24 Hour Media Diary

8 a.m.: I woke up and checked my Snapchat. I responded to some friends on Snapchat message, sent them a few Snapchat photos, and watched a couple stories that my friends posted. I turned off my location on Snapchat when the feature was released, so luckily no one can see where I am through the platform. Even though my friends lost access to my sent photos after 10 seconds, Snapchat added all of them to their database, which is pretty unsettling.

10 a.m.: After my breakfast, I decided to go on Instagram. I scrolled through my feed and liked a photo of a sugar glider and piece of artwork from one page I found in explore, and one that I follow. I then got off of the platform for a bit, but soon found myself clicking on the Instagram app again. I scrolled for a few minutes and liked a video of some swimming goldfish from another page I follow. By interacting with photos and videos of animals, I am showing Instagram what my interests are.

12 p.m.: I took a study break and of course...opened up Instagram. The first thing I saw was a recommended post of a sugar glider from a different page that I don't follow (below image). This really opened my eyes about how fast the Instagram algorithm works to push new content into your feed, based on your past activity. Just from liking a photo in my explore page, It triggered the algorithm to show me a photo from a similar account.

2 p.m.: I got back on Instagram to alleviate my social media addiction. I used to be very active on Twitter, but have stopped going onto the app within the past 6 months. I refuse to download Facebook, and am also not active on other social media platforms such as Tumblr, Reddit, or TikTok. That leaves Instagram, Snapchat, Pinterest, Youtube, WeHeartIt, as the social media apps I explore on. I scroll through my Instagram feed and sure enough, I see another suggested post. Because I liked the video of swimming goldfish from the account I follow, Instagram algorithm decided to place a similar post of a betta fish in my feed (image below).

4 p.m.: Before I ate my lunch, I decided to send a picture of it to some of my friends on Snapchat. The phone eats first, as they say. After I finished eating, I decided to get on Pinterest to get some design inspiration for my house. As I was scrolling through interior design pins, I noticed a sponsored post from Amazon, recommending influencer's top picks for home decor (image below). I didn't interact with the pin and kept scrolling for about 15 minutes.

6 p.m.: I finished my studies and wanted to watch some TV. I don't watch cable TV, instead I watch YouTube videos. I got on the app and started watching an uploaded episode of "I survived", from A&E. After the video ended, YouTube automatically played another episode. By showing interest in the show, YouTube's algorithm placed similar videos in my recommended. Under the video, YouTube placed other A&E shows in my recommended, such as "Court Cam" and "Live P.D.".

8 p.m.: I decided to get back on Snapchat to respond to some friends with messages and a few photos. After, I got back on Instagram to see any new posts. As I was scrolling, I came across a sponsored post for Hopper, an app that finds cheap hotels for you (image below). I was spooked at this advertisement considering I was just staying at a Hilton hotel last week. I didn't post about it on social media anywhere, so it makes me wonder why I would be getting a hotel ad. It could be a coincidence...but I don't know.

10 p.m.: I got on Youtube to watch some TV while I ate dinner. As I was watching a documentary about the Babushkas of Chernobyl, I got an ad for H-E-B (image below). I was curious about how Google curated the advertisements to me, and click on the "Why this ad?" section on the screen. I found it interesting that Google told me that the ad was based on my activity while signed into Google, Google's estimation of my location/locations of where I have been, and the age I added to my Google account.

12 a.m.: As I was getting ready for bed, I decided to visit Instagram one last time. I follow many different interior design pages because I am always looking for new house decor ideas. I was scrolling through my feed and came across yet again, another suggested post (image below). This one was suggested to me because of a post I saved from an account I follow. After I saw that, I got off the app and went to sleep. Enough data tracking for one day.

Summary:

After completing this 24 hour diary, It has really opened my eyes even more to just how much of my data I am providing to these platforms. It really scares me and is making me more and more cautious about what I search, like, comment, post, and which platforms I even open. I have always tried to stay away from political accounts and posts throughout social media, but I can't help following accounts that interest me, such as nature, traveling, animals, interior design, photography, architecture, artwork, pottery, and so much more! I don't feel right knowing that these companies are building a never-ending digital folder on my entire online life. Part of me wants to delete all social media altogether, but with my chosen career path of Digital Marketing, that is going to be extremely difficult.

I have sent/received 142,193 snapchats in the 6 years I have had Snapchat. I don't even have access to those disappearing photos, and it really worries me that Snapchat has them all saved in a database. I have posted over 2,000 photos/videos throughout my different Instagram accounts. It's very unsettling to know that every platform can update their privacy policies at any time and expose my personal and private data to whoever they please, such as Instagram. Promoted content is provided to me on every social media platform I use. By giving them my age, gender, name, and personal interests, they can pass that information on to all sorts of websites that will target me for ads. These companies really know more about me, and my online habits, than I know about myself. I have truly realized that these companies don't care about their users, they only care about constantly profiting off of our data.

Sources:

https://www.identityguard.com/news/what-you-need-to-know-about-instagrams-privacy-policy

https://www.smh.com.au/technology/snapchat-now-owns-your-photos-even-after-they-disappear-20151102-gkobrl.html