After completion of the class, Emergent Media, I can truly say I have learned some important ideas that I will take with me in all my future endeavors. This class lead me to take an in depth look at media and the effects it had on me without my awareness. Moving forward can say that I definitely take a better look at media in terms of advertisements, social media, and sports. I consciously ask myself what the media wants from this interaction and what I want out of it. Overall, regarding the class itself I really liked that it was provided completely online. This worked really well with my demanding senior nursing classes. I thought the breakdown of units and the future deadlines was also helpful because I could plan my workload according to what worked best for me. I think that content that I really liked was pertaining to media messages and then sports. If I had to implement a change in the Emergent Media class I would change the amount of social media case studies and do some different projects. Although I thought that doing a few social media case studies was very helpful in terms of media usage from different accounts I found them repetitive after a few. I think the addition of different projects in place of the case studies would be something I would have enjoyed. In my opinion, the timing that I took this class couldn’t have been better. Especially with the Coronavirus pandemic going on currently. I think that the addition of how fake news effected this time for us could be added to the course as well. Overall, I surprisingly really enjoyed the Emergent Media class and I think I learned things that are useful to know about our society today regardless of my nursing background.

Privacy issues are something that almost everyone has experienced in one way or another. Media accounts getting hacked, identity theft, and credit card numbers used are all common ways that our privacy has not been maintained. If today’s society is going to use media we need to understand way to protect ourselves too. Many sites have added the feature to tell you when selecting a password if it is secure or not. A common password that might have kept you protected years ago will not withstand todays level of hackers. We need to be using passwords with lowercase and uppercase, numbers, and symbols to protect our accounts. An example of a good password is xxDBlol3256, an example of a bad password is cats12345. Being smart on media can always help keep yourself protected. You should never give out information to someone without verification. In addition, you should only be communicating with people you know. For example, if someone you don’t know adds you on Facebook and then claims that they are going to sell you a product but you need to give them your personal information first. There has also been many sites following a double verification code. Netflix is an example of a company that uses this method of privacy. You have to verify yourself with more than one method to view things like credit card, email, phone number, etc. To opt into using the double verification system is one of the many ways to ensure your safety on media. The media can be a very scary place if you are unaware of the current privacy issues. Always make sure to keep you and the people around you up to date and protected.

Media literacy is defined as “the practices that allow people to access, critically evaluate, and create or manipulate media.” By learning about media literacy you can gain the ability to analyze, evaluate, and manipulate how you use and learn from media today. Media literacy is inclusive to a variety of sources of media and communication such as Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Radio, and Television. I didn’t realize how much of my life really revolved around the media. Awareness of your own media influence as well as your own media output can allow you to have insight on how the media effects our world today. Personally, from this class already I have taken a step back and really looked at how and why I use social media. Sometimes I use it for personal reason like keeping in touch with friends and family. Other times I’m looking for opportunities professionally like Nursing charity walks or job searching. I think that realizing the thought that goes into some media outlets to really maximize their goals whether that be money or more followers is really eye opening. I think that becoming media literate means you know the power that media has on our society and almost every person around you. Although you might not be on social media for the same reason as the person next to you, you are still both using media. Recognition of the technique that media uses is another thing that I think a media literate person really has a good grasp on. For example, asking yourself what message is this media post sending? Why am I seeing this media post? Questions like this can help you analyze, evaluate, and manipulate the media to your own advantage.

Social media definitely has a huge impact on my own life. It effects many aspects of my life including things that I buy, trends that I follow, and organizations that I participate in. If I were to go shopping without following the brands I shop from first I might leave with completely different products. Normally, when I go shopping I already have an idea of things that I want based on ads and posts I have seen recently. For example, before I went to the Nike outlet I had already seen the new shoes that they just released and I was planning on trying them on. Another way that social media effects my life personally is body image and style. When I look at all the influencers that I follow I often find myself buying or wearing things that they do. This can be a good thing for me in terms of inspiration, but it can also be a bad thing for my body image and self-esteem. Although I think we all know that social media is most time edited and fake, I think it’s hard to still not judge yourself based on their posts. Another aspect of my life effected by social media is organizational updates. Things like Student Nurses Association and other nursing organization post updates, events, and statistics regarding nursing and how I can personally get involved. Although at times it’s hard to admit it but my life really does revolve around media for information, inspiration, and shopping. I think that the good connections outweigh the bad aspects that social media brings to my life. In my opinion, becoming more media literate through this class will only help elevate those negatives that social media can cause in my life moving forward. To analyze what the “poster” wants from you can help you control how media truly effects your life whether you are aware of it or not.

Most people find their news information in the same place they post pictures of themselves, social media. In today’s society most everything is done through media. During my time listening the the classes lecture material I realized one part was really interesting. When talking about messages through media and factual or social information, social information, or beliefs is something that is already driven into media but we don’t realize it. There are norms all around us, how we dress, what we post on Instagram, and the words we use to talk to each other. I found this really interesting because its an idea that is already put in our everyday life but we never stop to look at it. Another interesting thing I found this week in lecture was about personal locus’s. This idea is really true and can be very different person to person. What drives my social media interests, like style, famous people, and interior design, is not what drive my boyfriends social media time, sports, news, and famous athletes. This drive or personal locus, although might equal out to be the same time each day, shows that each person is coming to social media to get something different out of it. Already, this media class is opening my eyes up to how I myself use social media and how I control the messages I receive through it. This blog is actually a really good example of a different type of “message” that we see. This is also a good example, of how we shouldn’t trust everything thats put on the internet because just like on the blog, people can put whatever information they want on here, true or false. I think that this blog will keep me accountable to be self evaluating my media literacy through the remainder of the class.