Michael Vanderschuit

My Digital Self

On the national level, I’m most interested in professional sports news and only view political content when major breaking news happens. I’m particularly knowledgeable on the NBA and NFL. Outside of that, I’ve been paying attention to the plane crashes recently and it pains me to see. In state, I pay close attention to what goes on in the WIAC conference. 

I don’t pay much attention to what goes on in my hometown Prosper at all. All I know is that they’ve built a 3rd high school a couple years ago and their population is continuing to grow. When I do find something, it’s typically through social media because I still follow some of their pages. 

I usually prefer to look at either sports or world sites. For sports news, I like to use Yahoo Sports because I have the app. 

During the Presidential Election, I really enjoyed watching NewsNation because they were one of the most unbiased stations I saw and respect companies that strive for not picking sides. 

I use google as it’s most convenient. 

I don’t use AI for anything. I’m not totally against it, it just shouldn’t be used for creative means like writing, drawing, and other similar outlets. 

I prefer a mix of everything. Text is typically what I see first, but if it’s a topic that peaks my interest, I like to watch videos, view photos, hear audio reports, and interact with graphics. My favorite is news videos because I enjoy seeing what’s happening in a live setting. Interviews and press conferences are among my favorites too. 

Not often, but there’s two specific examples I can think of. In 2015, when Geoff Swam was drafted to the Cowboys, I welcomed him to the team and said he’ll do great and he responded to my comment, which I greatly appreciated. In 2021, the Jaguars did a giveaway for whoever could correctly predict their draft selections. I correctly predicted them to pick Andre Cisco but I never got anything in return so I’m still a bit salty about it. 

Social media does lead me to news. The way algorithms boost national news on X, Instagram, YouTube, etc., it feels almost impossible to ignore. When the Luka Doncic trade happened last night, my roommate was the first person to tell me after he got a notification from the ESPN app. 

I use both X and Bluesky. X does sometimes lead me to news stories, such as the NFL free agency period and Xavier McKinney coming to the Packers. Honestly, the organizations I follow are my high school affiliates and Japanese sports leagues such as the X-League and B.League. Besides that, I just follow friends that I’ve made in the furry fandom and like to keep in touch. On Bluesky, it’s only friends so far and I don’t get news from the site at all. 

I don’t listen to podcasts, but I thoroughly enjoy looking at travel blogs and seeing what places people recommend. It helps build my itinerary for when I anticipate traveling. 

When I suspect something might not be true, I look for multiple accredited sources and wait it out. A little over a decade ago, there were signs showing the Mavericks were heavily considering trading for Carmelo Anthony. At one point, a friend of a relative showed me something on Instagram saying the Mavs acquired him, but it ended up being false.

Online Journalism Structures

When legendary media first became prevalent, people saw journalists as a more trustworthy source but with several instances of people making up stories or being overtly biased, they’re becoming increasingly skeptical. Especially in politics and sports, people like to post their thoughts on social media, and rumors can spread through these platforms quickly. One is a story that Trump was shown to have no ear damage not long after being shot, but the Associated Press found out the photo used in the article was from 2022. With that in mind, the definition of a journalist hasn’t changed much ethically, but it’s been a change having to adapt to new technology and connecting with what people are interested in. Now more than ever, people expect new things to happen constantly, and for news to be make public instantly after something happens. Although most journalists don’t work overnight, the 24/7 news cycle is existent and they never know when a breaking incident may occur. Convergence is used in online journalism most often by combining photos and videos with news articles and even adding texts to make crazy thumbnails or headlines. Audio clips can also be used, but with AI able to mimic voices, that medium is losing some credibility. With modular content, news organizations can store information and perhaps use it for multiple different stories and across various platforms. In online journalism, CMS is used to combine data and help with the algorithm and what gets put on the home page. 

TikTok revival story

TikTok has returned to the App Store and Google Play Store, allowing both Apple and Android users to download the app again. The app was banned briefly in the final moments of Biden’s presidency, and Trump halted the ban’s enforcement for 75 days on Jan. 20th. Until Feb. 13th, it was only available for people who already had the app installed. Joe Biden signed the bill from Congress to ban TikTok in Apr. 2024 because Chinese-owned parent company ByteDance was viewed as a serious threat to national security. ByteDance has until Apr. 5th to sell off its U.S. assets, and if that happens, TikTok will be here to stay, even though some changes to the algorithm might occur. 

With the uncertainty of TikTok’s future and temporary relief at hand, there are mixed views on the campus of UW-Whitewater about the whole situation. Student Yeng Xiong said the impact the app has on his life is “A mild one at best. I’m kind of catching myself doomscrolling once or twice a week, and I am trying to make it a less-used app in my life. It is just a serotonin generator for me.” This shows that many people among Gen-Z are self-aware of their usage and are trying to limit it. Yeng also said he’s doubtful of our current government and that, “Their priorities are in terrible places and there are other issues that need to be addressed rather than TikTok.” 

Another student named Jared said he doesn’t even have TikTok and that many other students have alternatives like Instagram reels, YouTube shorts, and Rednote to hold their attention instead. This is likely due to these apps not having disputes with other countries and having no current conflicts. While these are only the voices of two out of a little over 12,000 students who attend UW-Whitewater, it appears that this dilemma between the U.S. and China doesn’t devastate everyone. 

A theory of disinterest might stem from Trump being in office. Both of the students interviewed have liberal views, and most college students traditionally lean Democratic as well. With multiple people skeptical of how Trump handles the situation, it’s led them to make haste to other platforms that are owned by more trustworthy leadership. Especially since Trump originally supported the TikTok ban in 2020, many people around Whitewater believe he’s just doing this as a power trip or to do the opposite of what the Democratic party wants. 

Whatever the case is, the impact TikTok has on the internet can’t be denied. Its success as a short video vertical platform led other major platforms to copy that method and take advantage of people’s diminishing time spans. While many young people around southern Wisconsin have moved to Instagram or YouTube, it’ll still leave a major dent in creators with massive followings who relied on TikTok for their income. 

https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/news/2025/02/13/tiktok-apple-app-store-google-play/78555459007

Participatory Audiences Discussion

According to chapter 3, the types of participatory journalism are sources, user-generated content, user feedback, citizen journalism, and crowdsourcing. Citizen journalism is the most involved because non-journalists play the biggest role in creating the content. After that I’d say crowdsourcing since it’s a bunch of people coming together to provide various information on blogs and wikis. User-generated content and user feedback are similar, but user-generated content has the advantage because the audience can provide photos to TV stations as opposed to just commenting on an existing story. Sources have the least amount of audience involvement because it’s typically up to the journalist to find them. 

Sources are typically either an expert or someone with a personal connection. An expert would be the head coach of a basketball team for a team story. A personal connection would be a fan’s reaction to a major trade involving their team. 

User feedback is most common on Twitter/X. Anyone can respond to a news headline in the comments. 

User-generated content is also common on social media. If a person is at the event of a story, they can post pictures about it online. 

The greatest example of crowdsourcing is Wikipedia. 

An example of citizen journalism is creating blogs. It can be a review of an event they went to or anything they deem newsworthy.