The statistic in chapter 6 states that the United States ranks 45th out of 180 countries in media constraints, which I found a bit surprising, but not at the same time, given the current political climate of the country. I feel people still love to say this is the most democratic country, but this statistic is pretty alarming (although it could be worse). #so315

The statistic provided within the text that 62.17% of American media was owned by the 10 largest companies in 2023 really puts into perspective how easy it is for some people's stories and entertainment wants to overshadow others. It also made me personally reconsider how I view the media industry, since I thought there were more "bigger players"/conglomerates. I wonder if this percentage has increased or decreased now. #so315

While listening to "Starving the Watchdog", I found myself relating because my family used to also get our local newspapers for years, but we cancelled it about 3-4 years ago due to all the information just being covered on local news or somewhere like Facebook for free. Newspapers now just have a nostalgic feel to them, which is surprising to me because I always remember looking through them as a child. #so315

I found the quote about how the most successful online media outlets are the ones that collect the "best", or most invasive data, to be troubling, and it honestly had me thinking about my presence online and how I don't usually go into the TOS on an app/site when I definitely should start to. Even then, I wonder if a company would fully/truly disclose information about data collection in the TOS. #so315

The mantra referenced in chapter 3, "if it bleeds, it leads," is said to be old, but I believe this still feels like an extremely popular mantra for news outlets and media today. Most of the stuff we see when the news is on oftentimes consists of violence, hate, and too many times death/murders. These methods of reporting may get the most engagement, but they can be seriously harmful and desensitizing for the receivers of the news and society. #so315

It seems that Facebook didn't hold up very well to Zuckerberg's goal of making the world more "open and connected," in my opinion, since it mainly seems to consist of misinformation and harmful political discourse that causes further disconnect/divide. In my experience, Facebook news/information is much less likely to have reliable sources than other social media apps/programs. #so315

It was very interesting to me how Facebook was originally designed to be a small app for college students, and it transformed into the large media platform we now recognize it as today. This reminded me of our discussion in class about how technology/apps can be made for one purpose, but once released to the public, they could spiral into something completely different than what the creators intended. This makes me wonder who holds the most blame, the creators or receivers? #so315

While reading both of these articles, I kept finding it interesting that the younger generations are typically more likely to believe the information and news they see on social media and outlets, because, while taking my survey, I found I didn't really trust many of the news media, which is at odds with the generation. I just felt like since we grew up with more modern forms of technology and the Internet, we would be more critical of our news and information than older generations. #so315

I think it's alarming that young adults' attention to news has dropped since 2016, and we have been proven to follow the news less closely than any other age group, since current events and news are most likely going to have the most lasting effects on us. The young generation must start to actually pay attention to the news and not just social media, if we want to have a say in how our future will turn out, in my opinion. #so315

I think the part on page 6 that discusses how, when new technology emerges, new choices need to be made regarding its purpose, development, and organization, is relevant today because of the rise and transformation we are seeing of generative AI. There is a continuing debate on what AI should and shouldn't be used for, as well as the consequences of using it. #so315