![“[Building nerf blasters] became this outlet of creativity for me that hasn't been matched by anything else. The process [of] making a build complete to your desire is such a painstakingly difficult process, but I've had to learn from [the skills needed from] soldering to proper painting. There's so many different options for everything, if you think about it, it exists. The best part is [that] if it doesn't exist, you can build it yourself," Ishaan Parate said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/DSC_8149-900x604.jpg)
![“When I came into high school, I was ready to be a follower. But DECA was a game changer for me. It helped me overcome my fear of public speaking, and it's played such a major role in who I've become today. To be able to successfully lead a chapter of 150 students, an officer team and be one of the upperclassmen I once really admired is something I'm [really] proud of,” Anvitha Tummala ('21) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Screen-Shot-2021-07-25-at-9.50.05-AM-900x594.png)
![“I think getting up in the morning and having a sense of purpose [is exciting]. I think without a certain amount of drive, life is kind of obsolete and mundane, and I think having that every single day is what makes each day unique and kind of makes life exciting,” Neymika Jain (12) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Screen-Shot-2017-06-03-at-4.54.16-PM.png)
![“My slogan is ‘slow feet, don’t eat, and I’m hungry.’ You need to run fast to get where you are–you aren't going to get those championships if you aren't fast,” Angel Cervantes (12) said. “I want to do well in school on my tests and in track and win championships for my team. I live by that, [and] I can do that anywhere: in the classroom or on the field.”](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/DSC5146-900x601.jpg)
![“[Volleyball has] taught me how to fall correctly, and another thing it taught is that you don’t have to be the best at something to be good at it. If you just hit the ball in a smart way, then it still scores points and you’re good at it. You could be a background player and still make a much bigger impact on the team than you would think,” Anya Gert (’20) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/AnnaGert_JinTuan_HoHPhotoEdited-600x900.jpeg)
![“I'm not nearly there yet, but [my confidence has] definitely been getting better since I was pretty shy and timid coming into Harker my freshman year. I know that there's a lot of people that are really confident in what they do, and I really admire them. Everyone's so driven and that has really pushed me to kind of try to find my own place in high school and be more confident,” Alyssa Huang (’20) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/AlyssaHuang_EmilyChen_HoHPhoto-900x749.jpeg)
Media Matters: Resist autoplay and pick videos wisely
Data Mentors
As predictive algorithms have become the norm throughout the internet and streaming world, users have less control over the content to which they are exposed. As a result, it is now important that viewers deliberately pick the content they wish to see.
April 15, 2016
It’s late at night and you take a break to watch a quick YouTube video. You open up a silly video of a parrot singing. A series of autoplays later, you find yourself watching a video on how to play the harmonica even though you don’t own one and never plan to, and the only thing in your head is “How did I get here?”
Media consumption has become increasingly autonomous, causing us to spend more time online and interact with more content. Whether it’s Netflix suggesting which TV shows or movies we should watch or YouTube subscriptions providing us a list of recommended videos from popular channels or Facebook determining which of our friends’ liked posts should appear on our feeds, predictive media algorithms have made it so that we rarely make independent choices about which content we see.
In fact, people averaged 1.72 hours per day on social media platforms, which use the said algorithms to keep users hooked on the site. And we now use social networks for 30% of the time that we are online, per the Global Web Index.
As a result, it is easier than ever to become caught in a cycle of the same content. And every view and every subscription is a vote cast in an election of media, with the winners gaining the most influence around the world.
With thousands of hours of new content crowding up feeds and demanding attention, viewers are the only true filter for good content. We ultimately hold content creators to producing content at the quality that we expect, but we can only wield that power by unsubscribing from boring channels, unfollowing crude livestreams, or abandoning race-driven television shows.
After watching the same kinds of videos everyday, exploring other content can seem so foreign that it becomes difficult to branch out our media interests. So the next time you open up a new episode or video, take a moment and evaluate what media you are watching and ultimately promoting.
