Blog Entry #1

Blog Entry #1: My Media Use Over 24 Hours

7:00 - Wake up and check for any important text messages or work emails/Slacks, like always. There was nothing today, as everyone is gone for a conference and I'm in charge of the studio for the week. 

7:30 - I found this artist on TikTok, Chrissy, and went to the "Honey Bee Radio" on Spotify. She recently released a new album, which is where I found "Honey Bee" on. I like her music, as it's soft and she's a good story teller. It's a nice way to start the morning while I make breakfast. 

7:45 - I finished making breakfast: an english muffin with smoked salmon (this one is my favorite), mustard and mayo, spinach, and two eggs. I use the health app to track the number of calories and protein in my meals. 

8:30 - I just got out of the shower, where I continued to listen to the same radio. My boyfriend put me onto using Spotify radios and "moods" (just look a mood in the search bar, and Spotify will make a playlist that matches that). I like it a lot, because it's a fun way to discover new music. 

Above are a few examples of the "moods" or "vibes" option on Spotify. 

8:45 - Before leaving for work, my mom sent me this article about rubber and plastic in gum. Based on the headline, which really shared no information, I thought it was mostly fear-mongering. After reading the article, I realized it wasn't, and that it was just listing all the reasons that I've switched to pure xylitol gum, like this one. While the article didn't share misinformation, I was unimpressed with the flashy headline. 

9:00 to 5:00 - I really wasn't on my phone at all during this time, as there was tons of studio work to do. With everyone gone, I'm the only one managing the lab and processing any work, so I don't have much time to dilly dally. I did spend some time listening to this new podcast I found, Murder: True Crime Stories. I'm often not a fan of true crime podcasts, as I find a lot of them to be sensationalist and insensitive. However, I find the Carter Roy, the narrator, is relatively empathetic and puts lots of emphasis on who the victims were; not the killers (this article is a great example of why misinformation, especially surrounding the deaths of people can be harmful). I greatly appreciate how Roy takes the time to point out that we cannot truly know how anyone feels, and that we can only imagine. He wants listeners to be empathetic and understand that the stories he's sharing are real. I also appreciate how he takes the time to cite sources, especially when they disagree with one another. For example, in the episodes about H.H. Holmes, Roy cites two different books and authors and the differences that they hold. He also highlights when there is a lack of clarity in what happened, due to a lack of records or conflicting accounts. The podcast also has its own fact checker, who's mentined in the credits. While it's possible that Roy's podcast does contain misinformation, with all the precautions he takes, I believe it's relatively low and he tried his best to minimize it. 

5:30 - I'm now home, and responding to some work emails and Slacks. I sent out a class syllabus for a class I'm teaching, and responded to some student questions. 

6:00 - I'm headed to the gym, listening to Altarboy. Altarboy is a duo that I found when looking up the soundtrack to Baby, an Italian Netflix T.V. show. I watched this show years ago, and didn't pay much attention to what misinformation it could've held, as the story telling was great. While it's a drama, so I should be skeptical of the information in it, as a teenager, it was easy to romanticize the show and the realities that it was displaying. While this study is on K-Dramas, I think it applies to all shows that romanticize violence; especially in romance. This really reminded me of an article we read for class this week, which shows how people can be easily distracted from the truth when something is interesting. I think it can be particularly harmful for teenagers and young adults, especially with relationships, as it often takes experience and wisdom to understand why what's being displayed in a T.V. show isn't actually great. Euphoria is another great example of this. 

8:00 - I've now come home from the gym and showered. I hop on Instagram to look at meal ideas, and immediately regret it. One of the first posts to pop up is this one, which does not display a healthy diet (despite saying that it does). While the idea is correct, "80/20" to be 80% healthy and 20% whatever you want, none of the "meals" shown adhere to that. Upon further investigation, the lack of comments and likes on the posts, as well as the large variety of influencers, makes the account appear to be a scam. I still find the posts concerning, as this means that real influencers are also promoting this diet--this page is just capitalizing off of them. Social media has the ability to shape how people view themselves and what they eat, so this time of misinformation is extremely harmful. While I feel like I should take more action, with the amount of accounts on Instagram with diet misinformation, I feel I can do more good by discussing health among my family and friends. I can't fight Instagram diet culture all on my own. 

These photos are from the Instagram account in question, including some of the comments on said photos. 

10:00 - I look at the health app one more time to see how my fitness was and my nutrition intake for the day. I'm relatively satisfied with everything, so I settle in to read my book. Right now I'm starting The Te of Piglet by Benjamin Hoff. I think it'll be enjoyable to read alongside a podcast I'm listening to, Awakening from the Meaning Crisis by John Vervake. While I believe both the book and podcast have the best intention in mind, I do my best to look at other ideas when learning about philosophy and doing my own research too. I have yet to find misinformation in the book or podcast, and I hope that I won't, as I greatly enjoy both. 

What I Discovered: I noticed that I already am pretty vigilant about checking for misinformation; at least more vigilant than I thought. I saw less questionable content than I expected, but of the content that I did see, most of it was on Instagram. On the days I spend more time on TikTok (as I didn't at all today), I actually find that there's less misinformation. It could be because my TikTok algorithm is more catered towards me, so it shares mostly other book nerds, historians, and dietitians (who actually share healthy recipes with why they're healthy) like Nutrition by Kylie. I also have always been skeptical of Instagram influencers, so that's probably part of why I'm more inclined to fact check them. In terms of articles being shared, I almost always fact check them, regardless of who sent them. I've noticed that even when people I consider reliable share articles, there can be another side that's being completely disregarded (not necessarily their fault, either).