My views on censorship: we can’t have an opinion

Lately, there has been an issue that has been bothering me and I would like to blog about it.

Ever since what happened on January 6th at the Capitol in the United States, Donald Trump has been banned from Twitter and I think every mainstream social media app out there (correct me if I’m wrong).

As the president of United States, I think he should not be able to say whatever he wants due to the effect his words may have on his followers. Actions have consequences, and those who have participated in violent acts should be punished.

Some of his supporters are so extreme that they would probably kill or die for Trump.

So, I thought limiting Trump’s access to Twitter was actually a pretty responsible thing to do.

I didn’t, however, expect him to be banned from everything. Furthermore, a super right winged conservative app, Parler, has also been taken down.

While I do understand, I do think it’s an issue that needs to be discussed.

There are extremists for everything. Does that mean all extremists should be banned? Or are we only focusing on right winged extremists? How about violent left winged extremists?

Now, I’m neither extreme left nor right, but I feel like nowadays, people can’t even have an opinion.

What if you’re just a non violent supporter of Trump? Or BLM? Or Communism? Or whatever you believe in!?!

If you state a political view, someone is going to be triggered. The more popular you are, the more backlashes you’ll receive from the other side.

Nowadays, people may be afraid to speak out their views because they want to avoid getting banned or losing access to their accounts. In more serious cases, they may even lose their jobs.

This is even worse if you have a following. Because that means you have impact and haters may just be waiting around the bush to strike. Continue reading “My views on censorship: we can’t have an opinion”

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The harsh reality of being a content creator

We are born in a generation where as long as you have the internet and a device (phone, laptop, video camera, etc), you can upload things online and share with the world. Depending on the person, there may be conflicting views on this. But we can’t deny the fact that the internet has created a lot more opportunities for people overall.

Today, I would like to blog about the harsh reality of being a content creator. Content creators are basically people who create content usually targeted towards a specific group of audience for their entertainment purposes.

Back then, most content creators started off as hobbyists. For example, when Youtube first became popular, most people were just posting random clips online. People never really thought of making money from it.

Eventually, people realized it was possible to make a living off Youtube. As long as you develop a huge following with lots of views, you can earn ad revenue!

So, people then started to make all sort of content in hopes of getting viral.

Maybe if they get popular enough, they could quit their jobs and pursue their dream career and do what they actually love!

While it sounds simple enough, reality is far from it.

In order to quit your job to pursue this type career, you must earn enough from your content so that it could replace your income. The problem is, most people do not want to pay for content.

Can you imagine if I charged you to read this? Chances are, you would just not read it. LOL

With so many other options, why would we pay for something that we could get free elsewhere?

Thus, if your dream is to become a content creator, you’re going to suffer A LOT. You’ll constantly be trying to get followers. Even if you have great and free content, you’re competing against countless of others and there is no guarantee people will watch/read/consume/follow. Continue reading “The harsh reality of being a content creator”

My thoughts on the Coronavirus

Online, I’ve seen many netizens comparing the coronavirus with the flu. They say that millions of people die from the flu, so people are overreacting.

But please keep in mind the numbers that you see are only the confirmed cases. There are limited testing kits and many suspected patients are undiagnosed. Many are left to die at home or “self quarantine” because there are not enough hospital beds due to the huge demand.

If it were really only several hundred dead, China would never take such drastic measures. Over 50 million people are under lockdown right now. The government got thousands of people to build two new hospitals within 10 days. China even shut down money making attractions like Disneyland in Shanghai and the Forbidden City in Beijing.

The moment suspicious cases started popping up, the CCP should’ve taken it seriously. Instead, they tried to suppress the messengers by sending out warnings.

Li Wenliang was a Chinese ophthalmologist at Wuhan Central Hospital when he warned his friends and colleagues about a new coronavirus strain on Wechat on December 30th, 2019. Rather than thanking him, the authorities approached Wenliang to sign a document admitting he was wrong for spreading rumours and inciting fear amongst the public.

Although Wenliang wasn’t lying, he admitted to the accusations because of the implications it could have had on him and his family. If he had gone against the CCP, he probably would have been thrown in jail.

After Wenliang passed away from the virus several days ago, there was a huge public outcry. It was as if his death had woken up millions of citizens.

However, in order to maintain their power and control, the CCP puts very strict measures on what its citizens can see and do. They only post propaganda content that reflects them in a positive light. They dispose anything that could lead to social instability and weakens their power.

So within a matter of hours, all the posts regarding freedom of speech and other topics that criticized the government were taken down.

Several weeks ago, there were clips that had been leaked onto twitter with nurses saying that over 100k people have already been affected with the virus. Additionally, there have been multiple clips online of bodies lying in Wuhan hospitals next to the living. The CCP has repeatedly denied that the videos were real, but one of the guys I followed on youtube and twitter had actually gone to report the real situation in Wuhan by personally visiting the hospitals and interviewing the locals.

His videos show what is actually going on and his critiques are quite fair in my honest opinion. He only reports what he sees and hears in person. It is very heartbreaking and agonizing to see the current conditions.

There is so much fear and hopelessness. Can you imagine if your loved ones were dying from excruciating pain and all you could do was beg and watch?

Sadly, Chen Qiushi “vanished” six days ago while he was on his way to another hospital. His mother made a video asking netizens for help to locate her son. Apparently, Chen Qiushi has been detained and forced to go under quarantined. However, his phone has been confiscated and no one has been able to reach him at all.  I really hope he’s okay and that he will be released soon.

To give you an idea, here’s a clip that SCMP posted:

By now, it is no surprise that the CCP is cracking down on these “citizen reporters”. They cannot allow their videos or content to go viral as it causes panic and social unrest. Continue reading “My thoughts on the Coronavirus”

Reality vs the Internet

Reality vs real life

Today, I had a sudden urge to blog about a topic that has been on my mind for quite some time. I want to write about people who compare their lives with the lives of the people they have on facebook/instagram/twitter/other social media. It’s actually quite common, I think.

The reason this issue bothers me is because people actually take it too seriously. I know for a fact, some people are envious or jealous of certain lifestyles people portray online. Sometimes, it seems like everyone has a better life than us. There are people who look so hot, who look so rich, who look so successful, who look so happy, and etc. However, you must understand that people only show you what they want you to see. For example, someone can post up a picture of a house they newly bought. You, the viewer, is probably like, “Wow. Blah blah blah bought a house! He/she must be doing so well”. (or something along those lines). BUT GUESS WHAT? It’s not always true!! You don’t see them struggling to pay the bills. For all you know, they probably can’t even afford it. A lot of the times, people buy things they cannot afford.

Continue reading “Reality vs the Internet”