6:30 a.m.: As I get my day started I blend a little work and personal life together. First I check my Microsoft Team chat to see if there’s anything urgent I need to respond to, then as my work email is loading I’ll pop over to my phone and check my personal emails. Today I noticed an interesting email from a brand that I’ve not interacted with, but I purchased a smoothie at one of their locations when I was on vacation and I’m curious how this email came to me. I’m busy today so I’ll have to investigate a little later.
7:00 a.m.: Respond to a push notification on my apple watch from the app Lose it! It’s time to end my 12 hour fast and start recording my weight, water and food intake for the day. With this app I’m giving detailed information about my daily wellness goals, the only annoyance is the constant push notifications to become a member for life, so I do need to dive into the settings for this app to review what I’ve agreed to.
7:30 a.m.: Record my Pilates workout on my Apple watch. This information is also connected to my Lose it! App which makes it easy for my workout activities to be tracked and factored into my calorie intake for the day.
9:00 a.m.: Receive push notification from Snapchat suggesting a lens I should use. I need to dig into my setting on this app to understand why I’m getting this alert and how I can turn it off.
Noon: Check TikTok for outfit ideas for the Fourth of July. I know once I do this I’ll have an onslaught of targeted videos and ads that will come through on my FYP based on my content search. I’ve purchased items on this app before and when I click on the “shop” tab these brands are always at the top of the recommended products based on my past purchasing behaviors.
3:00 p.m.: Log into Spotify and listen to one of my favorite podcasts. I noticed that Spotify is suggesting new content for me to listen to based on other podcasts I watch and my algorithm.
4:30 p.m.: Log onto Snapchat to check my notification settings. I found the setting that was sending me push notifications for lens ideas and turned off the creative effects setting and reviewed all other settings to fit my needs and privacy concerns.
6:00 p.m.: TV-Watched an NBA playoff game. I remembered that I received an email from Peacock recommending that I watch this game, I’m sure the email notification is connected to my viewing algorithm since I’ve been watching the NBA playoff series.
8:30 p.m.: Checked my personal emails and remembered that I wanted to dig into the targeted email I received from a brand I had only interacted with one time while on a recent vacation. When I made this purchase I paid with my debit card and did not give any personal details to this retailer. As I thought through where they could have obtained my email, the only thing I could think of is that it was a retailer in a hotel I was staying at. I used the hotel App to book my stay, so I went onto the app and checked the security settings and found that I had everything turned on which included sharing my information with other businesses. In this situation I was happy that I was connected with this retailer through my data and actually took advantage of the offer they sent me via email because I really like their products.
9:00 p.m.: Record my meals for the day on the Lose it! App.
9:15 p.m.: Log onto my Lumosity App and complete my brain training for the day. After I complete my day I check my security settings on this app since I’m getting a lot of push notifications to sign up for the premium version.
10:30: Scanned my local news online and read an article that I’ve been seeing on TikTok and other media outlets about Mark Zuckerberg’s superyacht that docked here in Seattle this week. KIRO 7 NEWS
Reflection:
The common theme I can see is that my interactions with media track what my interests are to personalize my content and target advertising or products to convert to a sale. There is definitely a tradeoff between convenience and privacy, and I am reconsidering how I interact with media. This exercise highlighted areas where I could tighten up my privacy settings and still enjoy the convenience that media offers.
Linda Zumdieck 