My top two most consistent habits are eating at least two meals and drinking enough liquid to be hydrated. After these comes my checking of Facebook several times a day.
I admit, that was a slight hyperbole, but I cannot deny that Facebook and text messages have become a very important part of my life. On average, I probably only spend about 10 minutes on Facebook per visit, but I check it many times a day, especially when I am expecting an important message. After confessing to all of this, it would make sense if I were the type to embrace the flood of connectivity that has come to define our generation. However, this is not necessarily the case.
The advantages of social networking media are difficult to deny. They not only help friends coordinate and interact on a more regular basis, but, as I have seen in the past, they have the potential to reunite lost family members and other such important things. These sorts of advantages make the use of social networking media an important part of living a social life, yet I believe it is important to acknowledge the disadvantages of its use. While this may not be apparent to some, in using social networking media, one is essentially voluntarily making their private information into public domain. Even with the increasingly better privacy settings of websites such as Facebook, there are still ways that one can have their private information taken from them while using these media. I am referring to the sale of one's preferences to advertisers. This does not adversely affect the average person on a normal day, but I cannot help but feel a little uneasy about the potential such information could have. That fear of mine is intangible at this point, so I cannot say that it really effects my views of social media. There is one thing, however, that does.
As a cyclist, I am able to see a lot of our campus quickly. One thing I have noticed in particular is the large amount of time that people seem to be using their phones to send text messages. Our generation seems to be intent on constantly checking our phones, updating our Facebook statuses, et cetera. It is not our fault. We have been socialized into acting this way. But I cannot help but feel that we have become like zombies, wandering from place to place, not enjoying our surroundings or appreciating our lives. Instead, we are too busy waiting to see when we will get our next message.
Perhaps I am overreacting. It is very possible that my limited observation skills are not giving me an accurate portrait of my peers. Yet I cannot help but wonder, are we becoming more separated from our surroundings by diving into a digital world? I do not the answer, but perhaps it is best that way. I may not be satisfied with the reality.
Monday, January 31, 2011
Friday, January 21, 2011
My Media Diet
I began my self-examination of my media diet on a Saturday, so as to include both the weekend and the days of the week. The differences in media consumption between these two times was much different than I initially anticipated.
Over the weekend, I found, not surprisingly, that I consumed more media than I did on school days. In general, I would check my phone every hour or so for text messages or new e-mails. If I found myself away from home, this would increase in frequency to me checking it every 10-20 minutes. In regards to checking Facebook, I would only do that every two hours. On the weekends, I prefer to watch movies instead of television programs. My preferred method of watching movies is streaming them onto my television via my Nintendo Wii (which finally found a use) and Netflix's instant watch feature. All of this makes my life seem far too recreational, so I will also mention that each day, I would do anywhere from one to two hours of homework (depending on my planned daily workload) and an hour of class readings. These two factors remained consistent when the new week began.
My media consumption over the week is drastically shaped by my two long breaks I have on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. The first of these breaks is an hour and thirty minutes; the second is two hours and thirty minutes. It would be foolish of me to not utilize most of this time for class readings and homework. Often though, I am able to use some of that time to take advantage of the various features of my phone. If my time is limited in these cases, I usually just read a few articles on the BBC World News. If, however, I find myself finished with the daily news and still unoccupied, I will watch a television episode on my phone. When I get home, my first priority is to finish the day's work, if there is any left. After that, I spend anywhere from one to four hours on either Facebook or watching television episodes on Netflix or Hulu.
Relative to others my age, I don't feel that my media diet is too heavy. I feel the most interest aspect of it is that it truly demonstrates technological convergence. In the last week, I only watched one normal television program, and I only did that because this particular program takes a week to post new episodes on Hulu. I do still find the television useful for streaming the Netflix instant watch feature, but it isn't anything that I can't do on my computer. I also don't have a land line, so almost all of my media consumption is through two devices: my cell phone and my computer. If I were to make any changes to my media diet, it would be to perhaps put a bit more priority on reading current news.
Over the weekend, I found, not surprisingly, that I consumed more media than I did on school days. In general, I would check my phone every hour or so for text messages or new e-mails. If I found myself away from home, this would increase in frequency to me checking it every 10-20 minutes. In regards to checking Facebook, I would only do that every two hours. On the weekends, I prefer to watch movies instead of television programs. My preferred method of watching movies is streaming them onto my television via my Nintendo Wii (which finally found a use) and Netflix's instant watch feature. All of this makes my life seem far too recreational, so I will also mention that each day, I would do anywhere from one to two hours of homework (depending on my planned daily workload) and an hour of class readings. These two factors remained consistent when the new week began.
My media consumption over the week is drastically shaped by my two long breaks I have on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. The first of these breaks is an hour and thirty minutes; the second is two hours and thirty minutes. It would be foolish of me to not utilize most of this time for class readings and homework. Often though, I am able to use some of that time to take advantage of the various features of my phone. If my time is limited in these cases, I usually just read a few articles on the BBC World News. If, however, I find myself finished with the daily news and still unoccupied, I will watch a television episode on my phone. When I get home, my first priority is to finish the day's work, if there is any left. After that, I spend anywhere from one to four hours on either Facebook or watching television episodes on Netflix or Hulu.
Relative to others my age, I don't feel that my media diet is too heavy. I feel the most interest aspect of it is that it truly demonstrates technological convergence. In the last week, I only watched one normal television program, and I only did that because this particular program takes a week to post new episodes on Hulu. I do still find the television useful for streaming the Netflix instant watch feature, but it isn't anything that I can't do on my computer. I also don't have a land line, so almost all of my media consumption is through two devices: my cell phone and my computer. If I were to make any changes to my media diet, it would be to perhaps put a bit more priority on reading current news.
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