I agree with this. Teachers today need to do more than just teach from books. Students are already learning via memes, influencers, and YouTube. Schools should teach kids how to think critically about what they read and see online. Media literacy lessons can help teens tell the difference between facts and lies and be better digital citizens.

These ideas are strong because they show that media is never neutral. Everything, from news broadcasts to TikTok videos, has a reason for being, a target audience, and a bias. I enjoy how this relates to how marketing and algorithms today affect what we see online. It makes me think about how media literacy is about figuring out what those hidden motives are and how to spot persuasion and manipulation in ordinary media.

This is a good reminder that being "media literate" isn't simply understanding how to use media; it's also about questioning and examining it. A lot of individuals look at social media or watch the news without thinking about bias or purpose. Being media literate entails asking why something was made, who profits from it, and what it says. It's not just about consuming; it's an active and thoughtful process.

Marwick fights against the idea that technology is the only thing that changes civilization. She says that politics, society, and economics all affect how tools are used. This relates to everything we've read about the history of media. Just like the printing press didn't start the Reformation, social media didn't start democracy. Her criticism reminds us that we should be careful of Silicon Valley's assertion that apps and platforms automatically make the world "better."

This reflects Silicon Valley's long-held view that technology always leads to development. Marwick says that this optimism covers problems, including mixing libertarian capitalism with virtues from the counterculture, like creativity and disobedience. It's amazing how this way of thinking still affects modern tech culture, where businesses say they want to "change the world" but instead make things worse by supporting systems that make money and inequity (like AI and gig platforms today).

Marwick explains that Web 2.0 started out with the hope that technology could give regular people more influence and take the place of "Big Media." This idealism said that everyone would be equal if they took part, but in reality, platforms like Facebook and YouTube were taken over by ads and big companies. Her point makes me think about how current social media still offers the idea of community while making money off of users' attention and data.

This comment highlights how journalism lost control over dissemination and revenues as it became dependent on social media infrastructure. Ytreberg says that the same platforms that say they "connect" people also hurt professional journalism and public trust. It relates to thoughts on the fall of gatekeeping and the growth of "gatewatching" (Bruns). The end effect is a broken public sphere where emotive and viral content often takes the place of accurate reporting.

Ytreberg shows here how algorithms have replaced editors and curators, but they don't have to be open or responsible. People assume they are choose what to see and share, but algorithms discreetly pick what gets seen. This connects to what we've been talking about with disinformation and media literacy. Just like in Cat Park, people often don't know how digital networks change what they believe or value. The fact that they are not visible gives internet corporations a lot of power in politics and culture.

This statement sums up how social media changed the way people talk to each other throughout the world. Ytreberg says that the early days of the internet focused on individual freedom, but the 2000s saw a move toward social connectedness, which was paradoxically caused by companies like Facebook and Twitter. This "return" wasn't only social; it was also commercial, since sharing and talking were ways to make money. It makes me think about how a lot of what feels like "community" online is really built into systems that are meant to collect data and change behavior.