June J's Blog

     In the last decade or so, activism has had a huge change in appearance. While most people think of protests, marches, strikes and boycotts, a lot of activism in recent years has shifted online. While online activism garners both overwhelming praise and criticism, it, like most internet behaviors, has its benefits and drawbacks. Understanding its strengths and weaknesses can help to participate in online activism in helpful, effective ways. First, it may be helpful to review the types and methods of internet activism.      Online activists use a variety of tools to help their cause. Online petitions, crowdfunding, social media can be used to bring awareness to causes, raise funds, and organize in-person protests. For example, take the Arab Spring protests in 2011, which were organized on Facebook. Blogs are essentially “uncensored journalism,” (Watters, 2024), as anyone can start and maintain one. Technological advancements such as smartphones play a ro...

     In our digital writing course, one subject we have touched on is that of digital communities. With the rise of social media and the recent coronavirus pandemic and subsequent lockdown, digital communities are alive and thriving; however, could these online communities be taking the place of in-person communities?      First, it's important to understand what a community is. Maggie Wooll simply defines a community as “a group of people with something in common” (Wooll, 2025). This common factor can be faith, a hobby, physical location, academic, a job, or a profession. As long as the common factor is present along with a sense of trust and connection, it is considered a community. The most common types of communities are neighborhoods, faith-based communities, hobby-focused communities, volunteer spaces, alumni groups, coworking spaces, professional development, and employee resource groups (Wooll, 2025).  All that considered, why are they so impor...

This morning, I had a new prescription called in from my doctor, so I called the pharmacy to see if they had received it yet. I’m a pharmacy technician, so I’m very familiar with the process. I have two years of personal and professional experience calling pharmacies and asking them about prescriptions and insurance. There’s often an automated system that precedes the call, and always an option to speak to the pharmacy staff. However, on my CVS call this morning, it seems that artificial intelligence has gotten to this system. Instead of a short conversation with another technician that would last approximately thirty seconds, I stumbled through an interaction with an AI voice for about two minutes before giving up and going to the pharmacy and hoping that the medication was not out of stock, or facing some other significant delay. Over the last couple of years, AI features seem to be implemented in every aspect of our lives. When you use Google to search a question, the top answer i...

     Social media, constant notifications, and high access to screens are all present in most people’s lives in this day and age. Your phone has a screen that shows you short videos and short social media posts, and notifies you whenever there is a new post, you have a new message, or there is a news event that it determines you need to know about. Your watch likely gives you those same notifications, and may even tell you that you should be moving or standing more. Your home and job are likely both home to multiple screens in addition to the ones in your pocket or on your wrist.      That description might have overwhelmed you so much that you felt the need to glance away and look at your phone for a second. Alternatively, maybe you got a notification that you had to check your text messages, email, or even your social media feed. You’re not alone, though—studies have shown than in recent years, attention spans have decreased dramatically in the last two d...