Blog 1: 24 hour Media Diary

Consuming media is an inevitable part of the day in the 21st century. While we may want to avoid it for our own sanities, everything around us in our daily lives is a source of media. Unless you’re living in the middle of nowhere without a phone, internet or anyone else around you you’re bound to consume some sort of media. Even then, books, magazines, and radio are still media!

While examining my media consumption for 24 hours I realized I consume a lot of media without even realizing it. From waking up to check the news (but when I say news I mean more, like, reading the titles of the top stories for The Washington Post, People and whatever is on Apple’s Featured News Spotlight) to the weather app to driving to work and looking at an ad on a bus I’m constantly consuming. Even when I put my phone down and think I’m sitting with just myself I grab a book and realize I’m still consuming. Is it impossible to stop? Can we actually do a media fast without secluding ourselves in the middle of nowhere?

After I’m done with the news and weather I wander my thumb over to my Email account. It’s impossible not to! Apple makes it so convenient to have all your Email accounts just linked together. And when I see a notification there, even just one…I just have to click it.

After this I have to see if my Amazon package is arriving today. I got my cat Flea medication and I have to act fast since he just had an intense flea bath last night.

Only a few minutes of consciousness and I’m already trekking through the internet like it’s nobody’s business.

I’m just hoping I made the right decision in oral medication…just to double check let meGoogle the medication and see if there are any reviews that aren’t on amazon. Some of those reviews are just so fake.

After debating on whether or not I made the right call and seeing some amazing, and some god awful reviews I find myself on Reddit … and then I trail along to Youtube, Pinterest, take a break from scrolling and find myself watching The Great on Hulu as I get ready for work.

I’m in more-more-more mode. Can I just sit still? Get ready in silence? I don’t know at this point.

I’m sitting in my car about to drive to work but first I gotta plug my phone in and play Spotify. I mean, I get it free from Starbucks anyway. I gotta take advantage of that, right? Plus, there’s 38 minutes of traffic. I’m not just gonna sit there in silence.

I’m at work. Finally, I’ll just be in the moment. Nope. I get a text from my manager on something she forgot to do while she was here. Got it…now to go on the Ipad and make a repair ticket for the Ice Machine. But wait, there is an instruction video. Maybe I can do it myself.

I don’t think I’ll ever be able to disconnect.

Throughout my day I am bombarded with various forms of media. Some of my own choosing and others not so much. Every corner of my day is filled with something and some sort of information. I never realized that there is never just nothing. I’m so used to being surrounded by advertisements, sounds, information, distractions and forces of media of all kinds.

Although I use so many media sources I think some of the most credible are the ones I use at work. Through our private server we have access to certain types of information and media that are work-related. Because our server is private it feels safer to hackers and it is only official and secure websites we have access to. Although that doesn’t mean the websites and various forms of media I consume on my own are any less credible. I make a conscious effort to be mindful when consuming media although it is second nature at this point. I follow a regular routine and stay skeptical of sources of media that are foreign to me. Although this makes it easy to have a bias and prefer only to consume things I’m familiar with, it keeps me within my realm of credible sources. I trust the websites I use, the news I read and the things I listen to. According to ASU News Co/Lab’s Principles for Media Consumers it is important to go out of your comfort zone and do triple the research when consuming media so we can be clear of our own biases. I think that’s what Media Literacy is all about, being skeptical and doing your research instead of blindly taking in what you’re told.