Media Diary

For one of my Communications classes we had to keep a "media diary" where we logged every type of media we consumed or interacted with over a five day period.  I never realized how much media I use and how big of an influence it has on my life!  At almost any point in the day, no matter what I was doing, there was some type of media that I was consuming.  Here's a five second version of what I recorded in my media diary:

I woke up in the morning and checked my phone.  I had the tv on in the background while I was getting ready for the day.  I listened to the radio on my way to work.  I used my computer to do my job and complete tasks at work.  I went to class and watched my instructor teach using a powerpoint.  I went home and started homework, also on my computer.  I checked Facebook and Instagram on my phone.  I worked on a different homework assignment, this time reading a textbook.  I followed a recipe in a cookbook while making dinner.  I went to the gym with my headphones in.  My husband and I watched a movie before bed.  I checked Facebook and Instagram on my phone again, then used my phone to set my alarm for the next day.

Every part of my day involved media!  Honestly, I was kind of blown away at how much media usage I had recorded in a single day.  Constant media consumption is just a common part of our lives today, whether we realize it or not.  Yes, I probably use more media than the average person because I am a college student and work on the computer for my job.  But still, you just can't avoid media even if you try!

I highly recommend this exercise to anyone who is trying to use media less.  I know I've tried to be off my phone more, but when I actually started paying attention to how much I used all types of media it kind of scared me.  I'm glad that I'm more aware now of my daily media use.  I thought at the beginning of my assignment that keeping a media diary and writing a five page paper was going to be really hard, but I had so much to say that five pages wasn't enough!  Try it for yourself and you will probably be surprised at what you find. :)

Back to Basics

I have really been trying to make it a habit to go to the gym on a regular basis.  I started out just listening to music, but it doesn't entertain me or keep my mind off of exercise for very long.  So then I tried to watch tv shows while I did the elliptical, but it wasn't fast-paced enough to keep me motivated.  I tried reading, listening to conference talks, and other different types of media to keep me energized and motivated at the gym, but in the end I found that what keeps me most motivated is working out with my husband.  We don't have to have a full on conversation while running, but if we go to the gym together and walk the track or do the treadmill next to each other it keeps us going.  It made me think about all the types of media we are surrounded by, and in my case the solution to my gym boredom was not any type of electronics but my husband.  Sometimes I think we need to go back to the basics and not worry about all the devices and technology that we have.  It's given me a nice breath of fresh air. :)

Media and Self-Worth

I've been thinking a lot lately about how big of an influence media has on our confidence, self-esteem, and self-worth.  My Facebook feed is always filled with girls just begging for attention and reassurance that they are beautiful, talented, and have it all together.  They may not realize it, but post after post is negative and girls just obviously want others to compliment them and say good things.  There's nothing wrong with this I guess, but it seems like we are living in an age where everything is public.  Since this is the case, we see everything everybody does and that can take a toll on what we think of ourselves.  People have become so wrapped up in what others think of them, and their self-worth seems to be nonexistent!  It breaks my heart.  I'm not the type of girl to thrive off of what others think of me, and nobody should be like that!  We all care about what others think to some extent, but it shouldn't define us.  Media plays such a big role in this and I just wish it would play a positive role, making us more confident and raising our self-esteem!  But websites like Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, etc. make this nearly impossible.  Sometimes I have to log off of Pinterest because I find that I feel bad for myself because I don't have the perfect house, fancy meals prepared every night, a gorgeous wardrobe, or the ridiculously fit body that I see on my Pinterest feed.  I think we all just need to take a step back and remember that social media should not influence who we are by comparing ourselves to others.  I wish everyone would realize this!  You are all beautiful, and doing just fine!  You don't have to be Pinterest perfect or have the most Facebook friends to have self-worth.  We are all loved so much by our Heavenly Father and that should be what we care about most. :)

Double Tap

Okay I have an embarrassing moment that relates to media use.  This week I was in the waiting room at a doctor's office, and I picked up a magazine to look at.  While I was flipping through the pages, I found a picture that I thought was really cool.  Almost instinctively, I used my finger and "double tapped" the page.  For those of you who are familiar with Instagram, you know that when you are scrolling down your feed and you see a picture you like, all you have to do is "double tap" and a heart appears showing that you "liked" the picture.  I was so embarrassed that I had physically "double tapped" a magazine image to "like" it, when tapping it wouldn't do any good.  It really make me think that I must be on Instagram a little too much if I double tap things when I'm not even looking at a screen!  Sometimes media use takes over our lives without us even realizing it.  I'm definitely going to be putting my phone down a lot more this week :)

Behavioral Targeting

I'm taking an intro to Communications class this semester and we have been talking a lot about media.  It's been interesting to relate it to what we have been learning in Dr. Coyne's class.  Last week I posted about Facebook Ads that are targeted to us individually and how sometimes our privacy isn't as secure as we think it is!  Well in my communications class today we learned about a term called "Behavioral Targeting".  This is defined as "a technique used to increase the effectiveness of their campaigns by using information collected on an individual's web-browsing behavior to select which advertisements to display to that individual."  This is exactly what I was describing in my last post, but I didn't know the term for it.  Well, now I know that this is a real thing and is a real goal for advertisers in the media.  It's kind of unsettling that this is something so prevalent in our society today that it has an actual term and definition, and it's in textbooks!

Facebook Ads

I've recently been paying more attention to the ads I get on the sidebars of Facebook.  They seem like they are catered specifically to me - but how does Facebook know my interests and other things I view, not just on Facebook itself but on lots of other online sites?  I've had ads for specific shoes I've searched for on Nordstrom.com, different brands of makeup I've looked at on Sephora, and even office chairs I researched for my job.  I know it's all for the sake of advertising but it just seems wrong to me that somewhere somebody knows everything I'm looking at and doing!  This is one of those cases where media can go too far.  It's not like I have anything to hide, but I don't want websites taking information from me without my knowing.  It just makes me think that people are going to go further and further to find out things about us to cater advertising specifically to us.  When is this going too far?  Is it ever going to stop?  This is one part of media that I definitely do not care for!  I guess it can come in handy every so often, but I don't want to see ads for step-stools for the next six months just because I looked it up one time....