Author Archives: Friday's with Frosty

Process Post #7

Taking the “Mis” Out of Misinformation

The spread of misinformation has become a pressing issue in our digital age. It seems like everywhere you look online people are claiming things like “fake news”. It’s hard to deal with all the conflicting information, and I think it’s up to content creators to make it easier for readers to determine the truth from the rest.

I have taken care to ensure my posts on social media sites, such as TikTok, can’t be taken out of context. I made this a priority because misinformation seems to spread much faster through these channels, and “half of 18- to 29-year-olds in the United States say they have some or a lot of trust in the information they get from social media sites,” (Liedke, 2022). That’s why I have made all my social media content “rating videos” or mentioned they were my opinion in the captions. I think this keeps people who see my content on social media from treating my information as a credible source, and contrasts my written blog posts, which have more of a “news” element to them.

Since misinformation is such a big issue, I added a disclaimer in the “My Blog” category of my website (Check it out here). I chose to put it in this section because my posts here are written in more of an “article style,” which could lend them to be taken seriously. I hope my disclaimer will help readers understand the purpose of my blog. It’s for myself. I am simply sharing my opinions.

Another thing I could improve on to limit misinformation in my written blog posts, is researching social media claims before I  produce written content based on them. Although this would help me ensure that my sources are credible, it would remove my blog from its intended purpose. It is supposed to be a commentary about pop-culture moments I see online, whether they are true or not. By thoroughly fact checking what I see, I feel it makes my site more like a news source, which I have no credentials for, and less of a personal journal.

I also think the kind of content I produce doesn’t lend itself to being taken as seriously as a news source. My content its rather trivial in comparison. Although, there is still an opportunity for misinformation because I choose what I write about based on what I see online. I do try to mention in my posts that I am getting all my information from social media. For example, in my recent post about the Selena Gomez/Hailey Bieber feud (Click here to read it!), I start by saying, “It seems like once every six months the social media world spirals into the chaos of the Selena Gomez-Hailey Bieber “feud” all over again.” Throughout my posts I also try to use buzz words like, “in my opinion” or “I feel”. I hope this means readers take what I have to say with a grain of salt, and my content doesn’t contribute to a chain of misinformation.

Our readings also talk about evaluating bias or purpose when reading a site. It urges readers to think about why the content was created, whether to persuade, inform, or entertain (Caulfied, 2016). My website definitely falls in the entertain category, however I made sure to go back and address some of my biases in my posts to make things easier for my readers. In my Taylor Swift post I say “being a fan of her for so long has built major trust,” and “I know I am biased,” to ensure my words aren’t taken out of context. I even mention I am a “huge Swiftie” to further cement this point. Although all my posts have some element of bias, as I am obviously partial to sides that align more closely with my opinions, my Taylor post was definitely the most biased. I was just so excited to write about her (Click here to read it).

Our readings also dive into misleading designs and how they contribute to misinformation (Caulfield, 2016). This forced me to evaluate my design from a more critical point of view. I don’t think it is misleading in the sense that it mirrors news sources. I think it’s clear that my website is a personal blog, and my site logo (Click here to view it) adds to this. I think my design is much more personal than that of a news source, and presents myself as the “brand”.

That being said, I still spent this week reviewing all my old posts to see if they were misleading, and making edits when necessary. The last thing I want is for my content to start a social media comments war!

Works Cited

Caulfield, M. (2016, December 22). Yes, Digital Literacy. but which one? Hapgood. Retrieved March 26, 2023, from https://hapgood.us/2016/12/19/yes-digital-literacy-but-which-one/

Liedke, J., & Gottfried, J. (2022, November 4). Trust in social media is changing. here’s how it breaks down by age. World Economic Forum. Retrieved March 26, 2023, from https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2022/11/social-media-adults-information-news-platforms/

Process Post #4

Template Wars!

This week I spent my time attempting to adjust my sites’ template to include excerpts. Looking through my peer’s websites that include excepts, it makes the site more organized for viewers, improving its overall marketability. I like how my chosen template lays out my content, but from a consumer point of view, it’s annoying to have to scroll through all my posts to find older ones. But, I didn’t want anything else about my template to change.

I started by going back to my older posts and manually adding excerpts in the post’s settings option. I tried this multiple times, using a different amount of words each time to try to get it to work. Unfortunately, I had no luck. It looked like my template didn’t support this feature.

I discovered that you can fix this by changing the template’s code in the admin panel (Racicot, 2021). However, these coding steps were way too difficult for me to follow. There’s a reason I didn’t major in computer science!

My last hope was to try downloading different templates that supported this feature. I ending up downloading and testing three new templates. But, none of them felt right. In my opinion, they made my website feel more mainstream and gimmicky, like It was a set-up to earn a profit. These templates removed a lot of the classic and more intimate elements I liked about my website’s design.

Despite all this effort, I decided to stick to my original template. I might be acting stubborn about this, but I am building my online self, so I feel it’s understandable. I can be as particular as a want creating this persona, because it is strictly mine. My current template was closest to what I wanted, so I stuck to my guns. I guess I really can’t have my cake and eat it too.

Works Cited

Racicot, C. (2021, October 19). How to Show a WordPress Excerpt in Your Theme. GreenGeeks. Retrieved March 4, 2023, from https://www.greengeeks.com/tutorials/how-to-show-a-wordpress-excerpt-in-your-theme/

Appealing To My Public

This week’s lecture got my thinking about my site’s public. When I am creating my content, I imagine the readers who would be most interested are about my age. Since I am writing about pop culture events that are relevant to younger people I don’t feel this assumption is off-base.

According to our readings, “a public is constituted through mere attention”  and “contingent on its members’ activity” (Warner, 2002). What I took away from this is that to gain more people’s attention and get them actively engaged in my content, I need to present it in a way that appeals to them. I decided that this week I would create my content as a TikTok, because this is a public that much of my target audience actively participates in. I will continue to create a mix of written and video posts, which will hopefully help me expand my public.

In addition, circulation of discourse is essential to publics (Warner, 2002). By creating a TikTok post, I have made it easier for my public to respond to my content. They can make duets, use the same sound I’ve used, participate in the same trends, as well as like and comment. I think this makes the circulation of discourse easier and gives the audience more freedom compared to my site. Most of these features are unavailable on my blog and comments must be approved by me. Making TikTok content gives more power to my public. I also feel it is easier to stumble across my TikTok’s on the “for you” page than it is to find my website. I am hoping this feature, and TikTok’s algorithm, will work in my favour, attracting more people to my public.

Click here to see my newest TikTok!

Works Cited

Warner, M. (2002). Publics and Counterpublics. Quarterly Journal of Speech, Vol. 88 (No. 4), 413–425. https://doi.org/http://knowledgepublic.pbworks.com/f/warnerPubCounterP.pdf

Team Selena or Team Hailey??

It seems like once every six months the social media world spirals into the chaos of the Selena Gomez-Hailey Bieber “feud” all over again. I thought we were passed this, since the two shocked the world by taking a photo together at an award show. But, it looks like the drama isn’t over.

A lot of people on social media believe the issue stems from the fact that Hailey’s husband, Justin Bieber, is still in love with his on-again-off-again ex, Selena. Fans claim this insecurity and unhappiness with her marriage has caused Hailey to throw shade.

Recently, Selena has been diagnosed with lupus, which has caused her body to change. When an article body shamed her for her weight gain, Hailey and her friends posted a cryptic TikTok that said “I’m not saying she deserved it, but God’s timing is always right.” Fans believe this was related to the Selena hate. The TikTok has since been taken down, only adding to suspicion. Hailey and friend, Kylie Jenner, also posted a mocking Instagram story about their eyebrows after Selena made a video where she messed up an eyebrow makeup look.

In my opinion, those are the only somewhat concrete instances of Hailey shading Selena, and she has lost followers as a result. But, I think some fans are blowing the drama wayyyy out of proportion. They are making Hailey out to be some villain intent on taking Selena down. People online are over-analyzing posts Hailey made years ago, and finding a way to connect them to Selena. I think they are grasping at straws. If Hailey so much as breathes wrong some fans will make a case that she’s trying to copy Selena out of envy.

Fans have also taken to analyzing Hailey’s marriage with Justin. The have posted side by side comparisons of their relationship and Justin’s past relationship with Selena, to show the difference in treatment between the two women. I think these posts are unfair. The videos shown lack context, and are purposely chosen to make Justin look like he cares more about Selena. I have also seen videos where fans claim Hailey’s family manipulated Justin into marrying her, and that all they cared about was attaching their daughter to his name and net worth. Additionally, some fans think Justin only married Hailey for American citizenship, which he would have lost royalties on his music without. Frankly, these assumptions are offside. We have no idea what goes on in their relationship. We only have a small glimpse into it, and these claims are deeply hurtful. Nobody deserves to have their intentions in a relationship criticized.

I think the contributions fans are making towards this drama are bigger than the initial issue. Social media is making a big deal out of things that may or may not be related. We can’t know for sure, and until we do, I think the hate towards Hailey and Justin has to stop.