On August 22nd, 2023 I recorded my online habits for the day. The purpose of this 24-Hour Media Diet assignment for course MCO427 is to locate misinformation across natural sources of media over the course of a typical day. I set out to find these posts in the wild, through my phone. On a Monday.
10:00am – I rise and promptly hit snooze. I notice that my insurance company has emailed me while I have been sleeping.
10:15am – As I sit down to eat breakfast, I unsubscribe from receiving further insurance marketing emails. They are sorry to see me unsubscribe. I delete the most recently sent email regarding how to achieve my best personal health. I don’t doubt my insurance company but I also do not take unsolicited health advice from advertisements.
Sanrio has also emailed me about a collaboration with Bumkins, which is not relevant to my interests – but is based in Phoenix! I click the link anyway. The advertisement link leads to the kids clothing & shoes section of the site.
11am – 4pm – While at work, I am surrounded by advertisements for drinks and Spotify playlists play in the background. My phone sits patiently in my bag, waiting to be used.
5:15pm – State Farm makes an attempt at being relatable via Snapchat advertisement during dinner. The ad displays a woman swinging a cloth napkin above her head while at a dining table, with the caption “TFW you get affordable insurance.”
This statement is not valid in my personal experience. The company has both called and emailed me several times with rates that do not match up to others on the market and is outside of my budget.
As my intent was to view stories, the advertisement appearing within minutes of launching Snapchat caused me to promptly close it.
5:30pm – With an interest in home repair, I watch a YouTube short about restoring the tile of a bathroom. @TheYorks channel is dedicated to DIY home restoration and I trust their judgement. To do my due diligence, however, I located a similar impregnator sealer used in the video and verified the reviews on the Home Depot website. It appears this is an excellent product.
5:45pm – As I was finishing dinner, a YouTube short of how to take lemonade to the next level surfaced. Online, Jordan Howlett is known for producing extremely useful or fun facts about life. I found this recipe all over the internet to verify it’s good. There is no misinformation here.
7:00pm – For background noise, I listen to the channel @HigherMind9 of Bashar Channeling session, where it is said that an extraterrestrial being is being channeled through a human host. At the 15:12 mark of the video, it is said that a space craft is docked, “…above Bell Rock in your Sedona area.”
As I don’t know quite how to feel about this, I completed a little research to discover this article discussing an alternative perspective. On Sedona Red Rock News, Andrew Pardiac discusses another reason why this specific mountain feels energetically different in the area. The article states no scientific evidence supporting vortexes in the area.
8:00pm – Giving Snapchat another chance, I see an ad for Kiehl’s Truly targeted acne-clearing solution. After a quick Google search, I find the company truly has been around since 1851 according to the National Library of Medicine.
Yahoo News found this product to be one of the first of its kind. The site itself gives the product a 4.4 rating that also carries on over at Sephora, so it checks out.
9:30pm – Before logging off for the night, I browse Reddit and happen upon an energy drink promotion that sounds way too good to be true. Buy two Rockstar Energy drinks and get your money back? A very long bunny trail and even deeper rabbit hole finally led me to the terms and conditions where I validated this to be an official promotion.
I have come to realize that my bubble on the internet is very small. Prior to this assignment, I believed I had many sources of information coming to me to receive a well rounded idea of what is current online. Now, I understand that I am only viewing a very small fraction of media – so small and personalized that I barley even have a shot at seeing misinformation because of my interests.
To keep peace of mind, I typically avoid polarizing topics on the internet. I know this course will provide valuable insight on how to protect myself from misinformation when broadening my interests online.
Balliace 