Much of the news I get does come from social media outlets. Though it is known to
not believe everything you see on social media I typically filter through the initial
information received by doing further research on the web. It is kind of hard to not
believe everything you hear in the news because we are taught from young that the
news is supposed to report on incidents with facts, however that is for everyone to
unravel and understand that biases do exist and a lot of information can be filtered
or one sided.
In governmental process I like to examine both the opposing side and of course the
side I am for. Many times I have found that examining the opposing side, I can come
to a sense of agreement and the majority of the time I realize it is emotion that
causes the disagreement. Letting go of bias, for instance everything we are taught
as kids growing up, opens up new channels of information because you can see their
side through a different perspective--being open minded.
To be a mindful consumer, personally, I have to be aware of impulse buys. Knowing
the difference between something I need and something I want. Many times I find
myself replacing items that can be repurposed, simply because of age. Another
strategy in becoming a mindful consumer is not being a panic buyer, or utilizing fear
as an excuse to buy something without doing further research. Not falling for the
fallacies of scare tactics in the media.
