Final

Social media has been a vicious beast from the beginning. Modern social media has magnified this and brought it to the main stage of our minds because of it's very public presence. In the case of Monica Lewinsky it was early in the stages of social media and most of the attacks were done in private while nowadays all the attacks are done publicly in comments sections. However, one thing has stayed the same and that is anonymity online. While technology has made it easier to track and find out who your anonymous attackers are, many people are not willing to take the time to track IP addresses to discover who the commenters are. This anonymity makes people forget about the humanity of the people they are interacting with. Many times people online say things they are never willing to say to someone face to face. One recent event that shows this extremely well was #sorry an exhibit that Shia LaBeouf put on in New York to apologize for his antics at the premiere of Nymphomaniac Volume II in which he wore a bag on his head reading "I'm not famous anymore" and after the hate mail he received online he decided to publicly apologize by giving people the opportunity to tear him apart in person as payment for forgiveness. He was shocked when over 85% of the responses in person were positive while online 90% were negative. He stated on a talk show that most keyboard warriors are too afraid in person to do anything. This is proof along with the case of Monica Lewinsky that people online have become desensitized to the humanity of the person and say things that they would never dare say online.

I believe the same example of Shia LaBeouf is a great example of how compassion could displace shame online. Much like we see where he received two different responses based on the medium if we were able to inspire people to use compassion and start a trend instead of bashing people that others who normally wouldn't comment with compassion would follow the trend and it would saturate the post with kindness instead of anger and hate like we normally would see trending. The problem really is society. We love to see fights and anger. Compassion has no climax that the viewers are anticipating and so we choose to provoke hate in hopes of a great show. This is not unique to our society. As we look back in history we see the Greek Colosseums and the amazing turn out to events in order to see someone who committed a crime and to pay their debt must fight a group of men or a lion in some instances in order to pay their debt. The spectators were not their for justice, they were there for a blood bath.

Can one person change a society? Ghandi said "Be the change you want to see in the world." And while this saying is great will my comment really change a society? Do I have to comment on every post in hopes of trending? The saturation of hate on the internet is becoming overwhelming. We almost need a flood much like we hear about with Christianity in the times of the prophet Noah. With no sign of that becoming a real world possibility I am prepared to do my part. However, I am not the type to comment on every post and every subject online. I am usually caught spectating and waiting to see what happens. Recently with the mascot change and the hate that surrounded Dixie State University online some of my friends in student government and I decided we needed to change the pattern on the Facebook and Twitter feeds by posting our honest positive feelings toward the new mascot. In doing so we witnessed more supporters sharing their voice and assisting in showing the negative that was online that there were positive opinions who were hiding in the shadows because we believed that we had won the fight with our mascot being selected. This is a common pattern. Supporters of a topic feel they have won and will not speak out. We see this in the world of protests as well. You never see picket lines in support of something because they are actively involved in the cause and are moving it forward while protesters attempt to create an angry mob. The silent voice is typically the supporting voice and that is where the change must start.

Facebook Final

This project was disappointing in its results. While my business flowed about the same the Facebook page had no real impact. And in my evaluation of it I believe I figured out the reasoning. While the Facebook page seemed like a great way to reach people I began to see that no one was interacting because it was just sales things. I promoted my page on the St. George Online Yard Sale and the Salt Lake Online Yard Sale page(unfortunately the moderator removed the post so I don't have a screenshot) and gained a few followers from that and then lost a few just as quickly. I promoted on my personal social media page which helped me break 30 but also didn't bring forth any business. Ultimately I decided that the page is something that I would want to be subscribed to for the purpose of buying and selling vehicles however the average person doesn't need to be watching for cars all the time and when they need to purchase a vehicle they take their business to Craigslist or KSL Classifieds. Luckily, I have my ads on there as well and over the course of time I was running this page all of my business was still from KSL or Craigslist. I did get page views because I linked the page but people would look at the page and that was it. There was no action of them sharing or liking or anything along those lines. However, in my pursuit to find the example people I listed on my Facebook Campaign, they did in fact find me. They weren't identical but they were similar because I was targeted the appropriate audience.

Here we see the logistics and insights of the page over the course of it's lifetime.

 This run down of all of my posts slightly reflects the success of each vehicle and post. The post from March 13th about summer coming up is my most viewed post. It had no mention of upcoming sales it simply said that for the summer you are going to want A/C. And the people seemed to want to read that. My second most popular post is the vehicle that I sold faster then even I was ready for. I sold the Mini Van in Salt Lake and the buyer found the original ad on KSL and then viewed the Facebook page to see if I had any other vehicles he was interested in. Within 20 minutes of first contact with me we were singing the paperwork for him and his family to drive off in the 2003 Dodge Caravan.

 All of my major activity happened in the first few weeks of functioning and then I couldn't find any interaction in the community. If the charts resembled the business I would be out of work. However, third party classifieds websites kept me going.

 All of my reaches were organic. The spike that happens is during a time in which I was trying to gain a following by doing more text and less ads. However this spike doesn't assist in the purpose of the page.

 The spikes came at weird times that didn't make a lot of sense to me. My most popular posts as far as people reached are concerned were posts that were simply text. The ads with the pictures had little to no interaction.

The other categories were unable to give me data as to Age and Gender and city.

Overall I would say that I was unsuccessful at conducting business via Facebook. I never hit my stride or found the path I needed to take to really take off with this page. Continuing forward I don't know if I will continue to run the page or if I will stick strictly to KSL and Craigslist. While the ads are nearly identical people seem to trust classified specific websites more then they trust Facebook for their car buying needs. I admit I should have posted more frequently in an attempt to keep subscribers interest. I just was unsure of what to post about 2-3 times a week. I tried to at least post updates once a week and even struggled at that. Facebook is almost too hands on for me in this aspect of my life. I enjoy being able to post an ad to KSL and then just wait for a call rather then posting a post and then having to promote it for likes and shares. If I can figure out the art of selling cars on Facebook I know it will elevate my success but for now I am left searching for the way to do that.

Facebook Ad

My ad is a slideshow function that shows cars that are available for sale. I believe the movement of the pictures will draw the eye. I struggled to make my ad demographic become more specific. I continued to add filters but it never swayed from the middle toward the left. However, cars are something that is a very broad demographic so it makes sense. I did not place the ad, but I am decided on whether or not the money would make it worth while comparative to free advertising like KSL or Craigslist.

Automatic Attitudinal Response

As hard as it is for me to publicly say I am biased, my posts say it all for me and reading back on them makes it so apparent to me. While I like to believe I am a critical thinker I have major anti-establishment beliefs and those influence my ability to critically analyze the On the Media assignments and the Well Informed Assignments. I am specifically going to be looking at my post about Democracy 2.0 from February 28, 2016.

The first thing you see is the meme which is bashing the Electoral College and the election process. This already speaks volumes about my stance on the topic. My first sentence is showing that I don't have a desire to even view the topic and think of it critically. And the video link I share is a video link of someone who is also anti-establishment and therefore agrees with me. I never once mention the other sides view or a positive outlook on democracy, reading back on it I see myself becoming one of those crazy conspiracy theorist hippies that I used to joke about in middle school and high school back when I thought I knew it all. My responses to the topics make it seem like I feel high and mighty because I can "see" what is really going on and no one else can. Now I question myself and how I became so closed-minded and egotistical.

So how can I overcome this problem? The truth is I am not the problem, the problem is the establishment... And I am completely joking when I say that. We cannot place the blame anywhere but on ourselves. I have recognized my bias and my automatic attitudinal responses and now with that in mind I must continue to progress forward in pushing those thoughts aside. The second step is the hard one. Even in writing this post I am tempted to say "but I am not wrong because the establishment is clearly corrupt so my response is correct." As I continually tell my brain to let me think this through so I can post effectively it keeps trying to persuade me. By talking myself through the situation I am able to stop and think before I type. Now as step 3 I must open my mind and accept opposition. I must see the good of democracy like the fact that the system is set up in a way that if a President dies we do not panic because we know who is next in command and we are not without a leader which would cause us to be vulnerable for other countries.

The real problem here doesn't lie in this one post though and that is what worries me the most. Even my racism post in which I am defending the black actors who feel misrepresented at the Oscars I blamed the establishment for being racist. The truth is that behind every establishment is men and women who are probably similar to me trying to pass the blame off somewhere else. And if I can solve my own pre-disposed beliefs then I can be sure that I am being critical as I analyze any situation or problem that may occur in comfort knowing I am not being unfair to one side or the other or trying to place my problems on someone else's head.

On The Media 3

A War Reporter Played by Tina Fey

Well, I was at a loss on which segment to pick to evaluate for this post because I really didn't want to post about the election. The election is becoming so saturated with garbage that I feel like I am hearing about the characters of the Jersey Shore and not Presidential Candidates. So, why did this story break through the layer of elections and make it onto this weeks show? Well, this film does take a look into a world that is usually portrayed in the film as constant action and war but this film shows that there isn't always action and that in reality what the media usually portrays the Middle East as this crazy non-stop war that we need to support and conquer to get our troops home.

So does the propaganda outweigh the actuality of it? I believe it does. This is a rare case in which we can hear a small portion of what was really seen by a third party source over there. While I haven't seen the movie or read the book in the short 9 minute clip I could see that both the film and the novel have a purpose of giving civilians the insight that we deserve. The propaganda is what got us into most of our countries major wars and it is what keeps the boots on the ground and by exposing what is really happening we have a chance to get the support to get the troops home and to stop finding this war with an invisible enemy who probably doesn't want anything to do with us simply because we believe that America must mediate for the whole world and show them that we can protect everyone or that in the conspiracy theorist case that we start wars in order to steal oil because we don't want to use our own. I believe with how long this war has been going on and the number of people who don't support the war we will see more things like this in the media but first they will have to force themselves through the horrific blanket that is the Presidential elections.

On the Media #2

Politics were never intended to be entertainment but rather a way of appropriately choosing the right person to entrust with running our country and representing us to the world. But now we are engulfed in a dirty fight between candidates who know the people just want to see a brawl. Trump has no problem sending low blows to his candidates but what happens when the press decides to ignore the true front runner and act like second place is the new first? Marco Rubio is pretty happy about it. Second place for the GOP is the new first and it doesn't matter how far ahead Trump is because at least Marco got a silver medal! That's bogus. We need news sources to start with headlines like "Trump bullies his way to first in another caucus" or "Rubio is in second because you people keep supporting Trump." Instead we get headlines that tell us Rubio took second by a landslide! And no one has to wonder who took first because we all know. Trump is a crowd pleaser. And by crowd pleaser I mean in an audience of old white racists conservatives who probably were bullies in elementary school and now work for the kids they bullied and they think this is their chance at revenge. But who cares? Because Marco Rubio is in second place... America needs to pull our heads out of our asses and realize that we can't celebrate second when first still belongs to Trump. We didn't aspire for second in the Revolutionary War, if we did we would still be subject to the Queen. We didn't aspire for second during the Cold War otherwise we would be drinking Russian Vodka and wondering why we need a fuzzy hat in the spring in St. George. America has never celebrated second, we aspire to be the best, and while we fall short a lot of the time, why are we so hopeful knowing that "at least the guy in second seems promising" because the truth is, the guy in second will disappear after the election and it's the guy in first who we have to look to for the next 4 years.

https://www.wnyc.org/radio/#/ondemand/579001

Democracy? 2.0

Really? Democracy... That describes my basic feelings toward this topic. Especially at this time in our country when the elections are so "exciting." I mean come on, who are we kidding anymore? Do they teach what any of this stuff means in schools growing up? They say the words democracy and "a government by the people for the people" but who actually learned what that meant in elementary, middle or high school? I'm in college and I'm not afraid to admit that I don't fully understand democracy but I feel like whatever our country is doing isn't democracy. We hear the dumb jokes about Obama being a dictator and how Trump will do the same but will that really change much? I feel like no matter who is in office and what their title is, the government is going to do what they want when they want to without our permission. Elections only matter for the electors and they can do whatever the hell they want when they vote. I think the best explanation of the elections I've ever see is a clip from TruTV's new show Adam Ruins Everything. For once someone who doesn't seem like a crazy conspiracy theorist is explaining the election and citing sources showing why it is so screwed up. If you don't live in Ohio, Florida or Pennsylvania (aka "Swing States")  then why bother?

Before I get too off topic with this rant I want to look into what democracy is at it's core.  Dictionary.com says that democracy is: government by the people; a form of government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised directly by them or a by their elected agents under a free electoral system. Well there's quite a few problems that I see with this in the United States. First off, I didn't elect an elector he was appointed that by someone with prominence. I don't feel like I have any power in what is done in this country especially living in Utah. And if it is truly by the people how come my only options for President are rich politicians who can afford to run and whatever it is you would call Donald Trump? I don't see any middle class blue collar workers running because they got weeded out by the rich. In fact, what I would love to see is a homeless man in office. Because he doesn't have a job or a house and so he isn't worried about things like segregating us from the world or hacking an iPhone. All he cares about is survival and trying to help everyone survive and that is ultimately what a government should be there for is making it possible for us as a people to co-exist while helping each other survive. Politics has become a game rich people play against other rich people and I'm getting real tired of having to hear about it. I want my voice to be heard in society and not silenced by the the number following the dollar sign on my bank account. Will we ever be equal?

Confucius says: Keep it under 140 Characters - Religion 3.0

Millennials like their religion like they like their food: vegan, gluten-free and presentable for an Instagram photo. At least 1 out of every 3 Millennials feels this way about their religion. They want to pick and choose the things they like out of each religion and form their own set of beliefs that align to their design. Gathering with a group of similar individuals would be nearly impossible with how personalized this quest for spirituality is becoming. Now while the hippies of old were fighting the system and challenging "the man." Millennials are denying the existence of the system and creating their own "man." Moral pockets will cease to exist amongst groups and the number of offended people will skyrocket if this trend catches on completely. Pastor's will be left unemployed, church buildings will become vacant, and the traditions that have lived on in religion for hundreds of years will slowly die out.

But what are these new "Mix-n-Match Spirituality" systems made up of? The answer is everything! Social media posts, prophetic sayings, horoscopes, idols, objects, bands, fabrics, clothing, the list goes on and on! The ideas of worshipping a brand or person that were joked about 20 years ago are no longer a joke but an actual thing. Religion is becoming a sense of being yourself and not of building yourself. Imagine if this idea was prevalent during the 90's, we would still have music like the Backstreet Boys and Britney Spears because the worshippers wouldn't have let them fall. No bands would try to emerge but without the backing of the fans you would fall much like an underfunded church will fall. The leaders would be involuntary people who just had an idea that got them famous and now they would be leading hoards of teens and twenty-somethings. While religion views technology as a benefit to spread "the word" the millennial generation sees it as a way to ignore "the word." Former generations couldn't just create their own ideals and accept it as their Spirituality, they had to choose a church or the lack there of. Buddha and Jesus couldn't have sayings in the same book previously without religious riots. But now the author is just a person and not a leader of a sect of religion. This age truly is all about changing everything we have ever known. And has the radical's who see the world differently work to promote this new Spirituality movement and the 1/3 become 3/4 we will see the power that has always been available that lacked the backing that the hippies of the 60's and 70's desired.

Spy on the Wall - Privacy 2.0

George Orwell's "1984" is becoming a reality. The machines are now listening to us, watching us and tracking us. But now the detection is coming from unexpected machines in our homes. The most shocking is the refrigerator. Now with the advances in technology you can play music, watch television, and even voice command your fridge. But this means it is enabled to connect to the internet and report back it's observations to whomever wants to access the data.

The one that is truly bringing "1984" to 2016 is the Samsung Smart TV which recently changed it's user agreement after many complaints of privacy arose. The original agreement stated that any spoken word, including private information, recorded would be sent to a third party source for translation to text in order to transmit the command to the TV. Now they reworded it taking out that private information is involved in this. However, they didn't change the function of the TV. It still does the same basic things however, now the user just lives in ignorance. But where is the bliss behind being spied on? What happens when our TV begins to talk back and eventually tell us what to do? Well, isn't it already doing that? The smart TV's track what you watch. They make prediction based on the things you watch and the times you watch it. So in a way it is going to be telling you what to watch and when to watch it. Soon we will no longer have to touch a remote or make a voice command because it will just play what it thinks we will watch and we will think it is what we want.

Our computers and phones were already known to track us, listen to us, and even see us through the camera. But now the one way transmission that was TV is a two way street that is reporting back more pertinent information then what we are receiving. What's next? Our couches will be taking our butt imprints and telling the government how long we like to sit down? Or our silverware will be submitting our fingerprints to the highest bidder? It's a scary road we are on and yet we all seem to accept the privacy we have given up.

http://www.myce.com/news/samsung-changes-smart-tv-privacy-policy-after-user-concerns-but-still-shares-spoken-words-with-third-parties-78598/

http://www1.cbn.com/cbnnews/us/2016/February/US-Government-Can-Spy-on-You-Through-Your-Fridge

No Money, No Jobs, Big Problems - Learning 2.0

What is a college degree really worth? Over the past decade more and more of the media is erupting with the fact that there are no jobs for college graduates and being that it is 2016 and we love to blame everything on someone else we are finally turning toward the colleges themselves as the problem. But not all colleges are at risk, mostly just for-profit colleges and especially career based colleges. According to the article by usnews.com the new head of the education department, John King, is putting his focus on making sure students are getting educations that will pay off. And in his pursuit of getting to the bottom of things he found that many schools were charging more and more in order to receive more of students Federal Aid. Finding loopholes through veterans, and overall taking advantage of our government trying to supply citizens with an education.

The problem is that the education is not only overpriced but misrepresented. Schools across the nation are putting out deceitful numbers of students receiving jobs after they receive their degree in order to recruit more students. Some higher education facilities were caught paying their employees by the number of recruits they have like a commission. As the government looks to go after these colleges for settlements the sum of the settlements is in the hundreds of millions of dollars. Meanwhile a former deputy secretary of the education department is taking over Apollo Education which is a giant for-profit organization in a huge $1.1 billion deal.

The real question boils down to is the government in the wrong? Is the school in the wrong? Or is society just wrong? And the answer is undetermined. The school is a business like any other and wants to make money. The government is doing its duty of protecting the people from a corrupt form of government, as in the governing of schools. And society just isn't interested in our education anymore for job placement. Schools aren't necessarily teaching the things we need to know to get a job so those with the most life experience and street smarts can take the job before someone who knows the pythagorean theorem because most jobs don't require that. The learning process isn't corrupt in the higher education but in the lower education as well as we have seen in past years with the fairly new common core learning epidemic. People can attribute this learning curve to social media, to bad parenting, to poor schooling, but really it is a societal effort that is ruining things because everything seemed to work much smoother in the past. Sure, there were some bumps along the way but at no point was it appearing that the job market had collapsed and college and university education was becoming obsolete.

http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2016-02-08/new-education-department-unit-to-take-aim-at-errant-for-profit-colleges

Facebook Campaign

Mission Statement:

Our mission is to provide reliable vehicles to every in need, from the Salt Lake area to the St. George area, at an affordable price while guaranteeing a safe way to shop used cars that come state and emission inspected by trustworthy experienced mechanics.

Example Personas:

Samantha is a 19 year old college student. She in in her second semester of college and lives in student housing. She has been working a minimum wage job and wants more independence in her life and an ability to expand her horizons in work and social aspects. She has a budget of $1,500 for a reliable vehicle that will get her through school and into her career until she is ready to buy a car that suits her needs as a woman in the workplace.

Alex is a college dropout who is trying his hand as an entrepreneur. He has a business plan that involves many meetings all over the state as well as a few out of state meetings. He only trusts his vision to be portrayed by himself and his current vehicle won't make it much longer especially if he tries to take these road trips for the meetings. He has a budget of $5,000 after he sells his car. He needs something with relatively low miles and that is reliable and easy to fix on the side of the road if something minor happens like a tire blow out or a bump knocks a belt off.

Tammy is going through a divorce and was always a stay at home mom who is going into the workplace for the first time since she was married. She has 4 children that she has full-time custody over. Her husband is taking the car as part of the divorce and she knows that to provide for a family she will need a job and a vehicle to get there that can also get the kids to all of their various practices and events. Her budget is roughly $3,300 and she just needs a vehicle to help get her through the next few years with as little trouble as possible. She needs someone she can trust to buy a car from without all the risks of there being problems that were hidden during the sale. And she needs this vehicle quick.

Plan:
My plan with this page is to achieve 200 likes by the end of the semester. The page will continue after the semester and will continue to grow. I expect to sell on average 3 cars a month through the process of this Facebook page and to make the selection more easily accessible for those searching for vehicles.

Affordable Auto Utah Facebook Page

Straight Outta Nominations: Racism 2.0

http://cdn.movieweb.com/img.news.tops/NEtmnmDkUDPHxw_2_b.jpg

What year is it? Based on recent announcements and responses for the Oscar nominees I would think it was the 1960's. After a second year of overlooked minority actor nominations the Hollywood minorities are speaking out. At the front of the boycott is Will and Jada Pinkett Smith and director Spike Lee. But where does the problem lie? Is it the Academy being racist? Is it poor minority performances? Is the industry just too white? Or is it all of these things?

The truth is everyone is pointing the finger at each other. While some say that the minorities are overreacting and wanting hand outs, others can see the unfairness and are fighting for the equal rights deserved. Most of the controversy however is a fight over African-american recognition and not so much the recognition of all minorities. We hear about these powerful black leaders in the movie industry fighting but where are the representatives for the Asian, Native American or Middle Eastern cast and crews? Dave Schilling of "Vice" magazine explained that we have tried to allow more minority recognition with new award shows like the BET Awards or the GLAAD Awards but they just don't have the same prestige as the Oscars so it is a controversy and you don't hear any whites complaining about the lack of nominations at the BET Awards. He goes on to say that we need to make minority categories for the Oscars. However if that happens and one minority is not accounted for then once again it is unfair and this would include: homosexuals, transvestites, disabilities and race. So there is no easy solution. But then he looks at the movies that had potential for last years nominations that would be considered "black" movies and the list consists of a lot of movies whose performances do not compare to those of Oscar worthy films. So maybe the problem lies within the industry.

Julie Hinds of the Detroit Free Press has some other ideas as to where the problem truly lies. She uses statistics to prove her point that we need more diversity in the Academy of Motion-Picture Arts and Sciences. The Academy is made up of over 6,000 members. 94% of the members are white and 77% are male with the median age in the 60's. With statements from members telling the press that they voted for a black film or actor to almost clear their conscience or something. These are the kind of statements racist people make to help themselves believe they are not racist. It's justification.

Honestly, I see some points they made that are valid. Will Smith did great in Concussion and Jason Mitchell blew me away in Straight Outta Compton. Both of those movies portrayed a minority struggling to overcome a world in which the majority race was dominating. Their films were about or had undertones about this exact controversy and yet the nominations given to Straight Outta Compton went to the white screenwriter. I can see the problem within the conflict. I can see why it would arise without appearing detrimental but we live in a diverse world where change is welcome. So why not shake up the Academy and get less old white guys and more fresh outlooks.

Articles Discussed:
https://www.vice.com/read/maybe-its-time-for-black-people-to-have-their-own-academy-awards-165

http://www.freep.com/story/entertainment/movies/julie-hinds/2016/01/23/and-oscar-goes-no-actors-color-2016/79116340/

On the Media #1

The Wunderkind of the Free Culture Movement. Aaron Swartz had the goals to change the world. He had a vision that the internet was the means by which the world could be changed and he knew that the first step to a better world was free knowledge. Copyrighted material is not free on the internet and the is the problem that Aaron had. So he basically took as many possible copies of scholarly journals from J-Store and was sharing them with the world. When he was caught he returned the files and although J-Store dropped the charges the prosecuting attorney's continual pushed for "justice." This "justice" that was demanded eventually caused Aaron to take his
own life. But why did it have to come to this? Was the fight really worth the ceasing of one man who has been contemplated as a criminal or a revolutionist. I side with the revolutionist and idealist standpoint. Aaron Swartz saw the future. He was not pushing for socialism he was pushing for the right to gain knowledge being available to everyone. The way I view this in my own life right now is with textbooks. We live in a digital age and yet we are still paying hundreds of dollars for college textbooks each semester. Nobody wants to be carrying around large heavy paper copies but at the same time who is willing to pay the same price for a PDF copy that you can't sell? Why are these books not offered for free in PDF formats? We pay our tuition and our fees for classes and then on top of that a professor holds to right to assign additional fees to us based on a corrupt industry of textbook makers who only re-arrange the same material every 3-5 years in order to make more money. If Aaron was successful in his actions and continued in the pursuit I believe not only would our country and world be better off as a society but as an education system as well. This young man struggled in educational systems and yet he saw the bigger picture and the need for school and surpassed it by using his own means of study. The millennial generation is just the beginning of technology, as future generations come the technology will advance and take over more aspects of living and the textbook companies see that and are scared. Copyright was a thing of the past and needs to be reformed and regulated on what should actually be Copy-written and what should be shared. Free the media and free the mind.

https://www.wnyc.org/radio/#/ondemand/565907

Facebook Page

The Facebook page I will be launching and managing is for a business that my dad started and brought me into as a partner. The business is a used car dealership that is a branch of an auto shop in the Salt Lake area. They now sell used cars full-time on location however I will be in charge of branching into southern Utah and everything in between here and there. My role will be to promote awareness of the business and their mission to supply affordable reliable cars to virtually anyone who has a license and is in the market for a vehicle that is road-ready and has been inspected by professionals and deemed ready to sell. This will take out the fear of buying a car off of Craigslist.com or KSL.com classifieds with little or no experience working with cars and in knowing you can trust that you are getting dealership quality cars without the used car lot experience or risk of buying a lemon associated with shopping for yourself off of personal ads. The page will feature ads, posts about specials, as well as information on the employees so that you can gain a relationship with a team of people you can trust.

State of the Union Address 2016

Initially I was excited to keep track of social media for this topic. My mindset in government has been swayed to sit at a neutral position because I have learned that being one person in Utah my voice in politics doesn't matter, in fact I have learned that the only way my voice can be heard is if I become an elector or a politician and I have no interest in either of those categories. The only problem about social media was that no one in my immediate circles even commented on the subject of the State of the Union Address. So I was forced to search and follow #SOTU and this was disappointing as well.

This State of the Union Address was expected to be different, I believed it would be a lot of President Obama doing and saying whatever he felt like because after this he is done. However,  to me it sounded a lot like him boosting his own ego. He continually talked about how much he has "improved" the country. Now the internet had a few things to say about how he was lying for no reason because he already is the president and that won't change if he just admits that he screwed up or that he really didn't do that much good. I didn't promote any particular candidates and maybe in re-discussing his plan was that it would obligate the next president to follow through on his plans. But what really was happening is that he was trying to promote the idea of keeping him in office.

Now as many common tweets and Facebook posts were either for or against President Obama and his plans one that caught my attention was a tweet by a presidential candidate who has a notorious Twitter presence and that was Donald Trump's tweet which read: "The #SOTU speech is really boring, slow, lethargic - very hard to watch!" Now while we all have the right to our opinion, I think it was out of line for someone who plans to be the next president to "trash-talk" a current president publicly like that over a simple speech and not for a specific controversial topic he discussed.

Some good points that President Obama made were concerning foreign policy which surprised me when he discussed the fact that we cannot take over and repair other countries. I believe that is one of the best things he has said within his presidency because it is the first time he is trying to get back to the basic principles the country was founded upon. This topic had the most positive rhetoric and feedback on social media it also had quite a bit of mocking but the good outweighed the bad and I agreed with those who liked this statement. No topics discussed on social media swayed my original opinion a lot of the speech seemed very straight forward to me and unpersuasive and more factual.