok and Instagram. Whenever something major happens, people immediately start sharing videos, opinions, and reactions. Some people agree with each other, while others have completely different viewpoints. Even though social media can someti...

     After watching the videos about the U.S. Supreme Court, I learned a lot more about how the Court actually works. One thing I did not know before was that the Supreme Court does not hear every case that is appealed to it. Instead, the justices choose which cases they think are most important. I also learned that the power of judicial review came from the case Marbury v. Madison, which allowed the Court to decide whether laws are constitutional. To learn more about this landmark case, I looked at information from Oyez's Marbury v. Madison overview .      The most important takeaway from the videos is that the Supreme Court helps make sure that no branch of government becomes too powerful. The Court has the ability to review laws and government actions and decide if they follow the Constitution. Because of this, the Supreme Court plays a major role in protecting the rights of citizens and maintaining the balance of power in the government.    ...

As a Communication major, I think it's important to stay informed about what is happening in the world and how information is shared with different audiences. Everyone gets their news in different ways, and these are the five sources that I use the most to keep up with current events and topics that interest me. 1. TikTok Website: https://www.tiktok.com/ TikTok is probably the source I use the most for news and information. I spend a lot of time on the app, and it's usually where I first hear about breaking news, trending topics, and major events. I also enjoy watching true crime content and learning about cases that are being discussed online. Even though I know it's important to double-check information from social media, TikTok is a quick way to stay updated and discover stories I want to learn more about. 2. The New York Times Website: https://www.nytimes.com/ The New York Times is one of my favorite sources because it provides detailed and trustworthy reporting. As a...