Let’s start with my smart phone; after all it is probably the thing that contributes most to my exposure to media. I have the blackberry bold, courtesy of t-mobile. Not only do I use this device for its primary purpose, being a telephone, but I also use it to text message, e-mail, browse the internet, listen to music, and update my Facebook and Twitter accounts. Talk about convergence! Who would have thought 10 years ago that a device with all these capabilities would even exist? I know I didn’t, but I do know I have noticed that as each year goes by, the amount of media consumed by individuals goes up, and I’m not the only one whose noticed! “In the year 2009, it was estimated that a person uses consumer media for 3,555 hours per year" (Media and Culture). I’m not sure how many minutes or hours a day I spend on my phone and I’m not sure I want to know, however it really is a helpful and necessary tool of the 21st century.
(courtesy of mobilitysite.com)
The thing which contributes to my exposure to media the most NEXT to my smart phone, would have to be my laptop aka the internet. I use the two interchangeably, because nowadays what is the point of a laptop without the internet. At least for me, if for some reason I am not able to access the internet on my laptop, I don’t have much use for it. Everyone is using the internet these days, and when I say everyone, I mean EVERYONE. “37% of Americans 65 or older go online where as 92% of those between 18 and 29 go online” (Media and Culture). I mean how could they not be? It is a huge resource for everything across the board, from research and factual information to entertainment to communication. In an average day, I use the internet to access information relating to schoolwork, to communicate with others through my e-mail, instant messaging, and social platforms like Facebook and Twitter, to listen to music, to watch videos, to shop, to read, and the list just keeps on going. I cannot imagine life without the internet.
(courtesy of carefulmarketing.com)
Not only do I use the internet for all that I mentioned above, but also to access other forms of media, such as newspapers. I have never been a big newspaper reader. Perhaps it was because up until I got to college, I didn't find it necessary. I find the news to be very boring and saddening at times also. So I just never found the time to pick one up. It wasn’t until newspapers started publishing online that I started to dabble with them a bit. “By 2008, most U.S. newspapers offered some kind of online news service to keep up with digital times” (Media and Culture). Thanks to this convergence and the convenience of RSS feeds, I have been able to pay attention to the news better, which is great. Newspapers definitely give you a better understanding about what's going on in the world around us and can be very helpful for anything we are doing in our lives.
(courtesy of overtonecomm.blogspot.com)
If you really want to get me interested in reading something, magazines are the way to do it. I would choose to read a magazine over a newspaper any day. There are probably a few reasons for this. One being how much more appealing they look than newspapers. Not only are they filled with tons of articles and information, but they are also always covered in pictures and main headlines of the magazine that just draw your attention to them. Between the repetition and beautiful people on the covers of the magazine, people just can’t resist them. Another reason I like magazines is that the subject matter of each one is narrowed down. “Magazines traded their mass audience for smaller, discrete audiences that could be guaranteed to advertisers” (Media and Culture 296). Magazines used to be more general but as the years have passed, magazine companies decided to have a more specific target market. This way, if I want I want to read the news I know to turn to Time Magazine, if I want to read about food and fun recipes for the holidays Food Network Magazine is the way to go, etc. On top of all of that, magazines are great to browse while waiting in line at the grocery store!
(courtesy of thefrugalgirls.com)
While we’re on the topic of reading, books are another form of media which we are surrounded by all the time. Unfortunately I have not read something other than a textbook in a very long time. Being a college student, it has been hard to find the time to read any books for my own personal pleasure. However books can be one of the most powerful media experiences there is. Books have been a huge part of our society’s culture for a very long time, and their popularity is still growing. “From the mid-1980s to 2008, total book revenues went from $9 billion to $24.3 billion” (Media and Culture). Books are still one of the largest markets out there! Hopefully I will soon be able to find the time to read a book for my own personal pleasure. If I do, it will have to be The Shallows by Nicholas Carr, recommended by my fabulous Mass Media and Society professor.
(courtesy of usatoday.com)
Books can be a great form of entertainment; however I would have to say my favorite media for entertainment would be movies. Watching movies is a major pastime of mine. I fall asleep watching a movie almost every night. If I had to chose, my three favorite movies would be The Eternal Sunshine for the Spotless Mind, What Dreams May Come, and Inception. All great movies that I can watch over and over and never get sick of them. I am certainly not one in a million when it comes to movies. It is amazing how huge an industry it has become. In fact, The Dark Knight, another one of my favorite movies, “made back its budget its opening weekend ($158 million)” (Media and Culture). Unreal. I already can’t wait to see what movies will come out in 2011!
I am definitely a bigger fan of movies over television, however it is still a big part of our society’s culture and has been for a while now. "By the end of the 1950s, television had become a dominant mass medium and cultural force, with more than 90 percent of US households owning at least one set" (Media and Culture 150). I do find myself watching TV quite often, or at least having it on in the background of whatever else I’m doing, however DVR and OnDemand are two things I find necessary for television. I just cannot be a slave to programmed television. With DVR I can record the shows I want to watch that I am going to miss and OnDemand just gives me a plethora of options of different shows to watch. Without these tools, I wouldn’t enjoy television very much at all.
Finally, the last form of media I use as entertainment is the radio. When I was in high school, I used to drive 45 minutes to school every morning. Therefore I had a lot of radio time on the way to and from school every day. I really enjoyed it at the time, because my music taste essentially came from the ‘Top 40’ at the time. "Although the term Top 40 derived from the number of records stored in a jukebox, this format came to refer to the forty most popular hits in a given week as measured by record sales" (Media and Culture 126). Music is my absolute favorite form of media, however since high school my music taste has expanded and much of the music I want to listen to is not played on the radio. Plus the radio tends to play the same songs over and over all day long which can get extremely annoying.
(courtesy of nytimes.com)
Whether I have a positive or negative feeling towards different media, the fact of the matter is that I am surrounded by it each and every day. Media are inescapable and affect all of us, all of the time. Unless you live in complete seclusion, it would be extremely hard to shield yourself from it. However I am not sure why anyone would want to. Although we may find certain media unnecessary and perhaps even annoying, we can learn a lot from media. It is a necessary and helpful part of our society.
