Media Influence on Religion and Politics

Television transforms religious experiences, from abstract concepts to easily-digested personalities. This may lead to the worship of preachers instead of God.

Television, especially commercials, shapes political discourse, often prioritizing image and entertainment over substance and rationality. This makes it harder to engage in meaningful political discussion.

TV learning prioritizes entertainment over rigorous learning, often presenting information without complexity or deep engagement, hindering student growth.

A society where technology and entertainment distract people from important issues, resulting in a passive and complacent culture.

The ability to recognize how information is presented and the impact different types of media have on our perception of reality.

The act of making something sacred and meaningful through ritual and beliefs.

The act of viewing religious experiences through the lens of entertaining culture, removing sacredness and meaning.

In advertising, the goal isn't to highlight product strengths but to highlight consumer weaknesses.

Television has created a sense of history's irrelevance or indifference, removing its importance from modern discourse.

TV education prioritizes entertainment over intellectual stimulation; it avoids prior knowledge, perplexity and direct explanation.

A network design that avoids a central authority, simplifying the network and focusing on information transfer without concerning itself with the contents.

Social media platforms incentivize engagement through outrage, which drives advertising revenue.

Disinformation, often fuelled by emotions, especially during stress, spreads quickly online.

Fake news, particularly political news, spreads faster and wider than real news across multiple online platforms.

Both true and false content spread at the same rate through bots but human activity accelerates the spread of false news most.

The Internet is a global network of interconnected networks for delivering information, while the Web is a collection of documents linked by hyperlinks, made accessible as a service on the Internet.

TCP/IP is a set of protocols that enable communication between computers on the Internet. TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) handles the packaging and delivery of data, while IP (Internet Protocol) provides addresses and format for data packets.

A 'dumb' network is designed to simply move data packets without analyzing or understanding their content. The Internet prioritizes simple data movement, leaving complex tasks to more powerful computers.

The principle that Internet Service Providers (ISPs) should treat all data equally, without prioritizing or blocking specific types of traffic.

Each layer in a network architecture is designed to communicate with other layers only through a specific protocol, without knowing their internal workings. This helps streamline communication and simplifies complexity.

The Web, despite being enabled by the Internet, has had a more impactful influence on our lives in terms of how we access and use information.

A Uniform Resource Locator (URL) is a unique identifier for a specific resource on the World Wide Web, acting as its machine-readable address.

Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) is the communication protocol used between web browsers and web servers to exchange data.

Overprotecting students from emotional discomfort, avoiding challenging or controversial topics.

An increasing focus on students as victims of microaggressions and societal harm.

Safe spaces and protests against controversial speakers limit open debate on campus.

The tendency to embrace information supporting beliefs and ignore contradictory evidence.

Manipulated audio or video content that convincingly portrays a person saying or doing something they didn't.

A scam using deepfakes to convince grandparents to send money claiming a child is in trouble.

False information spread to mislead or deceive.

People overestimating their knowledge of the world.

Representation should mirror the form and content of the concept being communicated.

Representation must support the users' goal for use.

Bush's conceptual idea of an advanced personal research device combining knowledge gathering and storage.

Software bots use fake engagement to increase specific content's visibility.

A network project funded by ARPA, which was considered a precursor to the Internet.

The tendency to favor information confirming existing beliefs while downplaying contradictory information.

Excessive concern with potential harm, especially in education.

A new technology or product that disrupts an existing market by offering a simpler, more affordable, or more accessible solution.

General Magic's failure stemmed from developing ideas that were too advanced for the technology available at the time.

Sony argued that the VCR was a tool with both legal and illegal uses, so banning it was unreasonable.

Napster was found guilty of copyright infringement because it actively facilitated the sharing of copyrighted music.

The merging of different digital technologies, leading to a universal machine capable of handling various tasks.

A technology that uses depth cameras to track where a person touches a screen, enabling a more intuitive interface.

The long nose refers to the gradual growth of a technology from its inception to widespread adoption, taking about 30 years.

Misinformation isn't widespread for most users but concentrated among specific groups, often overstated in public discussions.

Research on social media's harms often relies on correlational data, hindering understanding of the true causal effects.

Harmful content on social media represents a small portion of overall content, often overshadowing the positive aspects.

Social media engagement metrics like likes and shares don't accurately reflect how much content is actually seen by people. Just because something gets a lot of engagement doesn't mean it's reaching a wide audience.

Social media algorithms don't directly cause people to see harmful content. It's more about audience demand. People are more likely to engage with content they already want to see, regardless of algorithms.

Treating misinformation and extremist content the same in studies can be misleading. These are different types of content with different motivations and spread patterns.

Social media can have negative effects on teens, making them more insecure, prone to comparison, and less able to cope with problems. It can also be addictive.

It's crucial for social media platforms to be transparent about their data, research, and how algorithms work to reduce harm. Laws should also require this transparency.