The Effects of Social Media on Society, Writing in APA, and a Guest Speaker

Society today is much different than it was 50 or so years ago. Technology has advanced society so far that we don't even know what we're signing up for at times. There is a chance that you may have clicked on something that could track you, and you didn't even know it. As technology keeps advancing through the coming years, society is in a little more trouble every year. On the contrary, not all technology is necessarily bad, there are a lot of new advancements that immensely benefit society today. 

The Social Dilemma

    Overall, after watching The Social Dilemma on Netflix, I felt as if everything that was manufactured by a tech company was watching me and staring into my soul while I swiped away on my phone, computer, or tablet. I didn't know that much about the technology world until I watched this movie because of how much social media manipulated people. From the beginning of the movie, people that used to work for social media or tech companies explained how they felt before and after their time working at said company. The ex-employees started explaining their story and essentially said that social media is a scam and is unethical because of how much data it can collect from a user. 

    At the beginning of social media and the advanced startup of the internet, the business model was to keep users on the screen as long as possible. However, nowadays, that same business model has turned people addicted to their phones which prohibits fresh air and outside activities. I feel like I've definitely fallen into this trap because when TikTok started, I never went on it, but as I kept loading the app, I would want to go back every so often. This fueled the addiction to TikTok which made me lose productivity in exchange for hours lost due to a useless app. 

    During the movie, I liked how the creators integrated a little storyline while also exposing technology and how it affects society. At the beginning of the movie, there was a girl drawn to her phone all the time and never gave it up. As a result, the girl kept on posting and when someone would negatively comment, she became insecure about how she looked. This caused her to form body dysmorphia, like a lot of teenagers nowadays. Later on, her brother was warped into an extremist view because of the algorithms on his phone. This was integrated when talking about political polarization. Though there is a large political divide in the country right now, it is mainly part of the algorithms on social media and technology. These algorithms show certain information to people who constantly keep viewing and take action. Furthermore, this is how there is a flat-Earth society and why pizzagate was started. 

    Something that stuck with me in this movie is that "technology exceeds human weakness" because a lot of companies manipulate their users by collecting their data through algorithms. Overall, I thought this movie was very informative and think that a lot of people, including myself have fallen into a trap of social media, and are being manipulated every day. Like we talked about in class and in the movie, "if you are not paying for the product, then you ARE the product".

The Writing Workshop on APA

   To be honest, I've only written one APA formatted paper in my life. Other than that, I've only written my papers in MLA format because of high school. I learned that APA formatting is very useful when searching for a specific topic and searching for peer-reviewed articles. It is also incredibly useful because it is mostly research-driven and follows a format that avoids plagiarism. In regards to the format, Microsoft Word has a template of literally everything you need for APA, including the reference and abstract pages.

    The format of APA has to be 12pt and should be in Times New Roman font. Like MLA format, APA format has to be double spaced, have 1-inch margins, and a page number on the top right of the page (without last name). Additionally, it has to include a title page and a running head on every page in all caps. The "running head" should be erased after the first page.

    The title page should be centered and should have a nice title halfway down the page. At the bottom of the page, there should be specific information regarding the class.

    The abstract page should be 150-300 words and should be the last thing you write, and should include a gist of the paper with no data in it. Normally, for my chemistry lab reports, my professor usually asks for about 200 words which includes what I've done and the result of the experiment.

    For the majority of the paper, the body paragraphs are where you will spend most of your time. For me personally, I didn't know that papers were more than 5 paragraphs because I was always taught that it had to be 5 paragraphs. In APA style or any style in general, the paper could contain more than 5 paragraphs. These paragraphs should be outlined and should each have a source to write about since it is a research paper. Academic journals and books are the most helpful because it comes straight out of a specific topic.

    To find sources, my school, Stockton University, has a database in which students can search virtually anything on there. Furthermore, there is also an option to narrow down the searches with specific filters which can even search for any topic, which should not be completely plagiarized. This allows for in-text citations because if a source is explained in the paragraph, the in-text citation should follow afterward. This goes for all types of quotes, including block quotes, which have to be indented for the quote. Additionally, there should be a good amount of information before the quote and after the quote because it will make the quote look like it belongs and it isn't just something that is just thrown in there.

    Finally, for the last page, references should be in alphabetical order by the author's last name (first name initial after the last name). A hanging indent is needed and capitalization is needed only for the first words of titles and subtitles.

    I think that the APA format is very useful when writing about a certain person or for a research-driven paper because it gives so much information about a topic or person.

Dave Sholler at the 76ers

    Last week, Dave Sholler presented in front of my class and explained his experiences growing up and how he earned his way to be able to make it to the 76ers. I remember him speaking at my high school a few years ago in which he explained his home situation as a kid and how it impacted him which resulted in him working hard and striving for the stars. I personally look up to my parents because of how much they've gone through and how much work they've put in for me to be here today. 

    After hearing about how he started working at the 76ers, I knew that he worked incredibly hard for his spot there and that he started with literally nothing. I remember him telling us that his first job was at Wawa only making $6.25/hour, and now he's working with one of the biggest basketball teams in the states because of one special interaction. In class, we usually talk about how to do well with our digital footprints and how to work around the internet by using LinkedIn. However, what we haven't learned yet but should be automatically done on a daily basis is to have kind interactions with others because like Sholler explained last week, first impressions really do matter. Additionally, it doesn't hurt to try, which basically entails that you should always try your best when looking for jobs because you never know who might take you based off of your interactions and resume. 

    To conclude, I think that making meaningful interactions with others can truly benefit you if you make the best out of what you have to do for work, school, or anything in life. Form relationships with people who you might think are completely different from you because you never know what would happen if you never met them. Other than that, I base my opinion off that hard work is earned and is not given easily, so I think that Sholler and my parents have similar attributes that I want to carry and pass along to my children because of how inspiring it is.