Entry #7 Hashtags #

 Hello again! Today we will be discussing hashtags! When I think of a hashtag my mind immediately goes to Twitter and all the other social media apps like Instagram and TikTok. A hashtag is versatile and can be created using keywords, phrases, and acronyms. 

Hashtags are used on social media as a way to group pictures, videos, and posts together. It is also a way for you to search for certain content within the apps. Hashtags have take over social media as they have been used to spread community issues for example #BLM (Black Lives Matter), #MeToo, and #FreePalestine these hashtags have been used by people all over the world to tell their stories and spread a message. Using hashtags gains more engagments on your post therefore more awareness about the message you are trying to send. Hashtags don't always have to be so heavy though they started out as something fun to add to caption your picture. The most memorable for me would be #TBT (Throwback Thursday), #trending, #love, and now thanks to TikTok we have #fyp (For You Page). Hashtags are also used in television show. People love watching TV they also love to discuss what they watch so as a way to bring more viewers networks will create hashtags and included it in the show so people can "live tweet" as they watch and this spreads the word and gets people to watch a few examples of this could be #LoveIsland, #WWHL, and so much more. With so many preexisting hashtags theres plenty to choose from but you can create your own with simply using a hashtag '#' and leaving no spaces between your words. People create new hashtags everyday and they catch on around the world pretty quick.

What are some hashtags that you like to use when posting? Do you even use them at all?

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Entry #5 Election 2024

Hello everyone and welcome back! Today I want to talk about the 2024 election and the importance of voting!

This election year we have the choice of either former President Donald Trump or President Joe Biden. Now while I won't persuade you to vote one way or the other I would like to inform you of the importance of your vote. If you are 18 years or older it is extremely important that you get out and vote the deadline for registration in Arizona is October 7, 2024. Your vote could be the one that wins it for us all with reproductive health at stake in this upcoming election every vote must count. There are plans to cut social security from all Americans and also a tax increase. Politicians are also asking that Trans Americans be banned from serving in the military which is bizarre because you would think they would want all hands on deck. If you want to register you can go to Vote.org and sign up for a mail-in ballot or to go to the polls. You can also use this website to check and see the politicians running in your county and distract. These votes are also important for Americans because if we get enough of one party elected across the U.S. that party gains control of the Senate and we get the laws that we want and need to be passed.

Please get out and vote our futures are dependant upon it. We have to stop losing our rights and freedoms and get what we deserve. Do you plan on voting? Are you already registered? 

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Entry #4 Banning Tiktok

 Hello everyone welcome back! I'm sure you are all aware of the viral app TikTok. As recently as 3-4 months ago the senate passed a bill signed by President Biden to ban TikTok for all Americans unless the Chinese company that owns it "ByteDance" sells it. 

What does this mean for us? ByteDance has a year to sell the company to an American company if they don't there will be a law that bans app stores from letting users download the app. It is likely that if you already have the app downloaded it will still be on your device you just won't be able to receive updates and will be at risk for security breaches. In an article by The New York Times, they state "TikTok has referred to the bans as “political theater” and criticized lawmakers for attempting to censor Americans". Tikok apparently thinks that the U.S. doesn't have the power to censor us and remove the app. Why do they want to ban TikTok? The U.S. believes that since the app is owned by a Chinese company they are using this to spy on Americans and steal our information. There have been ongoing legal battles with Tikok since 2022 on the privacy of the users. If the app were to be removed this would result in a huge loss of jobs it would also be a big loss to all communities. TikTok brought the world together at a time when we were the most separated physically and figuratively.  Who knows the frenzy that would ensue without people being able to express their self through TikTok. TikTok has only grown since its quick rise in 2020 with no signs of slowing down until now.

Do you think the U.S. should ban TikTok? What would you do if the ban actually happens I would love to know.

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Entry #3 Slanting in the media

Hello everyone! In this blog, we will be talking about conservatism on TikTok. Since it is an election year both liberals and conservatives are taking over TikTok to gain votes. Both sides post the same type of content they describe current events and new laws and or policies but they do this from the perspective of their respective views. 

In an article from the right-leaning news company Fox News right wing tiktokers describe their treatment on the app. The tiktokers say that they have been shadowbanned and even had their accounts removed from the content solely based of the fact that they are conservatives. The author Matteo Cina seems very biased throughout the article he makes the claim "creators can make statements such as "now you know why I hate Christians" or "all white people are racist" without having their videos taken down for hate speech based on race and religion" This has been proven to be false by Tiktok and tiktokers. Tiktokers often talk about how their videos get removed for the simplest of things most of them can't even use profanity. The article also starts off by saying "The Chinese-owned social media app TikTok has often been accused of pandering to liberal viewpoints at the expense of conservative creators." I don't think that this statement is necesacry nor adds any value to the article I feel as though the author added "Chinese-owned" to be a buzzword to conservatives to try and discredit he legiticamy of TikTok. I feel as though this is a slanted article prodecued by Fox News because of the fact that conservatives are trying to get rid of the TikTok app.

What do you think this article means? Do you think this article is slanted and is for right wing consumers?

Article:https://www.foxnews.com/politics/conservative-tiktok-influencers-platform-discriminates-against-right-leaning-voices

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Entry #2 Inside Out & Anxiety

This past weekend my family and I went to and saw Inside Out 2 though I enjoyed the movie I wasn't prepared for the deep but very necessary message in the movie. Anxiety. I went in not expecting much from the movie but I left with a new perception. 

For those unfamiliar Inside Out 2 is about a girl named Riley who just hit puberty throughout the movie we can see into her mind and see her emotions. Now that she has hit a new stage in her life she receives new emotions one of them being anxiety. Since I don't wanna spoil the movie for you I won't give away specific details but in the movie, Riley experiences an anxiety attack because the emotion "Anxiety" was too much for her to handle and has taken over her life. This surprised me first because I didn't expect such a deep yet real topic to be depicted in a children's movie let alone a Pixar movie and secondly, it opened my eyes to how it's this is something that should have probably been around a long time ago. Everyone experiences anxiety and it's a real issue that people struggle with that most don't know how to handle. I think it is great that Pixar is trying to help by bringing awareness to it earlier so kids know what they are experiencing and make it seem less scary.

I personally experience anxiety and I wonder if maybe I had a movie like this would I have been better equipped and could get a better sense of my feelings. How do you think this would have made you feel as a kid?

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Entry #1 Reading is Fun!

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 Hello everyone! My name is Keon and I will introduce myself to you using one of my favorite hobbies (reading). Reading can often be seen as just a boring task or something required by a class but that's not the type of reading I'm talking about! Fun reading is what I like to call it. Have you ever read for fun? When I'm feeling stressed or even when I'm bored I love to pick up a book and get lost in a different world. 

The '"fun" thing about reading is all the different genres, I love to read YA and Fantasy books notably Twilight. When I read fantasy books I easily get lost in whatever world I am reading about especially with how descriptive the books are it makes the story much more realistic. Fantasy may not be for everyone but there is something out there for everyone like horror, mystery & thriller, memoirs (another favorite), and even mangas.

The first time I fell in love with reading was in 6th grade when we were assigned "Percy Jackson and The Lightning Thief" for English of course initially I thought that it was just another boring reading we had to do but I ended up loving the book I loved it so much I got the rest of the series which I equally loved and even though it's considered a middle school book it's still in my top 10 reads.  

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What is your favorite genre and do you have any books you love or a fun connection/story about reading?