24 Hour Media Diet: Spotting Misinformation

This blog entry is about the media I consumed on Thursday, March 21. I’ll specifically be talking about any misinformation I saw.

On days that I work, I sometimes will watch Snapchat stories while I’m getting ready but other times I won’t use any type of media until I’m off work.

I had this particular day off from work, so I slept in later than usual. I didn’t check my phone for a couple hours after waking up which is why this entry starts so late in the morning. I had the TV on playing Law & Order SVU (Peacock) just for background noise while I cooked breakfast.


11:30a –

I checked Snapchat for the first time today. I first licked on the Daily Mail’s news panel which was at the tope of my discover feed. I clicked through the first 10 articles, they were mostly celebrity updates like Megan Fox’s appearance on the Call Her Daddy podcast discussing her relationship and a trailer for the new American Horror Story episodes starring Kim Kardashian. There’s nothing about these stories that seem like misinformation.

Then I got to a more serious article on a young man named Hector, an 18 year old migrant from Mexico, who signaled for help in the desert of Texas after being left behind by his group. The video showed him emotional and crying, expressing that he just wanted to see his mom. It was really heartbreaking. I didn’t doubt the information much since the article had videos and captions of what they were saying. Though I know this can be fabricated, I found this story across multiple news stations and didn’t find anything implying the video, images, or information were fake.

Another article I read was about vapes “possibly” causing cancer cells, calling it a “shock study revealing vaping can lead to developing cancer cells”. As someone who feels strongly against vaping and smoking, I don’t find it shocking at all (opinion based), but I still decided to dig in deeper outside of Daily Mail via their Snapchat stories.

With a Google search, I found an article from University College London that explained and summarized the findings from the study. The study found that vapes cause the same epigenetic changes in the mouth as seen in cigarette smokers, but it cannot be proven yet that vaping causes cancer, it only proves we can’t assume vaping is completely safe since not enough research has been done.

The Daily Mail’s post made it seem more alarming, as if researchers found that vaping 100% causes cancer like cigarettes, but it turns out we’re still far from having that proven.

12p

I watched some Snapchat content creators’ stories, including Rachel Levin, Leilani Green, Zoe Ferguson, Hope Schwing, and Melissa Le Man. These creators post a majority of their daily lives, raw, and unedited. It’s a different experience than following them on Instagram. It’s like watching vlogs in real time rather than the edited highlights of their life on other platforms. They mostly all share their worldly travels, makeup and skincare routines, food, mental health issues, and exercise. They all promote products they use, but I’ve never been inclined to buy anything they share. I like to watch them for entertainment, not to be influenced.

They do share some information at times that I’ll be skeptical of or already know it to be misinformation. In those instances I have replied directly to the posts with evidence and my personal research. These creators have never shared misinformation knowingly and always seem receptive to their audience responding with fact-checks, even reposting them to their public story and thanking the person for helping correct their statements.

This time between noon and 2:30 was spent doing things around my home and sitting outside on my patio enjoying the nice weather. I really don’t consume much media since I’ve been actively choosing to reduce my screen time for the past couple of years. My day-to-day life feels best when I’m not checking my phone too much. I check Snapchat most because it feels less addictive as I mainly just watch a handful of 5 or so creators who post daily stories, so I only spend time on there when there’s content to watch.  

2:30p

I got an email from a random person with the subject saying “2024 internships & jobs for ASU students or alumni” sent to my ASU email address. In the email, they shared a link to a list of jobs and internships, which apparently they update monthly. This person also mentioned they are one of the founders of a company called Ribbon.ai. I’ve never heard of this, or this person sending the email. I’m not sure how I was signed up for this, but it says unsubscribe at the bottom. It wasn’t sent to spam, so it should be legit, right?

To verify legitimacy, I look up Ribbon.ai. They don’t have an “about” page, so I click on the careers tab. I was pleased to see a list of the founders within the careers link, and there was the same name and a photo of the guy who emailed me. Ribbon.ai seems like a legitimate source.

Next, I check the link from the email and see a long list of jobs and internships. I clicked on the “apply” button near each job, but most of the links were broken or no longer available, even the ones with today’s date. This makes me think that this might have some misinformation and I don’t find it trustworthy.

3p

I started working on my blog assignment for my MCO 426 class. I used canvas and WordPress. I went to Pinterest and searched “orange and blue palette” to look for website color ideas. 

4p –

I learned how to create an accessible website using color contrast and alt text for images on my website from a few different articles. Worked on my website and blog post more.

5:30 –

I checked Snapchat, watched the same creators’ stories vlog their day.

7p –

I checked Instagram for the first time – mostly just cat videos but came across a video from NowThis about another Boeing incident. I briefly scrolled through the comments which were mainly about the Boeing whistleblower who recently died. The comments were discussing if it was homicide and not a suicide like the press has released. I take every comment I read with a grain of salt because they’re all just speculation and opinions.

8p –

I checked LinkedIn, scrolled through the main home feed for a couple minutes. Nothing informative, just personal achievements and promoted ads. I didn’t see anything that would standout as misinformation.

9p –

Checked Instagram one last time and watched more cat videos that my boyfriend sent me via message. I also checked Snapchat and watched the same previously mentioned creators.


I think that this media diary represents my typical day-to-day activity fairly accurately. I use Snapchat more than any other social media platforms. I’m a creature of habit and check the same creators on the same apps daily and don’t switch up too often. Nothing really stuck out to me today, but I remain skeptical of all media I consume. When I see something interesting enough to want to share with someone else or satisfy my own questions, I always take the extra time to do my research and verify sources.

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