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Metrics and Analysis: Learning Journal 3

Chapter Reading This chapter reading talked about how paid advertising works in social media companies and how any digital information you have is worth a price. The scale of companies sharing information to help maximize targeted marketing was slightly surprising to me, but also something that I can see them needing to do. I have heard before that nothing in the world is ever truly free, and that is true in the case of social media. If companies like Facebook and Twitter did not advertise and sell information then they would not be making any money. I think that selling user information is not in itself cynical, but not being transparent about the information like Facebook is wrong on their part. TikTok has come under heavy fire for collecting information on its users, and since it is owned by a Chinese corporation the United States is even more concerned about it. Despite these claims, TikTok does have some transparency and allows users to request and download all the information Tik...
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Assignment 3

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Time Diary      When it comes to social media apps I like using TikTok the most. Because TikTok has short videos that are personalized for me I get a lot of funny videos that I want to watch. I tracked my TikTok usage for the week of February 12-18th. I use TikTok exclusively on my iPhone; TikTok does have a web version that can be used on a computer, but it was made for vertical use so the web version is not aesthetically pleasing.      From what the chart shows I can see that I use TikTok mainly during the day. Of the almost 15 hours spent during the week 11.5 of them were during the day. Looking back this makes sense because I use the app in the morning and between finishing homework assignments. The timing of my classes seems to influence my usage of TikTok the most. On Mondays, I have classes spread out during the day, so I spend more time scrolling through videos. On Thursday through Saturday I do not have classes, so that can explain the increased us...
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Metrics and Analytics: Learning Journal 2

  How our data is used      Society is at a point where we joke about how when we say something, we will get an ad for it later on our phones. If there were a time machine and we told people that computers we put in our pockets would be able to track our thoughts, locations, and voices they would think we are lying. The We Are Data reading touched on many topics about data collection that I found very insightful. I first found out about people's information being used and spyware on devices when Snowden first leaked information from the FBI about spying on people through their cellphones. This was breaking news back in 2013, and now people seem to be aware that things like this are still happening, but they do not care. The reading describes information as companies like Google taking as much as they can and making predictions about people based on that data. It is next to impossible to know what information about you is out there because "our algorithmic identity ch...
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Hands-On Assignment 2

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     When I think of media and social networking I think of websites like LinkedIn, Handshake, and Facebook. When I hear the word networking my brain assumes networking in a business sense, but networking takes place even when you follow someone on Instagram, posts for your friends, and in other casual forms of media. I define it as making connections with individuals either in-person or virtually for social or business reasons. The social networking apps and websites I use are Snapchat, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, and TikTok. All of these apps have a way of connecting with others and sharing content with people. I use LinkedIn specifically for networking and posting business accomplishments to build my portfolio, while the rest I use for casual and entertainment purposes.     I use all of my social networking apps often throughout the week. I spend the most hours on YouTube for entertainment purposes and learning how to do new things like video editi...
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My Thoughts on Social Media: LJ1

My personal do's and don'ts of social media      Social media has become a profound part of my and everyone else's lives in the past 20 years. According to Blogging Wizard, 53.6% of the global population uses social media. I have grown up surrounded by social media and seen the good and bad that it can do, so I use these learned experiences to influence how I use social media today. I have learned that posting milestone accomplishments or fun experiences can be good for both yourself and others. I also make sure that I do not spend too much time looking at social media; it is good in moderate usage, but if you continually use social media it can become bad for your mental health. The rule that I follow the most is not to post anything that you would not be comfortable seeing in the news. Words can be taken out of context and once you post anything online it is there forever.  How I used social media     Although social media was around since I was born, I d...
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Welcome to my blog!

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 Hello everyone, This is the first of many blog posts for my Information & Social Media course. To start, I will give a little background of myself and some fun facts to get to know me better. About Me My name is Jackson Baumgartner and I am a sophomore at the University of South Florida. I am originally from a northern suburb of Chicago, but since starting college I along with my family have fully moved to Florida, so I am a new Floridian. I am majoring in Health Science with a concentration in Medical IT. I have a broad idea of what I can do with that degree, but I usually make something up whenever someone asks me what I plan to do in the future.  Things About Me When it comes to interesting things about myself or fun facts I usually blank, so bear with me with what I have picked to share. Something interesting about me is that I get into random phases where I want to learn about something and I somewhat become fixated on learning it for a few weeks to a few months. I h...
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Location: 4202 E Fowler Ave, Tampa, FL 33620, USA
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