When many are asked the question - "how do you find news?" the typical response is something along the lines of sources such as CNN, Fox, or even BBC. All of which are the typical "conventional" source of news. I on the other hand, no so much. I will be the first to openly admit I really don't follow any news sources at all, bad, I know. But, there are other ways I still know about what is going on not only in our own country, but overseas as well. Gone are the days, for the most part, where people had to find a physical paper to read and become informed. We have phones and different technology for that and so much more now.
Since being a business major I do like to stay up to date on current trends, such as stock information, how the markets are doing, what types of companies are on the rise, and also fall. Which is why I look to Yahoo Finance (https://finance.yahoo.com/). What I enjoy about Yahoo Finance is that it's not about politics, it truly at the end of the day is about just that, finance. Checking this on a weekly basis it allows me to see what the current market trends are, and how different things have caused different trends, such as if a new law is put into place you can see how it influences the current trends of the market. To some that is the most boring thing anyone could think about, but since I'm an accounting student it interests me and my peers to then be able to have educated conversations with each other, and also professors, about the current updates on stocks and market. Being perfectly blunt and transparent, this is the only type of "traditional" type of news source I use.
Another source of news that I use is actually Twitter (https://twitter.com). While yes it is considered a social media platform, as well as other places I get news from, it does still provide me with news that I otherwise wouldn't of known before. When I use Twitter I can't get distracted as easily with where the news is coming from. Yes it is important to get news from a reliable source, no fake news here! (Thanks Donald) But, it allows me to read and process what I am reading without much political affiliation before hand, which I feel as though is important because too many people rely on news strictly from their political side of things. This source keeps me up to date not only with political news but also trending news such as the olympics, who's cancelling who (everyone's favorite topic), and sports news during times such as football and basketball.
I also use Instagram as a source of news (insta for short as some may say). I stay up to date on Instagram because of their story feature (https://www.falcon.io/insights-hub/industry-updates/social-media-updates/5-new-instagram-stories-features-for-2018-and-how-marketers-can-use-them/). People who I follow can post other accounts posts on their story, for 24 hours, and it provides a direct link to the original post. I like this feature because I follow roughly 1,400 different people, of those people every single one of them follow a different amount of people and a different variety of people. With the Instagram story this feature allows me to see a glimpse into what other people see and get a new side of things. In the recent news there has been a lot coming out about US troops being in Iraq and Afghanistan, I follow people who both think we should have stayed as well as those who think we should have left years and years ago. Both sides will re-post things onto their story that I wouldn't have gotten to see because /i myself, truthfully, do not follow many political accounts or news sources. This ability gives me the opportunity to see new things with no political affiliation, just plain news.
A little outdates, but I will admit, I do still use Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/). To many people my age they think it's weird, outdated, and so on. I never really used Facebook until I was going into college and had the opportunity to meet people through Facebook groups filled with everyone I would be going to school with. Because of the platform and ability Facebook provides I not only can stay up to date with friends and family I don't get to see often but I also am apart of other groups for extra curricular and clubs. This app keeps me informed with a variety of different things. On my feed I can see people sharing political articles, another hot topic of vaccination status/thoughts, and even deaths in the news, when Mac Miller the artist passed away I found out through posts on Facebook, not news articles directly from their site. When people share their thoughts I typically get entertainment out of the comments their friends make on them, I usually read them all and more often than not provide some sort of entertainment and sometimes it can be evident who is somewhat educated on the topic versus those who just NEED to put their 2 cents in. I believe it is very versatile because theres good, bad, happy, sad, ugly, snd so much more that gets shared on this app and I get to see so much of it.
My final "news source" per say is the trending app Tik Tok. This app has people from the ages of 15 or so to over 65 making, creating, and sharing different content. There are trends that come, certain dances that one person might create that millions end up recreating, and there are trends that go as well, such has certain make up "tips and tricks" that don't end up helping anything in the long run. Sometimes there are trends that make the news. A very recent one in the HuffPost has a dermatologist "de-bunking" skin care trends that are more hurtful than helpful (https://www.huffpost.com/entry/tiktok-skin-care-trends-dermatologists-dont-like_l_6127b39ee4b02be25b595a7a). There are often times that the news catches something to report on because of Tik Tok, there's articles that come out, and by the time the article has been published, the app has moved onto the next up and coming things. Before people would have to wait, and wait, and wait for new things to happen, Tik Tok is always changing, overnight even, and it provides me with yes entertainment but also news that I wouldn't of thought it would ever do.
