Over the past week, much of my media consumption has unfortunately shifted from being things that I enjoy watching two more political events, and even some tragedies that have occurred in my area. As I live just a few blocks away from the tragic plane crash in Washington DC, it has been much of what is being spoken about in my household, as well as at my job. And because of this, much of my TikTok, Twitter and Instagram algorithm have been pushing out a lot of posts about the tragedy as well as things that are currently happening politically. Here is a snapshot of how I spent my day interacting with media and the data that I unknowingly contributed.
Morning Media Habits: Staying Informed:
6AM:
As I mentioned in my previous blog post, I typically steer clear of any social media or current events first thing in the morning because I tend to lean on the anxious side, and I believe that starting my morning off looking at news or social media tends to spike my stress levels. However this past week there was a horrible accident a few blocks away from where I live. I woke up to a bunch of texts from friends and family that live in New York, where I am originally from, asking if I am ok and what happened with the plane crash? Of course I went straight to Google to find out exactly what happened. I was asleep when the plane crash occurred. I go to bed typically pretty early. I found posts from News outlets like the Washington Post about the accident. As I engage with this content on Google, somehow it leads to Twitter, Instagram and TikTok’s algorithm, picking up my interest in local tragedies and political events. This leads to more news content being recommended and pushed out specifically around political crisis or local incidents. I also noticed that I was being suggested tweets for new subscriptions which feed into Twitter’s algorithm to target me with more paid content.
8AM:
Around 8 AM when I get home from the gym and I start to get into getting ready for work and having my breakfast in the morning, I typically tend to get on my social media platforms. On Instagram, I follow some accounts related to DC news. With this, I saw a post about new policy proposals on climate change, as well as updates on the new policies since Trump has sworn into office. Since Instagram is owned by Meta, it tracks my interactions which linked me to content that is related to political activism and environmental issues since that is something that I pay close attention to. Instagram also collects behavioral data like how long I spent on specific posts, what I comment on, and certain hashtags and reels that I engage with.
Midday: Political Content & Algorithmic Influence
12pm:
by noon, I am at work getting ready to sit down and have my lunch. As you can probably imagine living in DC much of the conversations at my job pertaining to the horrific accident that occurred the night before. With that brings more of my social media apps algorithms pushing out more sad stories about the plane crash and what exactly happened that night. It’s hard to turn a blind eye to something so tragic and sad. The more time I spend engaging with certain posts, the more it feeds deeply into each apps algorithm, and it continues to shape the news that I’ll see you later on in the day. Typically, my social media feeds tend to be a mixture between content that is entertaining and about niche things that I enjoy and also current events, whether that’s political current events or pop culture. However, in the past week it has been geared more towards politics and local tragedies. I am assuming this is because I am engaging more with these news articles on Google, looking at these posts on social media and having conversations in real life that pertain to these events.
Evening: Winding down and trying to stay positive
8pm:
After dinner, I went on TikTok (out of habit) and there was more information discussing the political fallout from the crash and the calls for policy changes in aviation safety. Later, I visit Facebook and find a post about a politician stance on public safety reforms. At this point, I decided to get off of my phone and read a book in bed to get myself ready to have a long nights rest.
throughout the day I had interacted with content that reflects much of my political anxiety, my proximity to the plane crash, and my concerns about safety and policy. By engaging with news articles, posts, and videos, I’ve shared not just my attention, but also my personal behavioral data. Meta and Twitter, among other platforms, now know the types of political issues I care about, what kind of news I’m interested in, and even my location.
Reflection: Media and Data Privacy
after reflecting on my media consumption throughout the day, I am increasingly aware of just how much personal and behavioral data I’m offering without even thinking about it. I haven’t given much thought to privacy settings on Instagram or Twitter and while I try to be mindful, the algorithms seem to do the work of curating my content without me having to click on anything directly. I’ve interacted with promoted content, but I’ve also actively sought out political news while I enjoy staying informed I realize how my data can be used to push more ads or content that aligns with my current interests.
All things considered, it makes me re-think how I engage with platforms like Instagram and Twitter and even TikTok. Moving forward, I think I’ll explore my privacy settings a bit more actively and considered just how much of my personal information is available to these platforms. I may also limit my engagement with certain types of content, particularly when it feels like I’m being pushed into a bubble of like-minded information. With this being said, I am truly gutted at the horrific accident that occurred in DC earlier this week. It makes me think of how many times I’ve flown into that exact airport and how easily it could’ve been me and just how fragile life is. My heart truly goes out to all of the people affected by this plane crash.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/2025/01/31/audio-air-traffic-control-dc-plane-crash/
https://www.npr.org/2025/02/01/nx-s1-5283318/dc-plane-crash-investigation-helicopter-crew-vision-ntsb
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