Brooke Meadows's Learning Journal

  This week we were assigned to read Social Media Metrics and Analytics. I think this chapter relates well with the “We Are Data” reading. The reading discussed several topics; all including the usage of data over social media sites. I found it particularly interesting that monetization in social media has promoted companies to seek out more different types of data; it really exposes some ulterior motives in advertising. “..."monetization has meant that increasing amounts of data are seen by companies…" (Lipschultz, n.d.) I believe that companies have far too much access to personal information as well as data when it comes to what they utilize when making their advertisements. It is incredibly unethical to sell personal information as well as to seek it out as means of manipulation. There is a huge lack of transparency when it comes to data collection and storage. Majority of the people that utilize the internet are not fully aware of everything that is being done with their...

     For this time diary assignment, I tracked my cell phone usage over February 16th to February 19th. In particular, how often I use social media. On Thursday February 16th, I spent 6 hours and 11 minutes on my phone, with 5 hours and 14 minutes of that time being spent on social media. The social media app that I used most often was Snapchat, with a total of 3 hours and 17 minutes. On the 17th, I spent 2 hours and 45 minutes on Snapchat. On the 18th, I spent 2 hours and 14 minutes on Snapchat. Finally, on the 19th, I spent 1 hour and 11 minutes on Snapchat. I solely use Snapchat on my personal cell phone, I never use it on another piece of equipment.       Additionally, I notice that I also primarily use Snapchat in the evenings as opposed to other times of the day. I think this can be attributed to the fact that I have the most down time in the evenings, as well as the fact that this is the time that I like to talk to my friends (sometimes, through...

       Social media is a way for people to stay connected and express themselves through their posts. This allows people to communicate with each other from thousands of miles away and share experiences along the way. Currently, the forms of social media that I use are Snapchat, Instagram, TikTok, and Youtube. Although these applications have similar features, I use them all for different purposes. I use Snapchat as one of my main forms of communication and I use it daily. I have group chats with my friends on Snapchat and I also will snap them individually. It is a very casual app so there is no pressure to have a theme to your posts. I use Instagram much less frequently, probably closer to two times a week. Instagram seems less casual to me, therefore, I will only post my best pictures on my main Instagram account. However, I do have a second account that I keep private so that I can post things that are more true to my personal life that my friends have access to....

I found John Cheney-Lippold’s We Are Data very intriguing. He went into great detail about the Internet, the companies that track our information, how the companies use this information, and what it means for us as individuals. I had not considered the perspective that he provided, especially when it came to the topics of celebrities. He explained that on the Internet, the word celebrity is not used in a literal sense, rather that a celebrity would be considered someone whose information is displayed more. “... Google isn’t really assessing “fame.” Google is creating its own proprietary version of it.” (Cheney-Lippold 2019) This ties into the entire idea of how our information is utilized in general. Although we often do not think about it every time we use a search engine or save an image, everything we do is tracked and stored. There is no such thing as privacy when it comes to the internet. This is why our internet experience is so curated to us as individuals; algorithms show us wh...

     Social media is fairly new in the grand scheme of time and technology. This makes it difficult for every single one of its users to be fully aware of the potential consequences of their posts. Personally, I feel as though everyone should set personal boundaries for what they are willing to share on social media to protect their privacy as well as their peace. There are some things in regards to social media that seem obvious such as not sharing your passwords and only following people that you personally know, but there are some things that people often do on social media that are not so obviously threatening to their safety. I choose not to post my location in real time so that I do not give out my current location to anyone that does not need to know that information. The safer option for me is to post once I leave. Additionally, I do not share too much personal information on my public accounts. It is also really important to be mindful of the content that you pos...

 Hi! My name is Brooke Meadows and I am a third year psychology major at USF. Originally, I am from Ocala, Florida, about an hour and a half north of Tampa. I thoroughly enjoy nature and doing any activity outside. I take any opportunity that I can to travel, and I particularly enjoy traveling on my own. Additionally, I have a great appreciation for higher education, so much so that USF is my fourth higher level education institution that I have attended. I also enjoy giving back to the community by working in education as a teacher's assistant, as well as volunteering my time to my church to assist with kid's camps. Previously, I worked in the fine dining industry but found that my passion was helping kids rather than serving in a retirement community. My favorite social media platform would have to be Snapchat. It is my most used social media platform due to the fact that this is how a majority of the people in my generation communicate with one another. This is also the app ...