This blog explores how the information we see every day can influence our thoughts, decisions, and understanding of the world. Throughout this course, I’ll reflect on what I learn about media, credibility, and misinformation while becoming more intentional about the information I consume and share.
A Day in My Media Life: My 24-Hour Media Diary
August 28 – 7:00 a.m.
My media diary started around 7:00 a.m. because I woke up pretty early and, like most mornings, one of the first things I did was grab my phone. I opened TikTok, and one of the first videos I saw was of two women dancing with the caption, “us immediately when we get together.” Of course I had to repost it because it instantly reminded me of my best friend and how we act whenever we are together. After scrolling for a little while, I realized I should probably get up and actually start my morning. I put my phone down, said my prayers, journaled, and completed my normal morning hygiene routine.
https://www.tiktok.com/@yesimpr3ttytee/video/7678719017091157278?_r=1&_t=ZT-99IIuaRWAqT
9:00 a.m.
By around 9:00 a.m., I had already gotten a chicken biscuit, went to my eyebrow appointment, and washed my very dirty car that had been collecting dust. After being outside in the heat, I took a break, drank some water, and checked some of my school assignments online. I was able to complete some assignments, which I was excited about because one of my personal goals has been limiting procrastination. During this part of my day, most of the media I consumed was school-related rather than entertainment.
12:30 p.m.
After running errands, cleaning up, and spending some time reading the Book of Enoch, I eventually found myself back on TikTok for another doom-scrolling session. My algorithm showed me a mixture of funny videos, motivational content, fitness posts, recipes, and other lifestyle content. Since I enjoy creating content about fitness, movement, and exercise, scrolling actually gave me an idea for a video of my own.
https://www.tiktok.com/@thedamarcusharbor/video/7679113273832262943?_r=1&_t=ZT-99IJ291aReX
I also reposted and sent videos to my friends. One was a funny fake brownie prank, another talked about how “blessings come in threes,” and I also watched a chicken pot roast recipe. This part of my media diary made me realize how quickly TikTok can move me between completely unrelated subjects. Within a few minutes, I could go from laughing at a prank to watching motivational advice and then looking at a recipe.
https://www.tiktok.com/@cookinwithtrina/video/7678780991304928525?_r=1&_t=ZT-99IIxm9z8Qw
1:30 p.m.
Around 1:30 p.m., I decided to get off TikTok and watch Beauty in Black on Netflix. I watched the show for approximately an hour before my friend came over with her daughter, who I was babysitting. Babysitting took up the majority of my afternoon, and it was honestly a relief to not constantly be on my phone. We did watch some cartoons through the kids' Netflix account, but my personal social media use decreased significantly during this time.
5:00 p.m.
Before I knew it, it was around 5:00 p.m. I went on my daily walk, ate dinner, and showered. I am definitely a homebody and enjoy being home and settled by a certain time, so by this point I was getting ready to relax for the rest of the evening.
7:00–8:00 p.m.
After completing my nighttime routine around 7:00 p.m., I had plenty of time to scroll through TikTok again. While doom scrolling may sound completely negative, not everything I encountered was negative. I saw several motivational videos discussing resilience, perseverance, and continuing to work toward your goals when life becomes difficult. Once I started getting sleepy, I plugged my phone in and called it a night around 8:00 p.m.
Questionable Content and Fact-Checking
One thing this assignment made me think about differently was motivational, fitness, and wellness content. A motivational video may seem harmless, but TikTok can quickly introduce users to advice about exercise, nutrition, supplements, mental wellness, and other health-related topics. Because I enjoy fitness content, these are subjects that regularly appear in my feed. The National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health explains that information involving health products and supplements should be evaluated carefully, especially because supplements can interact with medications.
I also realized that popularity does not automatically make information credible. When I encounter a questionable health claim online, I can compare it with information from reliable organizations such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or National Institutes of Health instead of automatically accepting what a creator says. TikTok itself also provides information about how its For You feed recommends content based on different signals and interactions. This helped me understand why interacting with certain types of videos can lead to similar content appearing on my feed.
Final Reflection
Overall, this activity made me realize that I consume more media than I originally thought, but I also spend a good amount of time away from it. My biggest source of media was definitely TikTok, followed by Netflix and online content for school. I also noticed that my TikTok feed is heavily influenced by my interests, especially fitness, motivation, humor, lifestyle content, and food.
I did not encounter as much obviously questionable content as I expected during this particular day. However, I realized that questionable information does not always look suspicious. A video can be entertaining, motivational, or professionally edited and still contain claims that need to be verified. Going forward, I want to be more aware of the difference between simply enjoying content and actually believing the information being presented. Although I had several doom-scrolling moments throughout the day, I was happy to see that I still made time for school, reading, journaling, exercise, errands, friends, and other productive activities away from my phone.
References
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2026). Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/
National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health. (2025). Using dietary supplements wisely. National Institutes of Health. https://www.nccih.nih.gov/health/using-dietary-supplements-wisely
National Institutes of Health. (2026). National Institutes of Health (NIH). U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. https://www.nih.gov/
TikTok. (2025). How TikTok recommends content. TikTok Help Center. https://support.tiktok.com/en/using-tiktok/exploring-videos/how-tiktok-recommends-content
“In a world where information is constantly at our fingertips, it is important to slow down and think about what we are consuming. Keep an open mind, question what does not seem right, and remember that finding the truth sometimes requires looking beyond the first thing we see.”
– 𝓙𝓸𝓾𝓻𝓷𝓮𝔂
scrollingforthetruth 