Misinformation/Truth, Information Overload, and Mental Health in the Digital Age
Week 11 was my final time being a discussion leader for this class, and it went well! I had pretty positive experiences with being a discussion leader throughout this semester, and I found the topic interesting to end on. My group only had Thursday to run discussion, but we did a good job of giving time and focus on each topic. My one complaint is that since we had to put two days’ worth of discussion into one day, we assigned quite a few longer readings, but I understand that we had to give a large variety of material.
Our class had an engaging discussion about digital footprints and identity. It was interesting to hear my peers give their perspectives on how they present themselves online versus in person. I even agreed that I do present myself differently online than in person, at least when it comes to posts. Furthermore, we discussed how to be conscientious of what you post since digital footprints can follow you throughout life. We also bounced around with topics such as how kids are getting digital footprints created for them by parents posting them on social media. This is a very prevalent topic since I have seen a lot of family accounts recently profiting off of showcasing their children and family’s life. Other topics that were discussed included how to navigate misinformation and be able to recognize it and how it is difficult to have “regulations” that would decrease misinformation. Furthermore, we had a conversation about how we experience information overload a lot through social media, but also how social media can be such an aimless task that no information is fully being registered to get overwhelmed from.
