Diffusion of Innovations

 Instagram

Introduction and History of Instagram

Instagram is one of the most popular social media platforms in the entire world as it competes with the Facebooks, the X’s (formerly known as Twitter), and the TikTok’s of the world. Instagram was founded in 2010. Unlike a lot of start up businesses or apps, Instagram took off in popularity extremely fast as the app reached one million registered users within the first two months of it launching. At the end of year one, the app reached 10 million users and by 2018 the app reached one billion registered users. Instagram has doubled that number from 2018 as the app has two billion registered users as of 2025. 

Before Instagram 

Prior to Instagram, Facebook, MySpace and Twitter were the three biggest social media platforms up until Instagram’s launch. Instagram was then launched and people were immediately intrigued by the app’s features, and the purpose of the app which is to share photos and videos for the world to see, which therefore connects individuals to others across the world. Instagram became a huge success, but others weren’t as intrigued by the app and its features because individuals were still hooked on Facebook, Twitter and even possibly MySpace. 

The Takeoff of Instagram and Decline of Facebook

It wouldn’t become long until users from Facebook and MySpace started to switch over to Instagram. The majority of the people that would end up switching to Instagram were younger individuals because of Instagram’s features that primarily targeted the younger generation. While the majority of the younger generation, ages 13-25, started using Instagram, it left a lot of the older people left that used Facebook and MySpace. In 2014 and 2015, 71 percent of teenagers were using Facebook and now that number is down to beneath 32 percent. This has a lot to do with Instagram’s constant push for evolving and centering its app around the younger generation while Facebook has struggled to evolve in an attempt to garner the younger generation which is the most crucial generation to gain, and because of this the younger generation is continually switching from Facebook to Instagram. Even the older generation is catching onto the younger generation, possibly in an attempt for the older generation to be caught up in the younger generation’s uses, and switching from Facebook and other social media platforms to Instagram because of the app’s appeal to all. 5.24 billion people worldwide use social media which is nearly 64 percent of the entire world, and within the last year, there has been over 200 new social media users. 

Negative Effects of Instagram and Social Media as a Whole

So why has the other 36 percent of people in the world not caught onto the use of Instagram or social media as a whole? Well there are a lot of negatives to Instagram and other social media platforms. Social media can cause numerous mental health issues such as anxiety and depression that can stem from online bullying, addiction, comparing oneself to others, and a decline in face-to-face communication. Those are all reasons why some might choose to not use social media so they don’t have to deal with those negative issues that come with using social media. 

Benefits of Social Media and Conclusion

However, social media can be a huge benefit to that 36 percent because social media allows you to connect to the world in ways in which you thought you couldn’t. From making friends with people across the country to staying up to date with your favorite celebrity, athlete or influencer, you can connect with the entire world through a singular app. While there are a lot of negative effects of social media, I believe the positive outweigh the negative because personally I connect and communicate with a lot of my long-distance friends through Instagram as well as I’ve made new friends through the platform. It is different for everybody but I personally think Instagram is a great way to access the world, and there are endless opportunities and resources that are available and you can find through the platform.

Privacy, Online & Off Blog Post

 Introduction 

We live in a world full of evolving technology. Smartphones, computers, iPads, and other forms of technology are all around us. We are constantly on our cellphones, texting, calling or emailing someone(s), however, what a lot of cellphone users do not know is that our messages, phone calls, and entire phones are wiretapped and tracked by the government and anybody that can hack into the surveillance system of telephone companies which is scary. Every piece of technology that we see is tracking our every step of our daily lives whether we want our lives to be tracked or not. 

Privacy Concerns 

This affects our privacy because if our entire lives are tracked then we can’t protect any private piece of information or conversation. I have to worry about my friends and families lives’ because they are always being tracked as well. What if a hacker, stalker, or killer were to hack into either my phones surveillance system or my house surveillance system and gain critical information about my daily lives and worse, gain information about the layout of my house. This can pose a serious threat to my life, my families’ lives, and my friends’ lives because our lives can and would be at serious danger, and that is scary. I have heard of numerous stories of hackers hacking into house surveillance systems and either speaking from the system to people within the house or plotting to break-in to the house from being able to see the entire layout of the house. 

Examples of Privacy Threats

One of the videos, the person discussed the threat of Automatic License Plate Readers that police officers use and are seen on street corners and such. These readers capture images of every passing car and convert that license plate into machine relatable text. With these images, police and government officials are able to see into the lives of every person driving a car which includes what store or place a person is heading and what that person is doing at that particular store or place. The law enforcement also a device called a "StingRay" which can sends tracking signals inside people’s homes to see what cell phones are in that particular home. These high-tech surveillance gears completely invade our personal privacy and can harm us in the most dangerous ways. Our lives are constantly at harm with these high-tech surveillance gears because there is never a moment when a law enforcement or government official isn’t tracking our whereabouts or our conversations with our children, doctors, spouses, friends, etc. 

Solutions and Conclusion

A lot of phone companies nowadays have tried to incorporate strict encryption methods to prevent wiretapping and hacking, but it’s still not impossible for people to hack into these encryption methods and get into our lives which should be protected. It’s hard for us to protect ourselves from invasions of our privacy without trashing our phones, computers, ipads, and any other piece of technology we have in our homes but that still wouldn’t protect our privacy because there is technology outside of just our own personal technology that can track our every movements. One idea that was brought up in one of the videos to protect our privacy even slightly is to go to the city councils because local police departments are governed by city councils and propose laws requiring the police to dispose of the data and surveillance of innocent people while allowing the legitimate uses of the technologies to continue. There are good reasons for government officials and law enforcement officers to use technologies to track humans because there are a lot of bad people in this world, but there are also a lot of good people in this world whose lives are at a constant threat every second of the day because of these tracking technologies so while they should be kept at a capacity, these technologies need to be restricted severely so our privacy is protected because at this current moment with technology smothered around us, our privacy is nowhere near protected.

EOTO 1 React Blog Post

 Introduction and Invention of the Newspaper

I learned a lot of valuable information and unique facts during the EOTO one presentations that I did not know before prior to people presenting that were actually really cool to learn about. I learned a lot of information about a plentiful amount of innovative ideas such as the start up of televisions, newspapers, typewriters, email, apple iPhones, Google, and many more innovative inventions. Alex did a presentation on the invention and evolution of newspapers. Since I am a journalism minor and have been a sports writer for over five years now, I was immediately intrigued at the topic. What I was unaware of was that the first newspaper was written in 59 BCE in Ancient Rome. This blew my mind because I was totally shocked at how long newspapers have been around for. I always thought that newspapers had only been around for a hundred or so years, since the early 1900s so for me to find out that the first newspaper was written in 59 BCE completely shocked me. I can’t imagine how that first newspaper looked but the evolution since that very first newspaper has been extraordinary. 

Invention of Google

Another presentation that intrigued me was the invention of Google. The search engine like we know it today that we use daily was originally called “Backrub.” Yes, “Backrub.” That might be the strangest name to come up with but it eventually turned into the Google like we know it today. “Backrub” was an invention by three Stanford students who were working on a class assignment with the students’ goal and intent to be to create a more sufficient search engine in which you can find any piece of information through key words, and they created just that: a search engine used by billions of people around the world. It’s honestly incredible how three full-time college students were able to create such an invention that would completely change the world. This invention inspires me to come up with ideas of inventions because I am a full-time college student just like the three founders of Google. 

Invention of YouTube

A presentation that I found intriguing was the invention of YouTube and how it was started because the story was very cool. YouTube was founded by three former Paypal employees. The three employees struggled to share videos from a dinner party, decided to create YouTube for easy video sharing in 2005. The platform immediately blew up as people from around the world were able to watch videos online while also being able to upload their own videos. What is crazy is that a year and a half after the platform was launched, Google bought YouTube for a billion dollars. That is incredible for a platform that was launched not even two years prior. That billion dollars is nothing today as YouTube is estimated to be worth $400-$500 billion and maybe more. 

Invention of Facebook

The last presentation I found incredibly intriguing was the invention of Facebook. This presentation honestly probably shocked me the most because of the unique story behind the invention of the super popular social media platform. Facebook was founded by Mark Zuckerberg and four or his college roommates at Harvard University. I had no idea the platform was founded by not just Zuckerberg because nobody ever talks about the four other founders. The first version of Facebook was launched in 2003. The initial name of the platform was “FaceMash” which was a platform that rated the attractiveness of females at Harvard. The university quickly shut down the platform after it was launched which inspired Zuckerberg and his roommates to get back to work to launch another platform, and they did which ended up becoming Facebook. 

EOTO 1 Keypost - The Ultimate Game Changer - Netflix

A decade ago, I just like I am sure everyone else watched cable television through television providers such as DIRECTV, Spectrum, and DISH. I haven’t watched cable television since probably a decade ago as today I stream television shows and movies on a variety of video-on-demand streaming services such as YouTube, Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, HBO Max, etc. I know I am not the only one that made the leap from cable television to video-on-demand streaming services as television providers have lost over 20 million U.S. subscribers since 2014. 

Netflix is the largest streaming service worldwide with a reported 282.7 million global paid memberships at the end of quarter three in 2024 which is a 8.3 percent increase year-over-year. The streaming service was launched in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolphand, but soon the company realized that the future of entertainment was online so the company started introducing streaming services in 2007. Netflix aimed to solve the inconvenience of traditional video rentals by offering an incredibly convenient, subscription-based DVD by-mail service before pioneering streaming, which allows people to watch movies and TV shows on-demand over the Internet. This became an instant game-changer and ultimately transformed how people consumed entertainment. Before Netflix, the main outlet for people to buy video rentals was Blockbuster Video which was a store where people could go and rent movies and video games. Netflix came in and took the majority of Blockbuster’s business because DVDs were slowly starting to fade away and streaming services became increasingly popular which started with Netflix. In 2013, a little over 34 million people worldwide had a subscription to Netflix as cable television was still the main source of watching for most people. At the end of 2024, Netflix reported that that over 300 million people worldwide are subscribed to the streaming service which is a more than 880 percent increase from those 34 million global paid Netflix subscribers back in 2013. This is because of how easy Netflix has made it for people to stream their favorite shows and movies anytime they wanted which was the goal of Netflix. The success of Netflix paved the way for other streaming services such as Hulu, Peacock, HBO Max, Disney+, Youtube TV, Paramount+, and Amazon Prime Video to be launched. It wasn’t long ago that HBO Max (2020), Disney+ (2019), Peacock (2020), Paramount+ (2021), and Youtube TV (2017) were launched after watching the increase in people subscribing to Netflix because of their easy and accessible service of streaming shows and television shows, and the decrease of people watching and more importantly paying for cable television. 

Netflix has pioneered how people watch television as users can watch content anytime, anywhere, and on any device. Whether on the go from your laptop, phone, or tablet, or your own personal home television, people can watch their favorite content at any moment of the day. Netflix and other streaming services also give consumers more choice and control over what they want to watch when they want to watch it, and how they want to watch it, as these streaming services made it their goal to cater to to different tastes and niches, which was not possible before these streaming services. While cable television provided only a select amount of shows and movies, Netflix and these streaming services allowed users to access a larger and more diverse library of content for a better deal. These streaming services figured out the issues within cable television and the previous ways to acquire and watch television shows and movies and formed solutions for all of the issues which ultimately made cable television take a big hit.

 Netflix and these other streaming services, however, have created some negative effects and habits such as binge-watching which isn’t bad unless it is excessive. Binge-watching is consistently watching a show(s) for a very long extended period. This is bad when people are binge-watching Netflix or another streaming service all day long because of health issues this can cause physical inactivity, heart disease, musculoskeletal issues from possible bad posture, blood clots due to prolonged sitting, diabetes, the risk of obesity because people may eat less nutritious foods when binge-watching which leads to weight gain. Binge-watching can also cause a deprivation of sleep and the quality of sleep, and potential mental health concerns such as social isolation as people may neglect their relationships and social activities, fatigue, anxiety, and possible depression from loneliness. 

Eight Values of Free Expression

Which ones feel most important?

1. Protect Dissent 

The most important value for me is No. 8, Protect Dissent. I believe that everyone's opinion is valuable and matters, however, with social media it feels as if my own opinion doesn't matter, and that if I do speak up and speak my mind on a particular topic, I will receive backlash and hatred for an opinion that I should feel confident sharing without anyone minimizing me. We are in a world that is so accustomed now because of social media to minimize others' opinions and make them feel as if their opinion doesn't matter. For some odd reason it seems as if people think everyone should think and believe the same as them. However, God created everyone uniquely different meaning no one person(s) acts the same or thinks the same so it confuses me as to why certain people feel the need to minimize someone else's opinion just because it doesn't align with their opinions. Whether an unpopular opinion or a popular opinion, every opinion matters and is important because the First Amendment protects our free speech.

2. Promote Tolerance

This value is equally as important as No. 8 Protect Dissent, and both are actually very similar. Promoting tolerance is when you are accepting and appreciative of backgrounds different from yours and what you are accustomed to without having any prejudices towards that person. Promoting tolerance is a tool for fostering peace within a group or community despite differences amongst people. Tolerance is the foundation for freedoms and universal human rights enjoyed by people. These freedoms include beliefs, viewpoints, and opinions as promoting tolerance's goal is to understand and encourage different freedoms such as beliefs and viewpoints in hopes of a more togetherness society. This is important to me because I want a society that is inclusive and respects' one another's differences because every belief, viewpoint and opinion is unique and important because this allows people to feel more respected, inspired, and valued.

3. Promote Innovation

I see this value incorporated in today's society a lot now especially with the rise of social media because many social media users use the platform to promote and encourage ideas, products, services, etc. This is also extremely important if we can create a society that values improvement, innovation and breakthrough methods and ideas because of the positive culture this will bring if we start inspiring others to create ideas of innovation in our society. Promoting innovation is crucial for economic growth because the economy can't grow if no one is coming up with new ideas that create concepts that improve efficiency, effectiveness or meet needs throughout society. Promoting innovation is done and accomplished through the first two values I discussed in promoting tolerance and protecting dissent. Without acceptive and being appreciative of others' backgrounds, beliefs, opinions, etc, then promoting innovation can't be done, however, if we are supportive of others' beliefs and opinions, then promoting innovation can be accomplished. 

Which one resonates and feels most personal to you?

1. Individual Self-Fulfillment

This value resonates and feels most personal to me because of my strong desire and value in individual self-fulfillment. Self-fulfillment is crucial for every individual in life because individual self-fulfillment is all about accomplishing the personal goals that you have set out to achieve and accomplish, and that is done by aligning actions with and individuals values, goals and aspirations. If individual self-fulfillment is accomplished this brings about happiness within an individual, and can also spark the previous value discussed, promoting innovation. I am very goal-oriented and driven so this value resonates a lot with me because of my spark of happiness, and deeper sense of purpose that I gain when I meet my personal goals in life. 

The Founding Era & The Idea of America

General knowledge of the Supreme Court

The Supreme Court of the United States is the most powerful judicial branch on the entire earth. The Supreme Court interprets the U.S. Constitution, safeguarding liberty, preserving the union, and upholding the rule of law. In the entire United States history, there has been just over 100 Supreme Court justices, serving an average of 16 years. Most Supreme Court justices, however, usually serve until they die which is incredible because it shows the justices' passion and drive to serve in the judicial branch on the Supreme Court. 

What you found most interesting?

What I found extremely interesting is how many new cases the Supreme Court receives a week and it made me appreciate the Supreme Court justices even more because of how busy their days, weeks and months are because of the constant new cases filing into their offices and chambers by the day and week. The video said the Supreme Court receives more than 100 new cases every single week and about a total of 7,000 a year which is astonishing. What is even crazier to me is that the Supreme Court only accepts about 100 of those 7,000 cases to be fully considered a year. When a case is presented before the court, the court is public and lawyers on each side are only allowed 30 minutes to present their cases to the court. I didn't know that after a case opinion was made, the copies of the opinions are released to the press. Usually the opinions of the court were pages among pages long, and journalists had to go through each and every line of every single page and summarize and explain what the court decided within the case and the reasons behind those decisions.

Biggest takeaway from video and how did the video change the way of how I thought about the Supreme Court?

It is crazy how much power nine individuals have on the entire country as they decide the results to hundreds of cases across the entire country that dictate the function of our country. I gained so much respect after watching these two videos of the Supreme Court justices because of the amount of pressure and workload that each chief justice has in their hands. It's even crazier that most of the Supreme Court justices are at the age where they could retire, but are instead working tirelessly every single day to review case files. The justices are flooded with an enormous amount of crucial and important workload daily, something that I was kind of unaware of. The most important takeaway point about the Supreme Court is that they have the most important duty of giving each case that is presented to their chambers an equal and fair opportunity. It must be incredibly challenging going through 100 new cases of pages on pages long every week and over 7,000 new cases a year and figuring out which cases deserve a shot at being handled in the court. I feel like the nine Supreme Court justices do not get talked about as much as I think they should be because their job is all about not being biased in a world full of biased individuals. That is incredibly hard to do is to remain unbiased and remain fair and equal even though it sounds like something that should already be known and done. 

My Top Five Sources for News and Information

 

1. ESPN

The ESPN app is my number one source of news. I am a sports fanatic so I am constantly looking at the latest scores and news across all sports and the best app to get the latest news and scores from is the ESPN app. I get notifications all throughout the day from ESPN so I am constantly updated and informed with the latest sports’ news. I hardly watch television anymore because of how easy it is for me be able to just go on my phone and get the sports news I need for the day. ESPN has video highlights as well as live streams of games so it makes it even easier for me to stay informed me being able to stream almost every sports’ game so it makes it even easier for me to stay up to date on everything to do with sports. 

2. Bleacher Report

   

The Bleacher Report app is very similar to the ESPN app except for the fact that you are not able to stream live sporting games. Bleacher Report is another great source that I receive my sporting news from. I hardly watch the actual news so most of the news outlets I get my news from are sports news outlets. I also get hundreds of notifications a day from Bleacher Report that keeps me updated with scores, statistics, and news. Both apps, ESPN and Bleacher Report, are very similar in the content they provide with hardly any differences between the two even though I like the ESPN app better. 

3. Instagram 

   

Instagram is one of the most popular social media platforms in the world. Users of the app range from young teenagers to older adults and this app has become incredibly popular for all age groups to receive current news going on across the world. Instagram allows individuals to follow anyone they want to so the majority of people are following news outlets and people that they find an interest in. There is also something called a “For You” page on Instagram where the app generates content for every individual based on what you most interact with on the app. These features within the app allows every individual to get a wide variety of news, opinions and perspectives regarding different topics. This is how a lot of individual receive their news including myself because my Instagram feed is constantly filled with the latest breaking news across the country, and as someone that does not really watch the news at all, Instagram is a great way for me to easily access the news because it immediately pops up in my feed as soon as I open the app. 

4. X - Formerly known as Twitter

   

X is another incredibly popular social media platform for individuals to receive their news. I use X very regularly just to see what is happening around the world. X is the only social media platform that I have my notifications on for which makes it easy for me to stay informed on news around the world just from the notifications alone. With sporting news, sports reporters report news to X first before apps like ESPN, Bleacher Report or any other sporting news app report the news so I am always informed on sporting news across the world before ESPN and Bleacher Report report it to the world, and that is one of the major reason why I use X as often as I do. X also has a feature on the app called “Trending” where there is a list of the 30 most most trending news across the country in sports, news and entertainment so it easy to stay informed on all different news throughout the world through X’s features. Similar to Instagram, as soon as you open the app, every individuals’ feed is filled with videos, opinions and perspectives of different news, sports and entertainment topics to constantly keep people informed on what is going on across the world. 

5. WXII12

   

I have lived in Winston-Salem for the last couple of years and WXII12 is the local news affiliate in the triad area which consists of High Point, Greensboro, and Winston Salem. As a resident of Winston-Salem, and with me going to High Point University, I love to stay informed on news happening in the area I live and go to school in. Being aware of local news is extremely important so you are aware of what is happening in the area you live in. I hardly watch or keep up to date with national news because most of the time the national news does not have any direct affect on me as an individual, however, the local news has more of an affect on me because it’s the area that I live in, shop at, and travel around in so I am directly affected. Whether I watch the local news on my television or just go on WXII12’s website online, I have to stay informed on local news and sports happening in my area and WXII12 is the best outlet to receive news in the triad area.