Nayla R's Learning Journal

Reading the articles about social media trends was very interesting. In the coming year, I think that social media will continue to shorten our attention spans because Tiktok will continue to rise in popularity and short-form videos are being preferred by algorithms on social media platforms like Instagram. As for Meta, I am not the hugest fan.  It sounds like the beginning to sci-fi dystopian movies like Ready Player One . I'm also not a huge fan of anything that further separates people from reality. Although I love social media, the internet and technology, I acknowledge that it has an effect on the real world. It hinders conversations and keeps us from looking up. Meta seems like something that would only further complicate things. Yes, you can go see a concert in the Metaverse with your favorite artist in front of you, but why not see it in real life? To me, it wouldn’t feel the same as seeing them at an actual concert. Seeing Ariana Grande in the Metaverse is the same as seei...

Reading Chapter 6 has given me more in-depth knowledge on topics I had previously known about. I found it very interesting how much goes on behind the scenes for companies that are trying to grow on social media.  While companies "want visitors to respond to each post" they "also seek higher levels of engagement through liking comments of others and making comments" of their own (Lipschultz 2021).  Reading page 165 specifically made me think of interactions I see happening online everyday. Companies use "trendy" words and try to speak like they are human, and not a corporation. Social media has made these companies decide to speak informally and like they are our friend (probably to make us feel they are more "relatable"). I always found it to be cringe-worthy and very strange.  It also highlights how social media has changed the landscape for things in the real world.  Another interesting part to this reading was the statistics on social media i...

 For this time diary, I chose to track my usage of Instagram. I used "Screen Time" on my iPhone to track my usage over 4 days (since I only use Instagram on my phone). I prefer to use Instagram on my phone because it's more user-friendly and I can use it while I'm out. Since it is supposed to be a mostly mobile app, the website version lacks many features. I decided to track from Wednesday to Saturday (as seen below).  Wednesday - 41 minutes Thursday - 51 minutes Friday - 16 minutes Saturday - 1 hour 6 minutes  I tend to use Instagram in short 5-10 minute periods throughout the day. But, my most frequent usage is at night around 8pm-12am. This is because it's usually the time I get to relax and everything slows down. The time of semester usually does not affect my usage. The only time would be when I have many essays or readings to do during a short period of time. My screen time will decrease and my most frequent hours of usage moves into the daytime. Rather than...

Media is any medium used for mass entertainment, information, promotion and/or communication. This can include radio, newspapers, television and the internet. Social networking are online platforms used to interact with others and create both interpersonal and parasocial relationships. I currently used Tiktok, Instagram, Reddit, Twitter, Pinterest and YouTube. I use all of these sites for entertainment and documenting the parts of my life that I choose to show.  Pinterest and Twitter are not sites that I use daily, so I don't use them that frequently. Reddit and Tiktok are great for mindlessly scrolling and getting lost, so they are used multiple times a week. Instagram and YouTube are used almost daily for me (with YouTube definitely taking the lead). I do not watch many TV shows (or anything that would be on cable). YouTube has been my main source for TV-like content for years.  The only social media sites that have any affect on my emotions are Tiktok, Instagram and YouTube...

I thought that the We Are Data  reading was both eye-opening and just as I expected. I've always felt that there were creepy undertones to social media (and the internet in general) but this further validates that. The reading mentions how ignorant Internet users are to how their data is used. I would argue the opposite. While we may not know exact specifics, a lot of us know. We are aware of how invasive technology is. The issue is that it is so woven into our lives that it feels almost impossible to avoid the exploitation of our lives. It almost feels like a toxic relationship. I know that if I want to be on the internet, use my GPS or majority of the functions on my phone/laptop, I have to take part in this. It creates a love-hate relationship with the Internet, where I find myself critiquing the system while being a part of it. I've previously used the feature talked about on page 6 (www.google.com/ads/preferences) and was relieved how incorrect my identifications were. I t...

After all my time on social media, I have definitely developed some do's and don'ts. I don't tag my location too often, I don't record every perfect moment for the sake of posting it and I don't believe everything I see. I do spend time away from social media and I do try to keep an environment that makes me feel good (ex. curating a following and feed that's good for me). When I first started using social media, I used Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. This was the period of time where everyone was posting everything, no matter how simple (since social media was newer and exciting). Everything wasn't so heavily doctored or edited. So, I would post a random cup of coffee, selfies and tweet what I was doing. I used to always have a Snapchat story and record every funny or entertaining moment. I now use Instagram, Twitter and Tiktok.  I'm more thoughtful about pictures of myself or my life than I was as a preteen. This means I pay more attention to angles, ...

Hello everyone! My name is Nayla and I am a Communications major. I've moved around a lot, so I don't really feel like I'm from anywhere. But, I currently live in Tampa! I love food and have made it my mission to try every food truck and random restaurant in Tampa. Additionally, photography is one of my favorite hobbies and I love music. As a result, I have very specific playlists and try to learn how to produce as much as I can.  As far as professional experience goes, I've worked a few part-time jobs. This includes retail jobs (always fun and never chaotic around the holidays) and food-related jobs. My favorite social media app is either YouTube or TikTok. I often find YouTube videos to be more interesting than actual TV. TikTok caters to what I'm interested in (the for you page), so I could scroll for hours.  This isn't my first time creating a blog. I used to have a blog for a short time when I was around 12. I created it to be like someone I looked up to wh...