Why don't we hear more strong antiwar voices?

    These days, it seems that several loud voices are silenced in the media. If the government does not agree with you, they are quick to shut you up. Why could this be?  The government seems to not like people who disagree with them. For example: a Youtube group referred to as The Nelk Boys did an interview with Donald Trump a couple weeks ago. This interview was was uploaded onto their Youtube and Full Send Podcast. In this video, the two hosts, Kyle Forgeard, Stephen Deleonardis, and friends sat down and spoke to President Trump about World War 3, Putin, and more. This video gained over 5 million views before it was taken down by Youtube. It had barely been 24 hours at the time that this video was blocked from public view. Why was this? Does this not contradict the freedom of speech amendment? I believe that one of the biggest issues was the conversation on war. Although it can be a touchy subject, why is it something so taboo to speak about? That is why sites like The American Conservative and Antiwar.com seem to be hidden behind closed doors. The government does not like this websites and they do not promote the words written on them. That is why these websites seem so obscure because they are mostly hidden from the public.

Self Fulfillment: A Speech Theory

     These days, it is not rare to hear shocking news almost everyday. One of the main topics in the world right now is the war between Russia and Ukraine. Of course, those of us in the United States should not be too bothered by this. You would be shocked to find out that we are. Like any war, this one has impacted us economically. One of the biggest impacts is the increase in gas prices. Americans are not too thrilled about this. Unfortunately, that is just one problem of the 7 billion other ones in the US.

    I think almost anyone under the age of 50 would tell you that they get their news from social media. Whether it be Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, or Tiktok, we are often turning to these sites to learn about what is going on in the world. The problem with this is that social media is undoubtedly the most unreliable source to get real world news from. We often question why anyone would lie on these sites, but at the same time, why wouldn’t they? It is so easy to fool hundreds of people by making a simple post. Social media is the quickest way to obtain news, but the news is often never fact checked and mostly an assumption. We are relying on unreliable sources.

    This concept ties in with the Individual Self-Fulfillment speech theory. This theory states that free speech allows us to create an identity and find people who may relate to us or enjoy the same topics as us. One of the best places to do this is social media. Social media gives us a platform to post almost whatever we want and create a page dedicated to ourselves or whatever random hobby you may be into. Through this, it is likely we will find people with common interests and hobbies. This is how we gain followers. People will often follow you if your page is pleasing to them or they recognize that you both have similar interests. Of course, friends and people you already know following you is a separate reasoning. Nonetheless, you have something in common with probably every follower. If not that, they must admire something about you if they are wanting to keep up with your life. 

    Once someone has followed you for a while, it almost feels like they are starting to get to know you. Even if they have never spoken to you a day in their life. To them, you are a trustworthy person, mostly because over social media, you have shown no signs of being untruthful. Social media can become a vulnerable thing. A feature that most social media platforms utilize is the story feature. Most of the time, stories can be posted but only remain for 24 hours. After those 24 hours are up, the story no longer exists. One of the amazing features about Instagram stories is that they allow you to repost Instagram photos from any public account. 

    This feature gives users free rein to repost whatever they want from other accounts. This includes news accounts. The problem with this is the news that is being distributed. Let's say you come across a news post on instagram and the headline is shocking. Perhaps, you repost this on your story. Now, that post is out there for all of your followers to see. How are we sure that this source of news is reliable? Unless research has been done prior, you can never be truly sure when you originally come into contact with these types of posts. You have reposted this to your story for thousands of followers to see. There is a great chance that this news may be fake. This common mistake fools so many people into believing things because the girl they followed on instagram posted some "breaking news". 

    Of course, the right to free speech and engagement will always be present. Sometimes though, this free speech can become misleading. The individual self-fulfillment theory supports creating a platform of your own and sharing your thoughts on it. This theory, however, is not meant to promote the release of false news. In a world like ours, although we have the right to write and post whatever we please, I believe that we should try to monitor the "news" we are posting in order to avoid misconceptions. The article i have linked HERE explains how false news can spread around social media like a wildfire. Taking this into account could help several of us avoid the mistake of posting false statements. 

The History and Workings of The US Supreme Court

 

        Originally, I knew the supreme court was the part of the justice system that made sure citizens are promised equal justice. The History Channel article helped me understand more of their role. Something funny I learned from this reading was that even though the US President is the one who elects the supreme court members, the supreme court members are always the ones to take on the presidential impeachment cases. I find this interesting because it is kind of like a stab in the back to the president, even though every president picks these justices knowing that they may have to take on this role. I think the most important takeaway point of the Supreme Court is that they work on our most important cases and often ensure that both sides of the case remain equal. I think equality is a detrimental part of the justice system. If we did not have the supreme court, I think several uproars and riots would be caused, especially if the court is not being equal. The most surprising thing I learned in this article is that the court did not receive any trials in its first term. I found this surprising because I figured the supreme court was something essential that was needed. If i were them, I would have given up by the end of the first term because of the lack of need for this court. Luckily, they remained. This article changed the way I see the supreme court in several ways. I had no clue that they are as important as they are. I then connected the dots and realized that they have worked on all large court cases. I am glad I was given the opportunity to learn more about their significance. 

My top 5 news sources

 

• Instagram 

As a teenager, I spend several hours of my day on social media. Often, people will post important news on their stories for other people to see. I gather most of my data from these stories. The thing about Instagram is that it is not an extremely reliable news source. Although I do follow reliable sources on the app like CNN and ABC News, it can be hard to tell the difference between truth and exaggeration. Social media is like a game of telephone. The more words that travel, the more they get messed up and confusing.  

 

 

• Apple News 

Apple news is very convenient, due to the fact that it sends direct notifications of breaking news to your phone right after it happens. Being someone who uses my phone a lot, I get these notifications very often. These notifications are often very intriguing and sometimes shocking. Apple News seems to be a reliable source in my eyes. I have never gathered Information from those notifications that was not true. 

  

• Snapchat 

Going along with being a teenager who spends oodles of time on social media, I also get a lot of my news from Snapchat. Often, these posts are click bate and exaggerated. It is clear that the people drafting these articles are making something out of nothing just for content and clicks. It is often celebrity drama and not real-world news. Snapchat is one of the most unreliable sources for news. They place titles that drag you in, but the article never lines up. It seems that everything written on there is a conspiracy.  

 

 

• Yahoo News 

The main email I use is a Yahoo email. Since I am logging onto Yahoo.com almost everyday to check it, I often come across news articles on the homepage. The good thing about Yahoo news is that it tracks your location, so it gives your information based on the state you are in. I often am shown news about what is going on in Greensboro and Charlotte. I find this website quite reliable because the stories are realistic and not always huge shocking news. I also really like that I can keep up to date on what is going on in my state. 

 

• My friend, Lucy Cush 

Lucy Cush is one of my best friends. She is extremely smart, and she is one of those people who wakes up every morning at 7am to read the news. Often, she will text me or call me about the breaking news of the day. She keeps me up to date and it is extremely helpful. I believe she gathers her news from NBC and New York Times. I find Lucy to be a reliable source because she is like a living broadcast system. She always checks her news sources and makes sure to pass on the correct information to me, her best friend.