My Media Diet

I recorded my media diet from 10/19-10/25, and the results were both revealing and common:

10/19
5 hours of TV; mostly comedy and a couple movies, also comedy
2 hours of reading; all for school but Arabic fiction, Philosophy and an article for this class
Less than 1 hour on the internet; mostly for school but checked email too
10/20
4 hours of TV; a couple action movies, one comedy show
2 hours of reading; all for school (Philosophy)
2 hours of internet; doing homework, email and just messing around
10/21
3 hours of TV; all comedy shows
Less than 1 hour of reading; all for school (Arabic fiction and history)
Less than 1 hour of internet; just messing around and checking email
10/22
3 hours of TV; all Arabic film (documentary and fiction)
No reading
Less than 1 hour of internet; checking email, responding to blog and camino posts
10/23
Less than 1 hour of TV
No Reading
No Internet
10/24
3 hours of TV; some comedy some drama shows
4 hours of reading; all for school (Philosophy, articles for this class and Arabic history)
Less than 1 hour internet; checking email
10/25
4 hours of TV; all comedy shows
2 hours of reading; all for school
Less than 1 hour internet; email and messing around

Most of the shows I watched weekly were and are comedy shows like South Park, The Office, Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia and Community. Other than those and a few other random shows, I watched movies which were also mostly comedy. This is saying something about not only my favorite genre of media, but America's in a way; Most of the TV shows that are on at the "prime time" are divided between drama and comedy. This became apparent to me after going through this whole process. Even action and mystery shows now are mostly drama. 

It is also interesting to see my reading schedule. The more I have to read for school the less I read for my own benefit, though reading itself is always good. I also found that I have set times when I do read, either in the middle of the day or later at night. I do wish I could change my reading habits though; if I could read all the books I wanted while going to school it might help school and myself. Now it is simply a matter of time.

What I am the most surprised with is my internet and computer usage. Over the summer I used to use my computer so much more, but now I seem to only use it for checking email (multiple times a day some days), messing around news sites and doing homework. Given our talks and articles about the digital divide, this highlights how those who have the ability to be on the internet or on a computer use them less than those who don't have computers or the internet. I do wish I used my computer more, but honestly internet phones seem to be taking center stage.

Response to #2: Making Room for a Revolution

There were a lot of things talked about in the last class as well as in the reading that spurred my thought about social networking and privacy. Everything from our privacy ever-changing due to the internet, with Facebook at the forefront, to the very structure of society is affected by our internet lives. These days, there is hardly a hole out there that5 the internet has left empty. Many of us, including those with eccentricities, have an outlet in the internet to go shopping, surfing and even set up our own individual blogs and websites. If we forget our own privacy, we are susceptible to the pitfalls of an increasingly dangerous internet. An example of this “increasing danger” is that most computers and laptops nowadays have cameras in them. One program that this allowed was called “chat roulette” where anyone could be connected to another computer with a camera. One can imagine the possibilities…

The age of chat roulette has passed, but it has opened another door I think. Another door to numbing our objective privacy standards, allowing us to see where our world is heading; a place where every individual will have to watch their virtual self as well as their physical self.

You see, to me what Facebook is doing is not all that bad. In an increasingly global world, we are going to have to start dealing with more and more different types of people. For example, there are already many shows making fun of our connection to India regarding customer service (Outsourced, NBC). There are and have been hundreds of movies portraying what is, what can be and what could have been with our technology and privacy (Eagle Eye, The Matrix, etc.). The bottom line is that we cannot necessarily stop technology, so we must learn to grow with it; we must know it takes personal responsibility to participate in Facebook and everything like it. Our privacy is challenged in globalization, and to know our own limits will help us in the future when more change comes.

There are some benefits that can come from this entanglement though. Other than the obvious (people can connect instantly even if they are across the world), the relationship between us and our technology can get us information faster, taper to our likes and dislikes (sometimes this is a bad thing) in and out of advertising, and even remind us things we would have otherwise forgot. This is exactly what technology should do for us, be the helper that we always need. There are drawbacks though. Other than growing dependent on our technology, we can come to grow obsessed with it. We have all had friends that will seem to be on Facebook for hours. I am embarrassed to say I have done this before, bored with nothing to do.

It is useful to worry about our Facebook; after all, it is a part of ourselves we are just putting out there. But it is something that has to do with our personal responsibility. I have worried about this in the past, but a couple years ago I just grew out of it. Maybe it had something with the length I had had Facebook (2005), maybe not. Either way, I still can see the good weighing more than the bad which is why I never deleted my Facebook. For me, it is useful keeping in touch with a sister who lives in Germany and a Dad who lives in England. Everyone is different though. This is the Social Networking Revolution.