YouTube and Conspiracy Theories

Last night I was on this online radio site, Pandora, and Jay-Z’s song “Lucifer” was playing. I turned to my roommate and mentioned that he supposedly was a part of this group called Illuminati, a group that worships Satan. My roommate was shocked because he is such a great influence on the music industry and people in general, so she did not believe me. I told her it was just a conspiracy theory that I saw on YouTube. I go on YouTube and type in “Jay-Z illuminati conspiracy” and a whole bunch of videos with titles like “Jay-Z Subliminal Messages,” “Jay-Z worships Lucifer,” etc. popped up.  After watching the videos about Jay-Z,  this is what I found out: to represent that he is a part of Illuminati, Jay-Z throws up a triangle shape with his hands; he calls himself J-Hova (short for Jehovah, which means God) saying that he is the Goid of music, and if you play his song “Lucifer” backwards, it says “666. Murder. Murder. Jesus.” Not only was I totally freaked out and scared of what I was watching, there were other videos related to Jay-Z and the illuminati conspiracy theories within the music theory. Now, I am not sure if the song was chopped, spliced, and put together to have the song say that backwards, or if any of the statements told were true, but regardless, the messages had me spooked and thinking “what if…” After clearing my thoughts, I reflected and said to myself: without YouTube and other public media sites we would not be so influenced by these urban legends and conspiracy theories. People would probably not even be knowledgeable about this Illuminati society, only that they worship the Devil. But now we are given all these resources and video clips about taboo topics, it’s hard to not be intrigued.  

We live in a society where “seeing is believing”. Thanks to the internet, the media visually influences its audience to have certain beliefs and opinions. You can go on YouTube, Ebaumsworld, or even Google to find videos and articles on conspiracy theories because the internet is easily accessible. There are videos like what how the Sloppy Joe entrée was introduced, or the mysterious deaths of the actors from the movie Poltergeist, etc. Such videos and articles only spawn more material of the subject. Those Illuminati videos from YouTube brought about even more conspiracy theories against music artists like Kanye West, Chris Brown, Rihanna, etc., and now there is a documentary about the topic of those artists being a part of this satanic group. I feel that because we have this entire media circulating around people either ask themselves what should they trust to believe them or they are full believers of what they watch online. I mean should society change their outlook and philosophy of “seeing is believing”? Should we even bother? I mean, it is always interesting to watch videos on crazy topics, but should those topics influence our opinion and lives? The internet and the media is a powerful tool in influencing the lives and opinions of individuals, so people have to keep that in mind. Just because you see something online, does not necessarily mean you have to believe it, and it does not have to influence your way of thinking.  

Social Networking: A Love-Hate Relationship

2. Social Networking and Privacy 

Your task for this assignment is to record your thoughts on the prevalence of social networking. How often do you use social networking sites/tools like Facebook, Twitter, or FourSquare? How much time to do you spend texting, tweeting, or checking status updates on your phone or computer?
Do you think the cultural move toward social networking, constant access, and the loss of privacy it sometimes brings about is a positive/negative trend on the whole? What are some of the benefits and drawbacks of this entanglement between our personal lives and technology?  Have you ever "over-shared" or texted, tweeted, or posted something you have regretted? Do you ever worry about your privacy when it comes to using these tools?

Geez, I feel like my day cannot be complete without logging onto Facebook or using my phone to text. I use Facebook to connect with friends, to get distracted from the tedious work I have to do for class, etc. I sign in, skim through what has been posted previously on my feed, check if anyone has left me any comments or messages, respond to those posts, and maybe update my status. It is ridiculous how ritualistic the whole process it is. I feel somewhat lame for sitting in front of a screen for who knows how long, just socialize via the internet. But then I feel less lame about myself when I find that there are those who are even worse off. Every time I log in I feel like I know everybody’s business—my feed is swamped with status updates like, “Just ate lunch at McDonalds. I’m so ready to nap!” Seriously? Even though Facebook is a public networking site where you can post whatever you want, I feel there is a line where you are giving out too much information. I feel that people who post information as to where they are, what they are eating, etc. are seeking attention. It is just a tad creepy. It’s as if Facebook is your diary that is open for all to see. That can be potentially dangerous seeing how there are so many people who get their accounts hacked into, or scammed into trusting certain people, or pay for products because the product, from what is told them, is for a good cause, etc. I should not say anything because it is there business, but since their business is so public, well then I guess why shouldn’t I? I only have one advice to offer for people like that: Do not take Facebook so personal! People do not comment on personal posts like that for a reason…its awkward!

Texting can also be invasive as well. If something private was sent to a friend, depending on how trustworthy that friend is, he or she can easily send it to others as a means to poke fun at you or crush your image. It is really sad. When I text, I text my friends A LOT. I feel incomplete and lost without my phone. And I trust the people I text, but there is a huge possibility that they might show my text to another person in spite. It is even harder to keep something confidential when “But don’t tell anyone” is texted to the opposite person. Plus, how am I to know of the other person’s hidden intentions? It is just so hard, what with communication being so public, to be discrete and live your life. One could delete their social networking accounts and disconnect their phones, but then there is a fear that because you don’t have a Facebook, Twitter, or a phone to text, then you don’t exist. Since technology is so vital to our society, all these technological tools are now sources of self-identification. I could not see myself without these means of communications because all my friends use them, and without these tools, I would lose contact with many of my friends. So there really is no way out. You pay the price of privacy or fend for yourself.