Don’t worry about anything, Do make sure to take a moment checking your heartbeat.
Osama Hamed.
My name his Osama , I was born in Hong Kong. I love travelling around and I’m a sporty type of person who loves to be active. Learning new knowledge is one of my skills. No wonder I love studying. I’m currently starting a new chapter in University of Wollongong studying Bachelors in Communication and Media studies. I’ll be sharing and discussing everything thing about it later on. Stay tuned for my blogs.
How has the media impacted our views and behaviors regarding human intervention in animals’ lives and use of animals for personal needs ?
Objectives :
To understand how media relates to animal exploitation and what impacts it has on animals’ lives
To determine whether media has a positive or negative impact our views and behavior regarding animals
To find out how and why humans intervene in animals’ lives and use them for personal needs
Methodology
In order to gather sufficient data to carry out this research, I referred to various online articles. Additionally, in order to have a better understanding of the issue of animal exploitation, I have also watched a number of videos that would help increase my knowledge and offer me different perceptions on the matter. In addition to online sources, I also decided to read some books that helped me better understand animal behavior through a more professional and reliable means. Furthermore, I have also reviewed several post and accounts on social media that
Findings
Animal exploitation
It can be explained as any form of misuse and mistreatment of any and all kinds of animals. There are several different ways in which the animals are exploited, they could be hunted, experimented, captured, or even abused by their owners. As such animal exploitation can also be referred to as animal cruelty or animal abuse.
Introduction
Thousands of people visit the aquariums every day, and some even take up hobbies of going hunting with their friends. While we get carried away and enjoy ourselves, we tend to neglect all the harm that is done to the animals in the process. Unfortunately, animal exploitation runs much deeper and a decade ago, not enough people would have questioned and stand-up against these actions. This is where the media comes into play, the more people are aware of unaddressed and harmful issues, the more emphasis is put on resolving them, however media can also play a part in worsening the situation.
Types of exploitation
Animals like dogs have long been our companions, helping us with various tasks safeguarding us on our journeys, along with our families and our homes. There are countless households with numerous pets nowadays, nevertheless, just because one as adopted or taken up pets does not determine whether or not they are sympathetic towards animals who face cruelty or are abused in many ways. In our busy lives, we often forget to stop and reflect on our actions and take a look at in which direction our societies are progressing in. Over the decades, there have been several movements carried out that voiced out concerned regarding the way animals were treated, but eventually the hype died down. There could be many reasons why we as a community have not been able to make a significant change over the long period regarding the issue of animal cruelty. However, it is safe to say that things might be finally starting to change a little faster and get more recognition with the help of the media and information technology. Firstly, understanding the relationship between animal exploitation and media – media is an extremely useful tool in means of raising awareness about how animals are being mistreated by humans and brought on the brink of extinction. Media helps give a voice and change people’s views and perspectives. Much like how people tend to follow their idols, people also tend to follow the crowd. There might be several individuals who have had a change of heart towards animals all due to the influence of digital media.
Hunting is legal in several parts of the world, besides that, there are many regions where hunting is a common practice especially in the United States. Garlow (2013) stated that “ there are many ways in which we try to excuse hunting and some of which is by claiming that it is done for the preservation of the “circle of like” or the ecosystem.” Although these claimed may not be a proper justification for killing and hunting of the wildlife, there are those who strongly believe in their ways. Similarly, people continue to hunt because they think that animals or wildlife are no different from crops and as such, they should not be treated any differently. In addition to that, there are also those who believe that hunting is considerate of the animals, considering they are on the same footing as people.
Figure 1
Besides this, wild animals are also hunted their fur, horns or tusks and otherwise, all of which are later used as leather to make branded clothing such as leather jackets, leather pants, leather boots, as well as accessories such as leather belts and wallets which are sold at incredibly high prices. Things like harms of rhinoceros, or elephant tusks are used to make display pieces such as vases or embroidered with decoration cravings to be sold to potential buys, these materials can be sold for as high as $2100 per kg of ivory. There are several animals’ parts that are also used for medicinal purposes, this is especially true for Chinese medicine. Therefore, animals become an easy hunting target for financial benefits that come with doing so.
Media and Animal Exploitation
There are many more situations in which animals are exploited. Other than being hunted, the animals face the constant danger of being captures and taken away from their natural habitats. Dolphins, sharks, stingrays, and several other types of fish are captured to be displayed in aquariums across the globe. These aquariums could be an independent location or located at theme parks. There are also aquariums that train dolphins in many ways to prepare them performances. The methods range from limiting food to isolation and constant training and even abuse. Sea animals not the only victims of these incidents, wild animals such as elephants, lions, monkeys, tigers, and even bears, face similar dangers. They are put under harsh training and severely abuse until they comply and are forced to perform at the circus to entertain the audiences. There are many other ways in which humans tend to intervene in animals’ lives for their entertainment. Daly (2019), mentions “Wildlife attractions such as Maetaman lure people from around the world to be with animals, and they make up a lucrative segment of the booming global travel industry” Animals like dolphins are lured out of the water through a baitfish by the tour guide and swarmed by a number of tourists. Even though this situation is much safer than being captured and hauled away, however, more than often when vying to get the bait, the dolphins crash or brush into one another, leaving each other bruised and scratched.
Many tourists’ attractions attack tourists by offering them numerous opportunities such as riding the elephants or watching them perform tricks. Although the tourists might enjoy their experiences and have a great time, there is far more going on behind the scenes. First and foremost, they tend to dismiss or overlook the fact that these animals are being lured in or standing in front of them against their own will. Furthermore, performing tricks or things like standing up straight, is not something that comes naturally to these four-legged beings. The only way possible to achieve the impossible is to put them under harsh training from a young age, so it is very likely that these animals may be born in captivity or taken away from their mothers and put through vigor training and tortures, and forced to perform acts for the rest of their lives, as not all of them are fortunate enough to be rescued. Meanwhile, with the help of the media, one can say that things are changing for the better and there are more laws and regulations being established to ensure their safety.
Figure 2
Nevertheless, media can also make people more inconsiderate of their actions towards animals. Daly (2019) informs us that “captive wild animal encounters are hugely popular, thanks partly to social media.” People visit places like Maetaman or Thailand to ride Elephants and in hope of getting a good picture to post on their social media. People even pay thousands of dollars to pose with ferocious animals such as the bears, all so they can later upload these pictures online to attract more followers and audience. These events encourage the business to continue their exploitation practices and, in this sense, media leads to more animals being taken advantage of and used for personal gain. Much like this situation, there have been many incidents when people have upload videos of themselves abusing their pets or even doing things like biting and hitting their dogs on live. Due to social media, there had been several cases of people uploading such videos, and following these trends, this is because social media has a great influence on people’s lives and behaviors, and people tend to follow the trends and like to keep up with whatever is popular online. Though it may be true that not many people would support such actions, however, these videos do tend to get a lot of attention.
There are animals that suffer a much worse fate than being hunted or forced to perform, they are kept confined in small cages with only enough space to curl up. They are irregularly fed and become victims of all kinds of experiments. Unfortunately, these things are never questioned in countries ruled by corrupt authorities, and the people behind these experiments abuse their powers as well as the wildlife. Fortunately, in these situations, media is a powerful tool in raising awareness of the brutality that is being faced by these animals. One of the examples is the Biomedical Primate Research Center, located in the Netherlands. This research facility is established to find cures for some of the worst diseases known to mankind and in order to do they carry out numerous experiments on the monkeys that are kept cages inside the facility. They justify actions by claiming to be providing exceptional care to the animals in their custody. There was an investigation carried out by the VICE news and the recorded video is uploaded on one of the digital platforms – YouTube. Due to the media now many people both inside and outside the Netherlands are made aware of this situation, leading them to actions through protest while calling on the government for justice for these Monkeys.
Unfortunately, BPRC in the Netherlands is just one of the facilities that are carrying out these experiments and there could be several more across the globe and in different countries. While it is impossible to tackle the situation of animal exploitation, the media helps to join together and work towards building a more animal-friendly society one step at a time. The issue of animal exploitation runs deeper than just hunting, experimentation, and using them for entertainment purposes, other than the wildlife there are countless domestic animals such as dogs and cats that are beaten and abused by the pet facilities or even their owners. Additionally, the world continues to ravish savory dishes made from cows, chicken, and many more exotic delights. Unfortunately, there are also trends in eating live animals in many Asian countries.
Conclusion
Although media plays a part in influencing the practices of animal exploitation by installing in people the desire to make their posts and videos wilder and more eccentric to attract more viewers and followers, there are also several other reasons why the mistreatment of both domesticated animals and wildlife continues to be an issue. Some of them being that people refuse to change their old ways and continuing the practices of hunting in the names of tradition, while the rest refused to see past their greed. There are all the scientific facilities who have put aside their humanity and continue to harm the and carry out experiments on the wildlife, without thinking that if these practices continue, these may soon be on the brink of extinction. Fortunately, with the help of media people and many NGOs concerned with protecting wildlife, are able to reach and influence a larger number of people all over the world. With more insight and exposure to several facilities, people are able to come together and demand legal justice for the animals. As such there are many countries that have put new laws into effect that make animal abuse a crime. As such media has made us more considerate and sensitive towards the animals and take actions towards human intervention in animals’ lives their use for personal gain.
Reflection
I have worked on several research projects this term, including this one on Media and Animal Cruelty. I came across this with learning the course of BCM310 about Emerging Issues in Media and Communication. During this course I came across several topics – related to robots, as well as the environmental impacts of the Internet. I was unfamiliar with the issues of poverty porn, which I had been familiarized with during this course. It is safe to say that it has been a difficult but an enlightening process.
Media is a very popular source of information, there is both reliable and unreliable data that can be found. Therefore, while media can be helpful in raising awareness and improving the situation in regards to human intervention in animals’ lives, meanwhile it could have several negative impacts as well. This particular issue has caught my attention and became a topic of interest, as such I was encouraged to continue carrying out further investigation and research. Choosing to work on a research essay, has its advantages and disadvantages. Firstly, reading an essay has less visual appeal than digital artifacts such as videos or presentation, along with that it is easy stray away of the topic of focus while working on and essay. Despite that, I believe, writing an essay was the perfect choice to talk about Media and the issue of animal exploitation, as there is a lot of history and occurrences, in order to explain the several types of exploitation and what harms and benefits media brings a written and detail explanation is ideal.
I have made several mistakes while working on this research project, while I was sure of what topic interested me most, I was facing some difficulty in planning my process. When preparing to carry out a research project it is important that we make our research question is clear and specific, and not too broad. Additionally, the methodology is an essential part of the process, so I learned to avoid sticking to just book knowledge and explore different option to collect valid and reliable data for my research. Fortunately, I was able to receive proper guidance and continued to overcome any obstacles I faced while attempted to complete this research project. This project has offered me a new perspective on animal cruelty and have increased my knowledge on how the media has become a part of lives and continues to influences numerous aspects of our lives both negatively and positively.
National Geographic, 2019. Inside The Dark World Of Captive Wildlife Tourism | National Geographic. Available at: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITlo2ZBJOWU> [Accessed 26 July 2020].
People who uses technology and the internet regularly, there lifestyles are impacted by the information they get through the media
National governments, they have to deal with more frequent protest and social movement that are being carried out, as well need to work harder to meet the people’s expectations and there rapidly changing demands
REFLECTIVE REPORT (Individual):
The recent social events that are taking place worldwide have significantly sparked my and compelled me to pursue further investigation into the matter. Protests and social movements or campaigns in itself are not unusual, however one cannot deny that the number of protests taking haven risen considerably over the years, and it makes you question the cause of it.
The process of carrying out this research had it ups and down, but the results were indeed fruitful. Before I had finalized my research topic, I decided to explore different topics that would have also been suitable. During this process, I came to a conclusion that media has become a daily part of our routine, but that’s not what was enlightening, it was the fact that we tend to use the digital media for more than just making friends or sharing meaningful moments of our days. We use it to get all sorts of information, not just about simple things such as which restaurant would be the best option to dine at for this weekend’s dinner night out, or where can I find these air pods in a different color, but also about more socially and politically concerning matter. Despite the fact that in this rapidly changing society, we barely have a moment to pause and sip tea while reading the newspaper, we are expected to be aware of all the recent events that are taking place both inside and outside our countries of residence.
Yet, no matter how impossible of a task it may seem, we manage to do exactly that. All with the help of the media. It takes less than a minute to post a picture or leave tweet, but that one minute can provide us more than enough information. That one minute can encourage us to do something we have never done before, that one minute can make or break our day. Most important of all, with those couple of posts and tweets we are able of form an opinion of an issue that we have never known of before. That is how influential media is. Which is why I had decided to use what I learnt from my course of BCM240 about the “Media, Audience and Place”.
As for any research, it is important that information that is gathered is valid and from reliable sources. Therefore, in order to collect the data that I needed to prepare my digital artifact – what was narrative video, I turned to various sources for information. I used online articles written by different author to understand the different opinions on the issues. Additionally, I had made use of my social media to look for posts and tweets that are related to my topic of research, to better understand just how many people did this post are viewed by, and how many people are influences through them. During the process I came across, the account of the “BlackLivesMatter” movement, and several posts that tagged #blacklivesmatter. I was happy with the fact that there were so different sources of information available, so other than the articles and social media posts, I also decided to look at several videos that were talking about the similar issues such as the online movements and how online social movements lead to offline results. Furthermore, in order to what a closer and deeper understanding, I also decided to carry out a few interviews with my fellow classmates and friends. The questions were prepared by me beforehand , the they aimed to understand whole social and politically active the interviewees were , as well whether or not social media was one of the main sources from where they got most of their information and whether or not it has made them more politically or socially active in one way or another. In order to properly carrying out my research, these sources have been extremely useful in helping to keep going forward. I have tried my best to address all the aspects of the issues, nevertheless some mistakes are unavoidable.
All in all, the process of studying this course as well as carry out this reach has been very meaningful, even though it had not been easy. It is quite easy to make mistakes and be misled on overwhelmed by all of the information that we are consuming. It is easy to be discouraging when facing difficulties in deciding what step to take next to complete the task at hand, fortunately, the guidance from the teachers and all that we have been taught during in the course has proven to quite useful. In addition to that, I was able to explore several new and enlightening topics during that process, which has helped me evolve and improve as well as develop my skills. I had enjoyed carrying out interviews, as well understanding and viewing things from different perspective.
An ideal blog post, although perfection is far from achievable as there is always room for improvement, there are however examples and criteria of what a good blog posts looks like. Which is decided through numerous successful practices.
The goal of every blogger is to be reached to as many people as possible, for their blogs to be shared, appreciated and valued. Success is not impossible but it certainly is hard to achieve. It is a challenge to be appealing to thousands of people around the world, as everyone tends to have difference preferences and opinions on different matters. While it is impossible to please ad satisfy all the readers, we can try to make most of them happy.
In order to do so, there are several things we need to keep in mind – the headline, the images, the hook, the link strategy, the outbound and internal links and the sub-headlines. All these are important part of a good blog, but it is easy to overlook and neglect several details, which leaves our blogs missing some important elements. The headline is without a doubt the most essential part of the blog. It’s the first thing the readers sees, and very much like a first impression about what they are about to read next. As such I have always made sure to be informative in my headlines, while keeping them short and attractive.
A blog can have several images, with each playing a different role to bring together the whole blog. The feature image is usually the first picture that the reader sees and the picture rights above the blog post. It is also very likely that feature image is the face of our blog posts and is the first thing people see when we share our blog on social media. Thus is keeping in mind the content and the image dimension is necessary. Although I don’t have featured images for all of my blogs, I try to include them in most of them, along with 1-2 images through the post to make the reader experience better and help visualization of the content and add color to the post.
While it is important that the blog post doesn’t look boring and one of the best way to style is using the fonts, I prefer to keep the font consistent through my blog post, and make sure that the font is suitable and doesn’t hinder the reading process. Additionally, I try to avoid having stretched out blogs that ongoing and stick to a certain world limit. As it is easy to drift off topic and not everyone enjoys reading very long blog posts. Furthermore, the color palette of my blog is minimalist, so I can suit to wider range of audience.
Another important part of the blog is the content itself, especially the hook. It acts as a suspense for those reading the blog. The hook is important if we want to keep the readers interested. Just like in the movies, everyone loves a good plot twist. I try to keep the readers interested by adding one or two rhetorical questions throughout the blog. It helps them stop and really engage in what they are reading and make the blog more relatable. There are several things that can be done to improve the blog, such changing out the colour palette and adding sub-headings to make the blogs more attractive and organized respectively. I should also place importance on consistently adding images where necessary in all the blogs to improve the quality of my blogs.
What is attention economy? Attention economy is considered to be an approach in information management. It basically treats the people’s attention as an insufficient commodity. It is not surprise that holding people’s attention for a certain amount of time is no easy task, yet it is the one that has the most potential in the market.
People’s attention time span various depending on their ages, interests and even physical and mental health. Its harder get attention of children than those of adults. For children aged 2 years, there attention timespan can be as short as 4-6 minutes, as it continues to grow with age, attention time span of a 16-years-old can be as long as 48 minutes. Meanwhile, as people start to age, their attention time span starts shrinking as well.
Age is not the only factors though; we can spend hours on social media platforms or watching Netflix without a break. So maybe it all come down to the task itself, whether or not it is interesting enough to hold our attention for a certain period. Yet there are also times, when we are unable to focus on anything at all, including our favorite TV shows.
Ones state of mind can also greatly impact one’s attention time span. It is harder to concentrate on task at hand when something is weighing on your mind. Stress is exactly ideal when try to enjoy a good movie. In addition it can be difficult to pay attention in a meeting or completing assessments when we are physically exhausted and have not gotten sufficient amount of rest. Being sick can also play a great role in shortening one’s attention time span.
As such, if trying to get customers’ keeping these factors is essential. The products should be attractive and the environment should be appealing. People are more likely to stop by if your shop or restaurant is clean and inviting and catches their attention. Now I know the reason for hanging huge banners on the buildings.
How the incorporation of media into everyday life has made people more socially and politically active.
The media, tool used by us for communicating, sharing, and gathering information. Over the years, media has become an essential part of our lives and may or may not realize but we have become dependent on media
Why do I say so? In a world like today, knowledge is power, and whoever possesses it is greatly valued and appreciated. Perhaps that is why we strive to stay aware of what is happening around us and stay-up-to-date about recent events. Not so long ago, the popular source of news was the published and printed newspapers, and reading one long passage after another is not for everyone. While the newspaper was used for many things it wasn’t nearly enough to get everyone up and ready to play their part in the society.
Technological advancements have turned the tides completely. There are many alternative options for newspapers that are available. Now we don’t have to spend hours reading the newspaper every day or flipping through news channels to stay updated with the recent events, but simply just go online and search what you want to know, or just look at recent posts and stories. Easier access to information has made people more opinionated and aware of what’s going wrong in our nations. Social media platforms play a role in assisting people with similar views to join force and as such youngsters, these days have become more involved with socio-political activities than before.
With the increased number of protests and demonstrations around the globe has sparked my interest and I believe that the media plays a huge part in the emergence of these events. Therefore for my final digital artifact, I will focus my research towards and personal experience an ethnography on how the incorporation of media into people’s everyday lives have made everyone become more active both socially and politically.
Transportation like the MTR or the railway have made our lives so much easier in terms of travelling. Not only has it cut of the travelling time down to half but it makes it convenient for everyone to visit new places without too much trouble. Although that is all good and well, the fast-paced transportation prevents us from really stopping and taking a moment a look around our scenery and our surroundings and have the chance to appreciate it.
Being residents and having living in the city for year we less likely to be drawn towards touring the city on things such as shuttlebuses or even getting on buses and take the longer route just to enjoy the scenery. Nevertheless, when you actually get a chance to travel or sit on a shuttle bus you can enjoy the great view the city has to offer, maybe you’re on your way to the beach or just finding a new mall to shop at. Instead of taking the MTR as usual, go for the bus or maybe even a shuttlebus. On your way you will see many architectural structures both historical and brand-new and perhaps even spot places that you have never expected to find in the city.
A few weeks ago me and my friends decided to take a bus instead of the MTR to the mall, THE ONE, in Tsim Sha Tsui. The experience was wonderful to say the least and I was amazed to find that buses are now equipped with charging ports and have good WI-FI. Additionally, we had the chance to appreciate the beautiful view, stepping back and taking a look at the life in a hustling city, people on their way to work or to meet their friends, maybe to finish up some pending task or just simply trying to make as much as they can out of their spare time. The streets were ever so lively. Unfortunately, though, spotting someone without their head in their phone is a rare sight.
A movie with a well-written plot, quality acting and just the right amount of lighting, sound and special effects, there is nothing more entertaining than that. Except watching it in the cinema. The reason my experience of watching movies at cinemas have been so memorable isn’t only because the movie is good but because watching it in the theatre enhances the movie’s quality and watching a film at a theatre has a different ambience entirely. What’s so good about watching movies in a cinema than watching it at home?
It has been a while since my last visit to the cinema, but it not enough to forget my experience of watching movies there. The snacks are the must haves if you’re going to watch a movie, the experience is incomplete without popcorns, hotdogs and some nachos. Let’s not forget the drinks to wash it all down. Lucky for us, there is no lack of cinemas in our beloved city, its for you to decide which location is best suited. I’ve been to cinemas in several places, and most of them were located in big malls like the Elements, Festival Walk and such. So, if you’re going out for a movie, might as well be ready to do some shopping and a dine out.
Having a good experience at the cinema isn’t all about the special effects, even though the special effects are one of the main things that amplifies and makes the experience so wonderful, it is also about our surroundings. Cinema experience depends on the people who are watching the same movie, it is easy to be disturbed by your neighbor or other people in front of you or even the people behind you. Someone can be munching to loud or perhaps kicking your chair even small things somebody’s alarm ringing in the middle of the movie can be really frustrating and affect your overall experience of the cinema.
Despite the minor setbacks there no better place than a cinema to enjoy your favorite movies but it’s not a great place to hang out since you can obviously is no place for chitter-chatter. If you want to watch and enjoy the movie in some peace and quiet with the best possible experience , than the cinemas are for you, the big screen, the excellent sound system and minimum amount of disturbance can only be found in one place.
Hollywood blockbusters are the soul of global film industries. It is widely appreciated and respected by the viewers and actors respectively, which is well deserved after reflecting on their quality and the amount of work that’s put into their production. Despite following the path of perfection, some of these blockbusters fail to win the hearts of the people. Although the actors will rarely bad-mouth their own films, sometimes the disappointment is inevitable and difficult to hide. Critics talking bad about movies is not surprising or unexpected, it is their job to criticize after all. However, actors trash talking about their own movies is a rare occasion. It certainly makes one wonder about what compelled them to such extents.
It usually happens when they consider their own performance in the film to be unacceptable, or think that things could have been done better. That’s not the only reason though, when signing up for movies without considering the script, such incidents are very likely to happen. For instance, Jeremy Irons who has played the role of longtime employee and friend of Bruce Wayne , Alfred, in the movie Batman V Superman : Dawn of Justice. A film made by famous Zack Snyder, sometimes one feels obligated to play their roles in a blockbuster not because of the script but because of the names associated with it.
It is misfortune when a blockbuster is a flop, especially considering all the expenses that come with making a movie. Other than the actors, hardware for a Hollywood blockbuster cost a fortune. The better the quality of the production hardware used, better the quality of the film produced. This equipment is essential for a film , in terms of making high definition videos and with realistic backgrounds and mythical lands and creatures. Ranging from video cameras, tripods, camera lights to drones and green screens.
We all enjoy watching these blockbusters, but this enjoyment blinds us to the environment damage that’s caused by the Hollywood blockbusters. Making a film requires more then just a script and actors, it requires proper equipment, skilled individuals to use those equipment as well as an ideal setting for shooting and sometimes green screens are just not enough. Films are shot in physical location, sometimes in deserts , sometimes in the wilderness and sometimes in far away villages with astounding landscapes. Nothing like the real-thing, right? Which is precisely why we should take care of these places and treat it with respect.
A large-scale production is very likely to make a lot of noise, so much so that it can easily be labelled as noise pollution. It does not matter is the shooting is being carries out miles away from civilization, there are all sorts of living creatures resides on different parts of the land. The forests are home to countless animals, who are greatly affected by the invasion of their habitats and to add on to that the disturbance of the peaceful environment. However the loud noise isn’t the only issue, many unexplored areas happen to have undiscovered or rare species of plants which are trampled by the film production crowds.
Anywhere we go we bring with us the necessities, clothes, water, food and equivalents, but the deserts don’t have rubbish bins and neither does the wilderness. Sure you will feel less guilty through remains of fruits and unwanted vegetable, they will rot and fertilize the soil but what of the plastic bottles of the water you drink and the plastic water of the snacks , even disposable plastic contains. Shooting a movie is not easy task, it hard for the directors and producers , harder for the actors and hardest for the environment that’s exploited without regard.
As far as our history goes, we have always been captivated by the idea of the supernatural. Hebrew myths talked about a creature made from dirt and clay, otherwise known as the golem. The golems were created and used to aid in menial labor. While Greek mythology mentions of mechanical assistants made from gold by God Hephaestus. It might be beyond human capabilities to conjure a golem out of dirt and clay or fabricate assistants out of gold.
Nevertheless, it is well within our capabilities to utilize what we have been given by nature and use metal to build materials according to our needs. So although we might not be able to magically produce a golem or make subjects out of gold, we can however use technology to create something close. In 1961, the very first modern programmable robot was built, the Unimate. Equipped with general motors this autonomous and pre-programmed robot was put to work, moving pieces of hot metal in a factory. A few years later, in 1966, an autonomous and intelligent robot was built at Stanford and named Shakey.
That was nearly 60 years ago, and there is no question things have changed greatly over the years, and technology has come a long way. So if people were able to invent robots with the technology, they had 60 years ago, the evolution of robots have certainly come a long way since then. While in the earlier days the robots were built to work in factories, replace humans in doing dangerous jobs or heavy lifting. For instance, Hutson (2017), mentioned search and rescue workers were joined by two robot snakes in combing and finding survivors through the rubble of buildings that collapsed during the earthquake in Mexico that occurred on 19 September in 2017. In addition to that, such robots can we use by wildlife researchers to get access and look through small spaces that a human body cannot fit into.
With continuous research, many developments and break-throughs have been made in the field of robotics and artificial intelligence. Similarly, scientists are able to make more and more realistic robots, such as a spider robot that closely resemble the real spiders and have very comprehensive details. Additionally, the development of human robots has also made great progress. Which brings us to the main category, the social robots. Social robots are built and installed with functions that enable them to interact and communicate with humans by pursuing certain social behaviors. According to Rouse (2019), social robots can become functional enough to serve as a member of the family. They are intentionally designed with personalities that fit in and is suitable for a family.
Social robots come in many variations and although they are all built to fit into a family environment, it does not mean that they play the same roles. In fact, social robots are can be used in many different environments for numerous different tasks, from piping frosting on cookies in a bakery to wiping spilled milk of a child’s face in at a daycare. Social robots are built to integrate into society, understand people better, and be empathetic. These social companies can come in the shape of Sony’s AIBO robotic dog or PARO therapeutic robot or even humanoid robots such as Pepper from SoftBank Robotics.
Even digital companies have emerged over the year and the number of those making social robots has also increased. The era of robots is nearing but isn’t quite here yet. Many may or may not have heard of the famous robotics companies, but the chances of owning a robot are even less likely.
The smartphones are cheap and have artificial intelligence such as Siri or Alexa, they might of lacking in the personality aspect in comparison to the social robots, but the functionality more than makes up for it. The idea of having a humanoid with its own personality roaming around our house is quite exciting, but nobody is willing to spend on an investment that offers no gains. Thus the reason why robotics products of many digital companies are resulting in failure. As long as having a robot can make life easier without the fear of them turning against humanity, a little modification can make the companies a great deal of profit.
Media, a single word covers so many things from news, to education and every other forms of communication channels in between. Media is a great influencer in our daily lives, and might I go as far as to say it influences the quality of our lives. For better or for worse? That’s up to us to decide.
The technological advancements have changed our education system, our economies and work places , as well as our social lives, but how has it impacted our households? I briefly described my childhood experience with television in one of my blogs. While the media can bring the family together, it is also the very thing that can pull them part apart. There is never a single minute of boredom when the media offers a never-ending list of online activities. Just sitting at home we can talk to our friends thousands of miles away, just sitting at home we are able to keep a track of what is happening outside be it in the same country you are living in or countries you’ve never heard of before. Media has a lot of advantageous indeed and it is able to provides us with unlimited knowledge and entertainment.
Fortunately, there is also something media can do for our households, it is all up to us to use it in our favor. Yes, social media make us pull away from us family with the constant need to stay online or the free access to numerous TV shows and movies available keep us cooped up in our bedrooms all day long. We frequently lose track of time, but what’s more , its another day we forget to sit with and bond with our families. But what if, instead of watching those movies all by yourself, we bring back the old practice of sitting with the family to watch movies and laugh together at those comedic parts, what if instead of reading online newspapers on our phones, we sit together and watch the news? We would be surprised by how well media fits in our households.
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