Baby's 1st Blog Post

    Hi! I'm Aubrey, I haven't decided what I'm going to major in yet, my only goal I have for my career now is to figure out what I want it to be before next year. I'm at LBCC because 1) it's cheaper to go to a community college for two years while I'm still figuring out what I'm going to do, and 2) it's close enough to home that I can go back for a weekend if I want but far enough away that I got to move in with my sister in Springfield.

    In this course, I'm most interested in learning about how media and cultures can affect people's lives. How it affects their personalities, religion, political views, relationships, etc.

    Outside of college, I like to read, cook, and spend time with my dogs. I've also been involved with animals my entire life. I grew up on a ranch with commercial and show stock. I started showing lambs in 4th grade and have been showing sheep and cattle ever since.

    I would say my three main sources of information are TikTok, Instagram, and Podcasts. These are my go-to sources because I'm already on the websites when the 'news' pops up on my feed or is talked about on the podcasts I listen to. Lots of big media outlets have accounts on Instagram and TikTok, so most big stories show up on my FYP or discover page. Also when something big happens, everyone is talking and posting about it, so I'll see it on the profiles of the people I follow.

    I don't consider these sources to be reliable at all. There are countless fake news outlets and even real news outlets put out stories full of rumors that turn out to be fake. Some of the podcasts I listen to don't fact check any of the information they talk about and are usually wrong about most of their claims. On the other hand, the host of one podcast I listen to always has her computer next to her and fact checks what she says when she's saying it. 

    Knowing what I know about fake news, I'm very concerned about the media being broadcasted to the world. AI is getting harder and harder to tell apart from reality. The first AI actress was just introduced to the world, and I'm sure they won't stop there. If I see something online that's worth fact checking, I'll look it up online and check multiple sources to see if they align. To be completely honest, a lot of the time I don't fact check something before telling one of my friends, so I've probably spread some misinformation before. But who hasn't?