According to an article I read on NPR, Esports are becoming more and more mainstream. Competitive video games currently dominate the online gaming community, with many games such as League of Legends and Overwatch having their own professional leagues where teams compete against one another for millions of dollars in prize money. One statistic in this article that I found particularly interesting is that Esports are the third most watched sports league in the U.S, behind the NFL and NBA (Chris Greely — Esports Commissioner — via NPR). 

As a gamer myself, one thing that fascinates me about the growing popularity of esports is how much other gamers want to watch these live streams and competitions. A large difference between esports and other professional sports like football and basketball is that people interested in esports can actually play the games themselves from the comfort of their own home, but sometimes will still choose to watch a live stream on Twitch or another platform. If I’m at home looking for something to do or watch, I oftentimes would much rather play the game myself rather than watch someone else play it. However, I do love to see my favorite games getting more public recognition and love that more people are becoming aware of and involved with the video gaming community. I think that if esports leagues find a way to be more inclusive of non-gamers and women, and discover ways to make events more accessible, esports and the online gaming community in general will both see an increase in popularity. With Esports continually rising in popularity, what might the future of sports television and events look like in the future?

Source:
https://www.npr.org/2020/01/31/801353864/esports-evangelists-want-to-bring-gaming-to-a-broader-audience

An article I read recently on FOX News relayed a warning from the FBI that technology is playing a large role in making job scams easier to pull off. According to the report done by the FBI, cybercriminals are posting fake job openings and then, while posing as employers, conduct fake interviews with victims during which they request personal information such as social security numbers, driver’s licenses, and banking information. Once this data is collected, the “personally identifiable information can then be used to take over the victim’s financial accounts, open new accounts, or be used to parlay the victim’s identity into another scam such as obtaining a fake passport” (FBI via FOX News). As a junior in college who is actively looking for internships and will soon be looking for post-grad jobs, I found this article to be particularly alarming. In the past when I have begun a new job, it was typical for my employer to ask for my personal identity information. But, as FOX News and the FBI bring to light in this article, that information is typically requested after the new employee is hired, not during the interview. While many of these job scams likely do not come without obvious warning signs, I will definitely be more cautious during my job search now that I am aware of this rising issue. 

https://www.foxnews.com/tech/jobs-scams-technology-fbi-warns