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Does Social Media Increase Political Polarization?

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Political polarization divides people into two groups with completely opposing views. Examples are pro-life vs. pro-choice, liberal vs. conservative, and Democrats vs. Republicans.

2014 Pew Research pointed out many years ago that studies showed a strong move away from the center by both American political parties. This shift caused the center position to decrease to 39% in 2014, down from 49% in 1994.

In 2021 Pew Research, the center shrunk to 37%. Those in the contemporary center have little to no interest in politics. The center’s disappearance from the political conversation reinforces the feeling that political polarization is growing.

Republicans and Democrats agree on very little, except they share the belief of having almost nothing in common with the other party. Four out of five people from both parties say they fundamentally disagree with the other side about core American values. Political polarization creates affiliations of being either Red or Blue but nothing in-between.

Social Media Increases Political Polarization

Social media substantially increases the intensity of political polarization. The Brookings Institution research found that a relationship exists between social media platforms and extreme polarization that may erode democratic values and increase partisan violence. 

Engagement

The goal of social media, such as Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, LinkedIn, Tik Tok and others, is to keep people using their systems as much as possible. This use allows them to monetize their users’ attention and track information to sell to advertisers. This process is engagement.

Engagement is the interaction and activity with social media content. Creating a powerful reaction in a viewer by sensationalizing political issues (including spreading misinformation) is far more engaging than a boring presentation of facts.

Addiction to the Release of Dopamine

People are obsessed with social media because of its constantly changing 24/7 modality, unpredictability, the tiny pieces of information (or misinformation) it offers, and the reward cues such as likes, shares, followers, etc. Those characteristics stimulate the release of a neurotransmitter (brain chemical) called dopamine, which is pleasurable.

Research into addictive behaviors suggests that dopamine triggered by social media use is so powerful it is harder to resist than the addiction to alcohol or cigarettes.

Social Media Algorithms, Media Bubbles, Echo Chambers, and Confirmation Bias

The goal of any social media system is to attract new users and keep existing users engaged with the system. A social media algorithm is an AI-driven computer program that selects content choices based on user profiles to keep users coming back for more.

The system tracks what you do and how you engage with content and then presents similar content or its best guess of what content you might like to keep you as engaged as possible.

When you engage with certain content, like watching a specific news piece, you will see that type of content presented to you on your next use of the system. This phenomenon is a “media bubble.”

 An “echo chamber” effect happens when you get more content that matches previous content. Confirmation bias occurs when a user looks for content that reinforces a previously-held opinion. All of this leads to increased political polarization shaped by social media use.

Facebook denies doing this and says mainstream media and cable news spreads more disinformation than social media.

Conclusion

Overwhelming research shows that social media increases political polarization.  Social media use allows the easy spread of misinformation and makes it difficult to tell what is legitimate. Social media use makes political polarization more intense.

Are Algorithms Breeding Extremist Violence?

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To help evaluate the impact of social media algorithms on extreme violence, we will try to answer these questions:

  • What are the trends in America regarding extreme violence?
  • Are individuals engaged in extreme violence influenced by social media?
  • How do social media algorithms work, and what is their purpose?

Extreme Violence Increases in America

A serious increase in extreme violence is the conclusion of the May 2021 Strategic Intelligence Assessment and Data on Domestic Terrorism report created by the combined efforts of the  Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Department of Homeland Security. This report submitted to the Intelligence Committee (IC) of Congress and released to the public summarizes a horrifying reality.

Individuals who are violent domestic extremists (DVEs) and small cells of DVEs are more inclined to engage in violent attacks than any organization. An individual’s radicalization is more likely to come from consuming violent extremist content online than from joining organized groups and participating in person.

Social Media’s Influence

Research supported by the National Institute of Justice concluded that social media influences individuals who participate in extreme violence and hate crimes.

The National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism, or START, examined social media use by extremists. The study, Social Learning and Social Control in the Off and Online Pathways to Hate and Extremist Violence, focuses on cases after 2007. This era is the time when social media platforms experienced significantly-increased usage.

Here are some of the findings:

Ideologies

  • 58% of the DVEs believe radical right-wing ideology
  • 40% got motivation by radical Islamic ideology
  • 2% had an association with a far-left ideology

Social Media Use

DVEs have social media accounts to connect with like-minded extremists. They use social media to publish their manifestos. Some try to live-stream their attacks until the social media systems take the content down.

  • 17.2 % of DVEs use Facebook. This usage is significantly higher than other social media systems.
  • 5.7% had Twitter and YouTube accounts.
  • More individuals with radical right-wing ideologies use Facebook.
  • More Islamic extremists (3.8%) use Twitter than radical-right extremists (1.8%).
  • Instagram had the lowest use at 3%.

Social Media Algorithms

An algorithm is an artificial intelligence program that aims to keep the users of social media systems addicted to using the system. They call this “engagement.” These systems value usage over all other concerns because they derive revenues from advertisers based on system usage.

Addictive algorithms push people to harmful content automatically. False, misleading, and sensational content increases use. The algorithms are predatory and serve content related to what you previously reacted with using clickbait techniques. This self-reinforcing feedback loop may cause mental health problems for heavy social media users.

The Facebook whistleblower, Frances Haugen, testified before the UK Parliament. She said that social media platforms, such as Facebook, which use opaque algorithms to spread harmful content, need more scrutiny and regulation. Without these controls, they may trigger increased violent events, such as the Jan. 6 attack on the US Capitol.

Conclusion

Whatever tendencies a person has to participate in extremist violence, social media does little to reduce these factors. The social media algorithms, by their design, encourage more division, reinforce radical beliefs, bring attention to hate crimes, and support political polarization, which has already led to more extreme violence in America. Social media is not the only factor but plays a significant role in increasing extreme violence.

A Brief History Of Mastodon

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Mastodon is free and open-source software (FOOS) that anyone can use. Mastodon is a system of federated (linked) microblogging websites. Eugen Rochko wrote the software. He was born in Russia and now lives in Germany.

Here is the historical timeline.

Early 2016

Eugen Rochko started working on Mastodon as a side project while in school studying for his computer science degree from a German University.

Late 2016

A few months after graduating, 24-year-old Rochko released his first version, 0.1.0 of Mastodon, on Oct. 6, 2016. The first instance of the software runs on the server at the website Mastodon.social. It began with 45 users. (Note: The original server maxed out at 200,000 users, but new Mastodon users can join any of the many other interlinked servers).

2017

Mastodon starts to get media attention and is described by some as a “Twitter Killer.”

In April 2017, the administrator, nullkal, created the first Japanese server, mstdn.jp, in his apartment. The news went viral, and the server had tens of thousands of new accounts within a few days.

2018

In May 2018, after new laws were passed in the US, Assembly Four founded switter.at, a Mastodon server for sex workers. It grew quickly to over 400,000 accounts. (Note: The site shut down on Mar. 14, 2022, due to legal pressures.)

Sept. 5, 2018, Mastodon version 2.5 was released. It is the 100th version of the software.

On Oct. 6, 2018, Mastodon celebrated its second anniversary. The network had grown to 1,627,557 registered users, with Mastodon instances running on 3,460 independently-administrated servers.

Mastodon servers are part of the federated network and connect to other servers using ActivityPub, a decentralized social media networking protocol.

Media coverage includes:

2019

Apr. 10, 2019, Mastodon 2.8 released.

2021

Rochko formed Mastodon gGmbH as a German nonprofit organization. The first annual report for Mastondon says he was still living with his parents, working 14 hours per day, and earning about 2,400 Euros per month from Patreon supporters.

Mar. 29, 2021, Mastodon for Android beta version released.

Nov. 3, 2021, Mastodon iOS, iPad beta version released.

2022

Patreon support increased to around $33,000 per month from over 9,000 Patreon supporters. The support pays for six software developers.

Mar. 30, 2022, Mastodon 3.5 released.

Apr. 21, 2022, official iOS and Android apps were released.

The latest stable Mastodon 4.0.2 release was in November 2022.

In October 2022, when Elon Musk took over Twitter, some users went to Mastodon. There were 230,000 new Mastodon users in the first week of November and one million more by mid-December.

On Dec. 20, 2022, Twitter suspended the join Mastodon account and blocked anyone on Twitter from sharing Mastodon links. Musk said he wanted to promote free speech by buying Twitter.

Rochko said, “This is a stark reminder that centralized platforms can impose arbitrary and unfair limits on what you can and can’t say. The future of social media doesn’t have to belong to a billionaire; it can be in the hands of its users.”

Conclusion

Mastodon has approximately 2.5 million users compared to 300 million on Twitter. Mastodon is an interesting new way to develop a social media platform. The Mastodon interface is not as user-friendly as it could be. The posts are only organized by a timeline, so there is no way to gain much viral traction. It can be quite good for chatting with a close-knit group of friends and family if you set up a server.

There is a long way to go for Mastodon to be anywhere close to a Twitter Killer. Maybe some of the 3,600+ fired Twitter employees can now join the Mastodon open-source software programming effort.

Why Local Journalism Is So Important

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News that is reliable, relevant, and informative is necessary to educate people about issues, policies, and decisions that impact their lives. According to the Brookings Institution in Washington, DC, the absence of local journalism is at crisis levels. For many Americans, there simply is no local news outlet for them to rely on for information. For 65 million more, they have just one local news outlet.

The increasing lack of local journalism diminishes the public’s knowledge. People now turn to social media or national mainstream media to get the nationalized version of the news. This trend creates a poorly-informed citizenry, and these systems may manipulate the gullible.

Social Media

The problem with social media is that the main goal is to get users addicted to the systems and not necessarily to publish the facts, improve communication, or cover local interests. Sensational misinformation gets more attention.

Mainstream Media and Corporate Agendas

A review of the Harvard Business School May 2021 report on the mainstream media in the U.S. shows the concentration of ownership. When a national conglomerate owns the local station and the corporation controls the news programming, the company may advance a corporate agenda to impact national decisions with little attention paid to localized information.

The news anchors at all of these stations read the same news stories that come down from the corporate headquarters. See this example of the local news anchors all reading the same story on Sinclair stations. Sinclair is the largest owner of local stations.

Local News Matters

In small towns and rural areas, local journalists are responsible for disseminating news that has meaning for residents. Local news matters, as it may be the only way to access public information needed by community members.

When local journalism functions well, it encourages political, economic, and social participation by those impacted by the decisions made by the municipal, county, and state governments.

Trustworthiness of Local Journalists

Most people place more trust in local journalists compared to national news sources. This trustworthiness may improve if the local journalists are active in the community and considered contributing members.

Many Americans believe powerful individuals and organizations are not held accountable for their actions. Local journalists combat this perception by being transparent about potential conflicts of interest and neutral about issues while presenting the information in their reports.

The Benefits of Local Journalism

A powerful local story may break to a national level and spread awareness about an important issue. Local news celebrates the achievements of a community.

Local journalism supports community needs through activism. Local journalists may be considered heroes by the residents when fighting for the community by taking on corruption.

Local journalism is no longer about printed newspapers. The valuable, informative purpose of local journalism is easy to manifest online. News sharing through social media is effective when focused on a local level as a community news service.

If you lack a local news service, why not set up one as a nonprofit and work with volunteers? If a high school can publish an online newsletter, so can any community.

Conclusion

Creating and supporting a system to publish relevant local news benefits the community. Local journalism allows news coverage to focus on important topics for community members. What is missing? There are fewer instances of local journalism holding local government to account or examples of local news covering local issues to help make some kind of improvement.

How to Balance a Chemical Equation

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A foundational skill in the field of chemistry, balancing chemical equations is essential to understanding chemical reactions. The atoms and molecules of chemicals often recombine into other molecules. Chemical equations show this recombination using the symbols of various periodic elements and their numerical amounts.

For example, the burning of propane to create water and carbon dioxide can be depicted as: C3H8 + O2 H2O + CO2. Representing a transformative chemical change, the arrow symbol in this chemical equation acts very much like the equal sign (=) in the traditional mathematical equation.

Because matter cannot be created or destroyed, chemical equations must contain the same number of atoms on each side. You can use different techniques to balance a simple chemical equation, but a traditional balancing process takes just a few steps.

1. Record the number of atoms for each element

Elements without a subscript exist as a single atom. Otherwise, the subscript indicates the number of atoms for that element. Using the provided chemical equation as your guide, record the number of atoms for each element. First, do this for the left (pre-change) side of the equation. Then, do it for the right (post-change) side of the equation. To balance the equation C3H8 + O2 H2O + CO2, you should list C=3, H=8, and O=2 for the left side and C=3, H=2, and O=7 for the right side. It may be helpful to list this information in two vertical columns so that each element sits beside its counterpart on the other side of the equation.

2. Save the most common elements for last

With your two coordinated columns in place, you are ready to add coefficients to balance your equation. However, you should approach this process strategically. For easier balancing, you will want to save extremely common elements, such as hydrogen and oxygen, for last. Because hydrogen and oxygen are present in so many molecules, you are quite likely to encounter them on both sides of your equation.       

 3. Start with single elements

Check your chemical equation for single elements that have no subscripts. If you find any, this is the best place to start the balancing process. Begin with any single elements that appear on both sides of the equation and then move on to those that appear on one side or the other. In the case of C3H8 + O2 H2O + CO2, you should balance the single carbon atom first.

4. Use coefficients to balance your equation

Because there are three carbon atoms on the left side of the equation C3H8 + O2 H2O + CO2 and there is only a single carbon atom on the right, you must add a coefficient of 3 to the right side in order to balance this element. To record this coefficient, place it in front of the carbon dioxide (CO2) molecule to triple it. Now that you have three carbon dioxide molecules, you not only have a total of 3 carbon atoms on the right side of your equation, but you have increased the total number of oxygen atoms to 7. With your carbon atoms balanced at 3 on both sides of your equation, you are now ready to move on to your hydrogen atoms. Because you can add coefficients but never change molecular subscripts, you must add a coefficient of 4 to your water (H2O) molecule on the right side of your equation. Now you are balanced with 8 hydrogen atoms on both sides. However, you must also add three oxygen atoms to the right side of your equation to make a total of 10. Finally, you must balance the number of oxygen atoms in your equation. This means adding a coefficient of five to the oxygen (O2) on the left side of your equation. Now, every element on both sides of your equation has an equal number of atoms!

How To Find The Best Work From Home Opportunities: 5 Tips

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Working from home is a growing trend, and a lot of people want to jump on the bandwagon. You get to eliminate a daily commute, work in comfort, and hopefully have a little more freedom over your work life.

It’s an enticing prospect, but finding good work-from-home jobs is not always easy. 

The five tips below can help you in your search.

Pay for Help

There are professional resources that vet jobs for you, and some of them specifically cater to working from home.

At the top of the list is FlexJobs. Everybody in the work-from-home industry swears by them because they’re that good. The job listings are vetted so that you know they are real jobs, and they’re organized on the site to help you find them.

You do have to pay a subscription fee while you use the site, but it’s well worth the investment.

Outside of FlexJobs, there are other resources like Indeed. Feel free to use them too, but FlexJobs really is the best place to start (and no, they aren’t sponsoring this content).

Apply Scrutiny

If you aren’t getting your job listings from a professionally vetted source, then you’re going to need to stay on your toes. There are a lot of scams out there. There are even more dead job postings. Perhaps the jobs are filled and no one bothers to take down the post. Who knows the real reason, but the point is that you’ll run into tons of dead ends in your search.

Stay sharp and apply scrutiny. If something seems too good to be true, then you already know that it is. You won’t get rich overnight working from home. But, you might find a real job that pays an industry-standard wage.

Check Government Listings

You can also check job listings with very large companies (like Fortune 500 companies). They will have a constant stream of openings, but with government positions, there’s a consolidated master list. Not all jobs are remote, but you can use the filters built into the job search to save time. There’s even a section dedicated to working from home.

Start Your Own Business

This is a scary prospect, and anyone who says it’s easy or comes without risk is lying. No matter the venture, starting a business is risky and a lot of hard work.

But, if you pull it off, then this option gives you the most freedom and control over your work life, and it usually comes with the highest earnings potential.

Whatever your skill, you can run the business out of your home, be it web design, piano lessons, or anything else.

If you’re risk averse, then start with a side hustle. Try to take on a few local clients and work from home part-time. You can transition into full-time business ownership when you’re ready.

Use Social Media

Job hunting is all about networking, and that’s still true when you want to work from home. Use Facebook, Twitter,  and anything else in your repertoire. Make a post asking your contacts if they know of any job openings. Your friends and family will report back to you with anything they find.

Additionally, many local businesses have social media pages. You can inquire about work opportunities directly. Get on their Facebook pages and Twitter accounts and ask about job openings and working from home.

You can apply these same ideas if you are starting your own business. You can ask friends and family for referrals. You can also solicit businesses via their social media pages and try to land them as clients.

Which Careers Will Still Be Viable In 20 Years?

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The world can change pretty fast. Think back to 20 years ago. How different were things? How much have careers changed in that time?

When you’re trying to plan for the long-term, there’s a lot to consider. In terms of career viability, there are two primary concerns: society and technology. Technology will change every single job in the next 20 years, and automation is likely to make many jobs disappear. It’s important to know which jobs will still be around.

Similarly, society is going to change. The things people care about can shift. Economies will certainly adapt and evolve. Which careers get left behind? Which ones stay viable?

Predicting the future is always a challenge, but there are four types of jobs that are definitely here to stay.

Health Care

Health care is probably the most stable and reliable industry in the world right now. Certainly, techniques and technologies will change over the next 20 years, but one way or another, people will still need health care, and there will be people attached to providing it.

In fact, health care is expected to expand as an industry over the next 20 years. Part of this is because the population is still growing, and at the same time, the population is getting older too. That means more health care demand all around.

On top of that, healthcare technology is rapidly advancing. You might think that automation puts people out of jobs, but in some cases (like health care), it actually increases the amount of work being done. Computer systems and advanced artificial intelligence can assist doctors in diagnosing issues and prescribing care, but they are nowhere near replacing human beings in hospitals and clinics. If anything, healthcare providers are expanding, including more technology jobs alongside traditional roles like nurses and doctors. For the foreseeable future, health care is the place to be for a stable career.

Trades

Trades usually refer to jobs that involve skilled labor. Carpenters, welders, x-ray technicians, and countless other skilled jobs fit into this category. If it requires a certification but not necessarily a degree, it’s probably a trade.

Why are trades going to remain viable in the next 20 years?

These jobs are the hardest to automate. By all means, trades see advances in technology like any other field, but most of those tools are designed to assist skilled labor rather than replace it. Simply put, it’s hard to write a computer program that can fix your plumbing, and skilled robots are still a lot more expensive than skilled labor. So, trade skills live in a perfect region where they will benefit from technology rather than be replaced by it.

More importantly, trades are recession-proof. No matter what happens with society, people still need access to essential skills.

Engineering

Engineering is in a particularly good place right now. Who do you think is going to design all of the artificial intelligence and robots that are set to replace so many jobs? 

As technology advances, engineers become even more important. In a sense, engineering is really becoming an advanced trade. We increasingly need people with the right skills and knowledge to fix complicated technology. More importantly, the demand for new and improved technology is only increasing. Engineers sit at the heart of it all, and they have some of the brightest career prospects as a result.

Military

As much as we all like the idea of peace and stability, it’s unlikely that humanity will resolve all conflicts over the next 20 years. That means that professional soldiers will remain a part of most societies. It’s not a career that appeals to everyone, but it will certainly be viable in the future.

You might think that automation is a threat to military careers, but that’s not exactly right. The first autopilot flight happened in 1912, yet autopilot technology has never taken a single job away from a pilot. Even unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) still have a human pilot; they just fly remotely. This is the nature of modern military technology. The jobs are definitely changing, but the necessity of military services isn’t going away. The tasks you might do in the military in 20 years could change dramatically, but you’ll still have a career.

How To Find Out Your Learning Style

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Have you heard of the four learning styles? It’s an educational theory that suggests some people learn better through different methods. The four styles are visual, auditory, verbal (as in reading/writing words), and kinetic (or hands-on). Additional theories add subcategories to these learning styles, but it’s all based on the same core idea.

If you can figure out which learning style tends to work best for you, then you can cater to that preference and learn new things faster and easier.

Of course, you need to actually know which style suits you, but that doesn’t have to be a monumental quest. In fact, there are only really four things you need to know to figure out your learning style and make good use of it.

#1 Your Learning Style Changes

Let’s start with the bad news. Your learning style can change over time. More than that, it can change depending on the topic. There’s a very good chance that you learn how to do math very differently from how you learn to change a tire.

That’s perfectly normal and natural, but it means that you can’t just figure this out once and be done for the rest of your life. Every time you run into a learning-based challenge, you’ll want to think about your learning style for that specific topic.

#2 You Can Take an Assessment

Now for the good news. For the most part, you’ll probably favor one style more than the others. Naturally, everyone is different, and there are people who don’t really favor any style. But, most people have a preference, and there are plenty of free assessment tests that can help you figure yours out.

The assessment will ask around 20 questions. It won’t take very long, and when it’s done, it will recommend a learning preference for you. They’re fairly accurate, and they’re a great place to start. You can more or less assume that you’ll learn anything according to your preference, and then you just need to deal with exceptions to your own style when they arise.

#3 Nothing Beats Trial and Error

If you want to be truly thorough, then you can test your own learning style. The key is to focus on things that can be scored.

Here’s an example. Say you want to learn to code. You can find online tutorials, and they appeal to different learning styles. You can watch a video, read a lesson, try a hands-on tutorial, or listen to a lecture. Once you’re done, you can take a test and see how you score.

Try out different learning methods, and see which gives you the best score. That way, you’re directly measuring how you learn, and that will illuminate your preference.

Keep in mind that this is only really necessary for topics that give you a hard time. If you’re a visual learner, and visual displays are teaching you how to code just fine, then you can stick with what works.

#4 You Can Combine Learning Styles

Perhaps the most important thing to understand about your learning style is that it’s not a disability. You might favor learning by listening, but that doesn’t prohibit you from visual, verbal, or hands-on learning. You can actually do all of it.

By all means, you should cater to your style and try to learn in ways that are comfortable. But, you can actually enhance the learning process by adding the other styles. This is why classrooms use auditory lectures, visual aids, verbal instructions, and hands-on practice. The most effective learning happens when you pile learning styles on top of each other. 

Your preference forms the core, but the other learning styles still contribute to your success.

5 Beginner Tips for Making Awesome Music with a Sequencer

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While the best instrumentalists in the world can play with incredible precision, none can approach the incredibly reliable timing of a sequencer. This is because music sequencers are fully programmable in the same way that you can program a computer.

In fact, modern sequencers ARE computers: incredibly complex digital machines that allow you to play virtually any musical or rhythmic patterns or “sequences” of sonic elements. If you have your sequencer set up appropriately, you can play your chosen combination of notes, rhythmic elements, effects, and articulations with the touch of a button or a click of a mouse.

There are many sequencer types and designs on the market today. Although some models are specifically geared toward beginners, even the simplest of sequencers can be quite intimidating, particularly to people who might be less musically and/or technologically inclined. But, by following the five tips below, even total newcomers to the sequencer can begin making a beautiful racket in no time!

1. Choose the Right Sequencer/Synth Connection

Fortunately, most music sequencers are compatible with most other forms of synthesizer-based instruments and computer hardware. In fact, users can generally choose among many different ways to connect sequencers to synth. Software sequencers that operated entirely on a computer or mobile device are generally quite easy to connect to any synth device. Depending on their age and specific brand, hardware sequencers commonly link to synths and other devices via MIDI, CV, or USB interfaces. While all of these interfaces allow you to faithfully carry pitch, rhythm, articulation, and other defining aspects of sequencer music creation, a 3.5mm CV jack can give precise voltage control to further modulate auditory signals.

2. Use Sequencer Knobs Rather Than Your Mouse

If a software sequencer has any knobs to speak of, they will be virtual in nature and appear only on your computer screen. Many hardware sequencers that connect to a computer allow you to choose between making adjustments on-screen or with a series of physical knobs, switches, and buttons. Most beginners tend to appreciate the tactile nature of turning a physical knob and find that “turning” knobs with a mouse and keyboard is far less intuitive. When you hear your musical sequences changing in real time under the influence of your fingertips, it can be quite creatively empowering.

3. Create Melody and Harmony with Pitch

Although different sequencers may come with radically different features, nearly all of them allow you to program them for pitch. The relative highness or lowness of a note, pitch allows you to create melodies and harmonies. Try placing different notes in different orders to craft a melody. Try programming two or more congruous notes at the same time to create harmonies.

4. Create Rhythmic Timing with Gate or Trigger

The related elements of gate and trigger are even more essential than pitch when it comes to sequencer operation. Applicable to both musical notes and atonal percussion, gate refers to the amount of time in any sequencer program that is “open” to a particular sound. Triggers are the specific points in time that various gates open. Every time you program a sound, your sequencer places gate and trigger signals to launch that sound and subsequently terminate it.

5. Create Sound Texture with Modulation

To create true works of music art, sequencer users must augment the primary elements of pitch and gate with secondary elements such as modulation. Without modulation, musicians simply can’t get the specific timbres, textures, and other sonic qualities that give music so much of its emotional import and primal power. Often controlled by a mod wheel, a touch pad, or a series of knobs, modulation changes sound with effects such as vibrato and phasing.

How To Compose A Formal Complaint Letter that Gets Results

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You should assert yourself when companies provide inferior experiences. But you must keep the goal of a complaint letter in mind. Here’s how to compose a formal complaint letter to get desired results.

1. When to Write a Formal Complaint

A formal complaint is only necessary after you’ve given customer service an opportunity to correct the issue. It is an escalated attempt to right a wrong against you and/or prevent others from a similar experience.

2. Commit to Brevity

You have so many things this company could have done better. But over-explaining begins to sound like a rant. Others will tune you out.

A formal complaint allows you to perfect how and what you communicate. Outline your main points. Prioritize to keep the focus on what’s important. Omit unnecessary sidebars. 

3. Gather Important Information

Provide everything needed to follow up rather than expecting them to dig for it. Certain facts are essential to understanding the problem and potentially preventing it from happening to others.

  • Serial numbers 
  • Model numbers
  • Membership account number (when applicable)
  • Dates
  • Place of purchase
  • What’s wrong
  • When the problem started (1st use, three months later)
  • Names of people involved (if you have them) or descriptions
  • Date/time/names when you spoke with customer service
  • Documentation (screenshots, receipts, email chains, etc.)

4. State What You Want

Do you want a refund, exchange, or replacement parts? An apology? Rather than have the complaints department guess what would make you happy, tell them. 

5. Establish a Reasonable Timeline

Unlike a quick chat with customer care online, a formal complaint may take longer to consider. Set reasonable deadline expectations for resolving this issue.

6. Is This a Consumer Safety Issue

In some cases, you may alert them to serious danger. If you have a genuine concern for the safety of others, you may also want to contact the agencies that review product safety in your area. In the U.S., that might be:

Try to resolve something with the company first. Wield this power responsibly.

7. Make an Effective Case

Some issues have no simple solution. Remember, formal complaints will reach people who can recommend change within a company. You’re trying to make something happen that isn’t happening.

Legally speaking, the burden of proof is always on the plaintiff (you). You’re the one who has to make the case, not them.

8. Take Emotion Out of It

You may feel anger, betrayal, or loss. These will cloud your judgment.

If you’re thinking “I’ll show them how it’s done” or “why are they so stupid?”, that sense of superiority is ego. The ego rarely aligns with reality. Being egotistical is not an effective way to get someone to listen to you.

Avoid sarcasm which can be misunderstood to mean the opposite—especially in writing. Try to set all of these aside in favor of constructive communication.

9. Don’t Threaten

Be nice until it’s time not to be nice anymore. The person getting the letter probably isn’t the one who harmed you. They deserve to be treated humanely.

Try to get them on your side rather than jumping to threats of legal action and contacting agencies. These kinds of “threats” should be reserved for subsequent letters if the first gets no response or inadequate response. Even then, follow the above tips.