Assignment #7
Last year we saw some major shifts in social media, coinciding with the shift of power in the White House. One of these changes being the removal of fact checkers from Facebook and Instagram. A move that seemed to be done to appease the newest president elect. Alongside that, there were also broader concerns about misinformation increasing as moderation loosened, which many critics argue can directly impact public understanding and elections. (https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/jan/20/the-new-public-square-is-fact-free-social-media-and-it-couldnt-come-at-a-worse-time-for-australia)
Social media is now being referred to as a public square, a place of civic participation. This idea was reinforced in Packingham v. North Carolina, where the Supreme Court recognized these platforms as central spaces for communication and access to information. These spaces are now where many tend to spend their time connecting, sharing, and learning. So it is fitting to state that social media has become this hub. However the drawback with that is the removal of people from the necessary spaces of civic and political participation in person. Such as a local town hall or a fundraiser. There are spaces that are still very important for people, young adults especially to be to make change or connect with those around them. In fact, some critics argue that real political change still happens more effectively in physical spaces, not just online. (https://www.newyorker.com/news/fault-lines/the-radical-case-for-free-speech)
The Free Speech Project’s section “The New Public Square?” (https://freespeechproject.georgetown.edu/social-media-the-new-public-square/) highlights this tension even more clearly. One of the key takeaways is that while social media functions like a public square, it is not actually public. It is privately owned and controlled. This means decisions about speech, moderation, and visibility are ultimately made by companies, not communities. Another example discussed is how platforms can shift policies or amplify certain voices without transparency, which directly affects who gets heard and who does not. This connects directly to what we are seeing now, where changes in leadership or political climate can influence platform behavior.
Should we depend on the good will of owners? No, we are ultimately the consumers and push decision making by the choices we make. Or what we deem to be important as a collective. Leaving our experiences up to the owners of businesses that have a vested interest in keeping that business running, does not always have your best interest or ideas in mind. As research has shown, privately owned platforms operate differently from traditional public spaces, often prioritizing profit and control over open access. (https://conlaw.jotwell.com/reconsidering-the-public-square/)
Should we look into decentralized environments? I’d like to say yes in an ideal world, but it seems there may not be enough people within the collective to agree for that to be effective. Majority of the world lives on these centralized media platforms and that is our power. While decentralized platforms offer more user control, they can also become fragmented or even create echo chambers when moderation is minimal. (https://arxiv.org/abs/2302.01229)
Should government intervene in some way? That could be a solution. If people get informed and involve themselves in a meaningful way in their local government, the regulations made by the government would align with the wants of the public. At that point we could push the change we wish to see vs. creating individual platforms that only a few of us may reside on.
Ultimately, who owns what we say to each other? Ultimately, I believe even with censorship and some of the changes we have recently seen, we still own what we say to each other. We have free will to a certain degree and are more powerful than we may think. But ownership is complicated because while we control what we say, platforms still control how far it goes and who actually sees it.
So what should society be doing about this situation? I think it starts with awareness and participation. Not just online, but offline too. Most especially offline. We need to be more intentional about how we engage with social media, while also showing up in real-life spaces that drive actual change. Personally, I’m still using platforms like Instagram because that is where people are, but I’m more mindful now. I question what I see, I diversify where I get information from, and I don’t rely on one platform to define my perspective.
At the end of the day, if social media is truly the modern public square, then it should not be something we passively experience. It is something we should actively shape, through our choices, our voices, and how we show up both online and in real life.
Wikipedia Edit: “Bacon”
For this project on editing a Wikipedia article, I chose to edit the article around Bacon. I have always been interested in nutrition, even choosing to be vegan for the past 10 years. Recently due to some health concerns, I’ve slowly incorporated meat and fish back into my diet. I’ve started with steak as the main concern has been my iron levels. But now am venturing into fish and venturing into other changes I can make within my diet to be at my best. I recently visited a Chinese medicine doctor to explore these other improvements I can implement in my routine and get better advising. While in consultation she brought up eating more protein for breakfast, incorporating eggs, avocado, etc. And that made me raise the question of what about bacon? Prior to going vegan, I could eat a pack of bacon in a day, that’s how much I loved it. My mom always says she knew I was serious about being vegan when she made bacon and I didn’t eat it. But being so conscious as I’ve reintegrated meat, I haven’t added bacon due to all the studies on it being a top carcinogen. So I asked, “What about bacon?” And she went in depth about how the processing of the meat which increases nitrates is the main concern. If you were to get pork belly it would be much healthier as it is the original form of the meat. That was interesting to me, especially because you still see claims of “nitrate free” or “uncured” bacon. So, for this project I thought it fitting to see if the misconceptions I had of bacon also lived in this article. And I was able to find a section called “Health Concerns” that could use some more clarification on these alternative bacon options.
This was my first time editing a Wikipedia article and it took some digging to make sure I was doing it right. It made me realize that the platform really isn’t the most user friendly. Even the layout of some of the articles is confusing at times. But ultimately I was able to submit my edit with sources. I haven’t recieved a response yet.
Prior to submitting the comment I could feel this sense of responsibility, to make sure to cite my sources, or “be right”, or that I could get a response that says I did this all wrong or was wrong. For me there is a ownership I take in sharing information that many others could read and use to make decisions in their life. This is also why I chose to give more context/clairifcation vs. denouncing any information all together. Just giving more information for people to take into account to make the most informed decision they can.
Ultimately this was nice to experience. To get a better understanding of how Wikipedia truly works when I’ve just been an outsider to it for so long. Not sure if I’ll spend my days editing articles now, but it is good to see how the meat is made (pun intended).
Lagree vs. Pilates
The experience of putting in a prompt to AI and auditing the prompt was interesting to work through. I was actually surprised by the accuracy.
I initially used a different prompt and had to enter a new one to get a topic with inaccuracies. My prompt was “in 250 to 300 words, is there a difference between Lagree and reformer Pilates”. It was generally correct in the answer but seemed bias in some ways, especially in tone. Or as though it is speaking from things it has “heard” not necessarily factual articles. I also realized how different its writing and tone can be from mine.
I tend to use ChatGPT more than other AI services especially at work because I have gotten used to it and the way it provides information. I haven’t branched out into the other services beside a few experiences with Gemini. I do think overtime ChatGPT has been able to gain more data, allowing it to provide more factual information than it potentially was giving before. My corrections tended to be more in the subjective commentary that could be left to interpretation by the reader. Ultimately, enjoyed the exploration and it also made me realize how far AI has truly come.
Google Doc: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1VB0E3uHLz79OSOBp3cnnRAjq6Y-8ZesJpmeaWapZumw/edit?usp=sharing
AI Used: ChatGPT
Community
For this week’s awakening activity, I channeled something that often energizes me, taking me out of my head and into the present.
Being around community. Whether that was with the people I love or complete strangers in a dark room cycling our problems away.
When people ask if I am an introvert or extrovert, I can’t really answer. Because while I can recharge alone and do indeed need those moments, there is something about a conversation with another human being that boost me in a different way. It can even just be the silent presence of others that does it, no talking necessary. I remember one instance when I was in such a funk, so I went outside and stopped at a random bakery. I realized that just the slightest interaction with the person who worked there, exchanging smiles before she handed me my dessert of the day, brought me into such a different space.
This week, I got to experience the community around me in several ways. I tried a new cycling studio solo. It was just what I needed. I could tell everyone in that class needed the experience just as much as I did. We found ourselves high fiving one another, smiling without even trying. Then I got to spend time with someone I truly love, one of my closest friends Symone! When I chose to move to Phoenix I was most excited about the built-in community of friends/sisters I had here. Symone is a longtime friend from college, and now we are neighbors, which is the best decision I could have ever made.
Whether it is someone you love or strangers with common interests, community can be healing. Awakening even. You get a sneak peek into my community below. How can you get outside and connect to those around you this week?
No
What made me feel awake this week?
This week it’s something new. I said no. Not no to a person, an entity, or a place. No, I said no to me. Sounds a bit crazy, but I’m referring to the side of me nagging in the background for me to do more, be more, achieve more, just because I can, just because I exist. We’ll call her ‘Overachiever Mya’.
I recently experienced a stress related health scare that landed me in the hospital on a random Thursday. When I got home to rest at doctor’s orders, I reflected on how I may have got there. Maybe my recent move to Phoenix from LA. Or maybe it’s the chaotic promotion at work. No, it’s got to be the yoga sculpt certification I started the week after I moved in. Nahh, definitely has to be going back to finish my degree in the midst of it all, right? I joke about it because it’s almost comical the amount of things ‘Overachiever Mya’ can convince me to do at once.
But this week I took a step back, because at this point a decline in my mental or physical health is not worth it. I decided to ask myself “What would make Overachiever Mya the most upset?” and did the first things that came to mind. Because anything is worth a shot at this point right? First, I dropped one of the classes I was in, the one demanding the most of me. Because I can live a life of ease even in my academic career and honestly I want to enjoy this process. And second, I decided to resign from my yoga sculpt teaching position. Whew, that one was a big one for me. I have been in some way connected to the wellness industry since 2019. And due to the stress I had been feeling at work (as a manager for a major tech company might I add), I thought teaching again would feed that creative side of me. But to be honest, I ended up dreading it some days. The obligation to show up for even more people after a trying week in the corporate world. It was hard to come to terms with because it was a passion I made my identity. To the point, I couldn’t even take a fitness class and not feel like “I could teach this”, then ‘Overachiever Mya’ signs me up for a certification course the next day. But I let it go. And you KNOW she was upset about it. Which is how I know I made the right decision. Focusing on what gives me the most energy in return for what I give. You may wonder, what about the stressful job? Well, that stressful job also allows me to be flexible, travel, move where I want, afford what I want. The way I am fed aligns with what I feed it (and honestly it’s also gotten much better, thank you Jesus!).
This week’s awakening experience made me think back on a spiritual reading I got in New Orleans where she told me “Your ancestors say there is nothing left for you to achieve in this moment. Go climb trees and eat some strawberries.” And I think they would be proud.
So now I ask you, how can you align your life more this week to make time for climbing trees and eating strawberries?
