Media Diet

Day 1

10am- alarm on phone

10-11:43- txt and Internet check Facebook about 15 min usage

12-1- internet/entertainment

2:15-3:20- class/ procrastinate

4pm talk on phone

9-3 on comp for entertainment

Total= 8hrs

Day 2

9:10- alarm on phone, use texting

11:40- Use smart phone to check Facebook

1:40-2:10 check email, Facebook, and use word

Total= 1hr

Day 3

11:30-txt

12:40- iPod for 30mins while working out

1:50-alarm clock on phone

3:40-4pm--check email, Facebook

7-10:30pm -check email, txt, Facebook (all while writing a paper and studying religion)

11-3am- watch TV on Comp, txt, Facebook, music video search on YouTube

Total= 9hrs

Day 4

9:20 – alarm on phone

11:40-11:50- checking email on phone between classes

1:40-3:30pm –Google searched, Facebook and entertainment

5-6 Watched entertainment TV, and Facebook

11-1:30am-Facebook, TV and iTunes searching, StumbleUpon

Total= 6hrs

Day 5

10:30- phone alarm

7-8- Facebook, TV shows

Occasional texting on the phone throughout the day about 2 hrs altogether

Total= 4hrs

Overall total= 28hrs

            Recording the amount of time I spend using technology and media was a difficult task, even though it seemed simple at the start. It was hard because using these technologies is second nature and so it was almost like I was using it subconsciously, plus it’s kind of embarrassing seeing how much of my day I spend unproductively and yet seem to complain that there aren’t enough hours in the day. The main sites I frequented were Facebook, sidereel, stumbleupon, and youtube. Facebook did have a monopoly on my time when I look back on my recordings.

In my Communication 2 class I did an assignment similar to this where we first filled out a survey of how we viewed our media use, and then we actually monitored our usage and found that we used media way more than we thought we did. I feel my media consumption is about par with the average 16-25 year old demographic. My average daily usage from the information of this five day period is about 5.6 hours, if I remember correctly from class the national average is about 4.5 hours. My personal media consumption on a broader tense is hard to pin point since one person cannot account for all of the American population but I do think it shows that not all American youths are con their computers for the majority of the day. Yes I might be slightly addicted to Facebook, but there are days where I spend little to no time on a computer.

I believe being a college student greatly influences my use of media and technology. We have to use it not only for school but for a way to relieve stress and stay in touch. It’s easy as a student to shut yourself off from the rest of the world all you have to do is stay in your room study and attend class, but we need to stay in touch and so we utilize the resources we have in front of us. Saying that I hope to cut back my media usage, when I say the total number of hours I spent in only five days on Facebook or surfing the internet I realized I could be sleeping or hanging out with friends. So my plan is to cut back on my daily intake of media to spend more time sleeping, hanging out with friend and since I must studying.