I originally chose this FYO because I was interested to see how media affected us in our daily lives because it is so prevalent in today’s culture. This class has made me more aware of how often I mindlessly use media whether it is for school or leisure. I appreciated the discussions every week because we were able to share our personal experiences with media, comparing and contrasting with each other. The most memorable assignment to me was probably the handwritten letter we had to write in the first weeks because it made me think about how drastically media has changed throughout the years. Overall I had a great experience with this class and would definitely recommend others to take it!

This week I logged my media usage again on Friday and Saturday. On Friday, as usual, I was using media in both of my classes of the day, using my laptop to take notes referring to the slideshows presented on the projector. Walking to these classes I was, of course, using my phone to listen to music to keep myself preoccupied. After classes I had breakfast while watching an episode on Netflix and working on assignments that were due next week. For the rest of the day I was back in my dorm doing laundry, but I was still using media to work on a PowerPoint and Excel spreadsheet while waiting for my laundry. After my laundry was finished I was able to wind down and watch another episode on Netflix.  I even took a nap before dinner so I didn’t use media for about 2 hours.

I noticed that my media usage on this weekday was significantly less than my media usage last Thursday where I was constantly using media. I think the circumstances of having so many tests to prepare for last week impacts the media usage because this time I did not need to be studying as much for something. I had assignments to work on Friday but they did not take long because I was working it in parts whereas studying for a test is long and treacherous.

Saturday was gameday so the circumstances for the weekend were skewed again since my typical weekend doesn’t consist of attending home games. My media usage this Saturday compared to last was significantly less again because I didn’t have to study for a test. Instead I could enjoy a football game in person. During the tailgates and football game I was using my phone occasionally as one naturally tends to do, but the service was terrible so I actually wasn’t using my phone that much. I socialized with my friends and watched the dawgs win. For the rest of the night I watched Netflix and hung out with a friend.

Logging my media usage again this week just confirmed my discovery last week– that I actually use media way more on the weekdays than on the weekends. Though I do have to do schoolwork on the weekends, I still find the time to put it away and enjoy the real life company of my friends and other events happening around me. The weekdays I found are solely dedicated to mostly schoolwork which requires media, and the weekends are more for face-to-face contact and leisurely use of media.

From logging my media usage on Thursday and Saturday I surprisingly found that I used media less on the weekend day versus the weekday. It was probably the circumstances of the week’s events that made it so because I would have expected my media use to be much higher on the weekend rather than on the weekday.

This past Thursday I was using media pretty much constantly. During the week I tend to spend most of my time alone, especially in between classes, so walking to and from classes I am always using my phone to listen to music or look at social media. Once I get to class though I will put my phone away; however, I then pull out my laptop to take notes. In class I am reading from the professor’s projector screen and simultaneously typing up notes in Word. On Thursdays I have MIST where we learn how to master Excel so I have to use my laptop for the class anyway.  After MIST I listened to music again on my way back to my dorm just to go watch a quick episode on Netflix before my next class in another hour. The other class I had on Thursday was my History of Rock n Roll class where I also use my laptop to take notes while simultaneously looking at the projector screen where the notes are displayed. In this class we listen to examples of the music genres we learn about so I was still using media nonstop. After class ended I went to have lunch by myself, but I also preoccupied myself by studying for a bio test, looking at notes on eLC while eating. For the rest of the day I was studying for tests I had. My geography test was Friday so from 8pm to almost 2am my friend and I were in the MLC studying, constantly looking at our laptops to refer to and edit the Google Doc of the study guide we created while writing notes on a whiteboard. Everything I needed to study for the day I needed to use my laptop so I couldn’t get away from media usage.

On Saturday one of my best friends visited me from KSU, and we were able to have some quality bonding time. She came in the evening around 6, so before her arrival I was studying bio at the MLC for 4 hours because I knew I wouldn’t be studying later since I had to host. With her I found myself actually using media less than Thursday because we could talk in person and catch up with each other. Nothing on our phones seemed to be interesting us more than each other’s company. For a good 2 or 3 hours we just sat in my dorm just talking and catching up with some friends she hadn’t seen in a while that also go to UGA. We had a nice night in and watched a movie on Netflix like we always used to do.

It surprised me that I used media way more on a weekday than on a weekend day, but I think that happened because of the timing of events. Having 2 tests to study for definitely made me use media more while having my best friend to host got me to put the media down and enjoy her company without the technology, at least for a little bit.

All the articles suggested first googling yourself to see what your presence is like on the internet. When I googled myself however I did not find any links to any of my social media profiles, nor did I find any images of me. The only results that came up were of a horror movie director with the same name as me. Knowing this, I realized my settings for my social media accounts were previously privatized years ago when I first made my accounts. People can still find me if they search my name on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, but I remembered that in my settings I tried to keep it to where only friends of friends or mutual followers could view my profile.

When I was younger I was always cautious and more private about my social media accounts because I was warned and wary about the dangers of internet stalking and strangers. As I grew up however I realized I could provide a little more information in my bio and let people find me more easily because social media was becoming the main way  for connecting and communicating with others.

The only social media account that I really audited most recently is my Facebook. For me, Facebook is where I mostly keep in touch with relatives and old teachers. Because of that, I already am aware and cautious with my posts; I only keep my Facebook friends updated on milestones and important life events going on, or I’ll share the occasional Tasty video. Knowing that potential employers would most likely view my Facebook, I went through my tagged photos and hid/untagged myself from pictures that I did not want showing up on my profile. My settings are already set to where I have to approve of certain posts showing up on my timeline just because I like to keep my profile clean.

I don’t think I have a “personal brand,” and I don’t think I need one. There isn’t anything particularly surprising or provocative about my social media; it just represents who I am. My Twitter is full of dumb thoughts that fit into 140 characters, my Instagram is just pictures with friends at fun events, and my Facebook is old, embarrassing middle school photos with new, current college updates. I don’t try to keep up an aesthetic or an aura because it’s just social media. I am cautious of what I post because I know posts are forever and it could give a bad impression with potential future employers, but social media presence as a non-celebrity or college student shouldn’t be a big deal. Whatever I post I know for a fact someone has only looked at it for maybe 5 seconds before scrolling onto the next exciting thing on the screen. People’s presence on social media is mostly fleeting.

This article intrigued me because it gave me insight into the psychological effects that technology has on us. We are subconsciously addicted to our smartphones and social media, constantly checking to see if we have any new notifications or not, even if we don’t hear the phone buzz because maybe we just didn’t hear it. Seeing the screen light up with notifications gives people a certain satisfaction because they’re getting attention and appreciation from people not within the vicinity. Apps are definitely designed to manipulate their users by offering sorts of prizes with followers, likes, comments, and views. It gives users a satisfaction that the content they’re posting seems important, entertaining, or exciting.

When I read about the strategies that Snapchat uses to keep its users addicted, I realized that I was unfortunately guilty of succumbing to their tactics. Snapstreaks make it easier for you to talk to certain people constantly, and it feels almost accomplishing when you can get to triple digit streaks. I definitely have given my friend my login information just to keep up streaks while I was on vacation before.

While I do think social media is worth the time because they are platforms for communication, sharing, and memories, I think I spend more time on it than I should. I believe apps should be curated to be more organic and user-friendly so that we can balance our lives in the real and digital world. It almost seems sad that it makes people angsty if they go too long without checking their phone, but the app creators are also responsible for sucking up users’ time and attention by the design of an app.

I interviewed a friend two years older than me who attends a small, private college in California. I chose her to interview because I knew our social media habits were drastically different because she goes to a much smaller school than UGA and the way we socially interact with others differs as well.

I have always noticed I used social media way more than she used to; I had Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram, and Facebook all before she ever had the chance to download the apps. She never had a smartphone until she finally upgraded a few years ago. Though she still does not have a Facebook, she has since gotten a Twitter, Snapchat, and Instagram. In the interview she confesses that she has increased her social media use, checking all of them for at least one hour a day, upwards towards four hours if it is during a less stressful time in the school year. After I came to UGA, I started using social media less than I did in high school so our habits are relatively equal now in checking social media. In high school my friend was homeschooled and had very small classes. She did not really use social media because of that and since she also did not have easy access to apps without a smartphone.

Of all the social media, I use Snapchat and Instagram the most now and check Twitter and Facebook occasionally out of pure boredom when I have run out of things to check. Unlike me, my friend uses Instagram out of boredom but checks Twitter regularly. However; we both use Snapchat as often as each other because we have a 216 day streak and we snapchat constantly.

Another difference between us is how private we are. My social media is private to a certain extent, but I will share details in the bio description whereas my friend will hide as much information from strangers as possible, keeping her posts exclusive to her friends’ feeds. She also does not post anything particularly provocative or incriminating on her social media, and I would like to think I do not either.  However, for future reference I could probably be more cautious about what I post keeping in mind future employers.

It is interesting to see how individuals use social media differently due to their surroundings and media ecology. I learned how habits differ based on what people choose to see and why they interact with certain platforms of social media.

I agree with a lot of the claims of Jacob Silverman from Terms of Service. I think people subconsciously post things on social media for the small gratification and recognition they get from likes, shares, views, and comments. Instagram and Snapchat easily allow for you to show off to certain audiences where you’re at and what you’re doing. It’s almost like “we” need people to know we are having a good time without them, wanting them to wish they were here with us wherever we are. Social media even allows for some people to be so petty to the point where they will purposefully not like a post or view a snapchat. It gets that serious sometimes even though it should not be that deep at all. I am guilty of posting certain pictures just because I do want people to see what I have been up to, but I do manage to put my phone away to actually enjoy the event. I like to go through my pictures later and reminiscence on memories so documenting my nights isn’t a huge taboo to me, but if I forget it’s not the end of the world. It’s nice to see what other people are up to nowadays, especially since everyone is at different colleges, so I don’t mind people’s intention of posting certain pictures.

Since I came to UGA I have noticed people use Twitter less frequently, and they use Snapchat more. Every Snap Story you see from old high school friends is in a different setting with different people. Twitter cannot convey that through 140 characters, and like I said in my last blog post about media ecology, there is a different audience in college that you are “entertaining.” People checked Twitter back in high school because the tweets would be relatable since everyone you knew was in the same city; it acted like one big GroupMe. People in college don’t have time to check Twitter because they’re out making new friends, studying, or getting involved. Snapchat allows for people to give a look to old and new friends snippets of their life. It also serves as a self-gratification device because if we are going to be honest, the original poster will watch his or her Snapchat Story over and over again more than anyone else will. We put so much subconscious thought into our stories, wondering if people will think they’re fun or funny because we want people to know what we’re doing.

People still use social media for its original intent– interacting and communicating with others; however, there has been a shift in the way we use it. There is the pressure now of maintaining an internet reputation, an updated profile, and an exciting feed because it portrays your life in one screen to thousands of “followers.”

I’ve noticed the media ecology of UGA and college in general is different than that of high school. In high school I remember I could always refresh my Twitter feed, and new tweets would appear every few minutes. Twitter was a pastime all students would look to when they were distracting themselves in class. It was a platform where we could all share short, relatable thoughts with each other while we were all in class. People always tried to tweet funny things for recognition, retweets, and favorites; they could interact with new people and other friends through witty, silly impressions.

In contrast, college has changed how my friends and I use Twitter. First, we barely check the app at all. Everyone is at different universities and not in class at the same time so the feed doesn’t update with new tweets as often. We’re not all in the same school anymore so the Twitter audience can’t relate anymore like in high school. Second, college is so full of new and exciting experiences that we find ourselves on our phones less often and are out interacting with new people face-to-face. Third, there are potential employers now that students need to look out for. Social media is forever, and it could seriously give one a bad reputation, hindering employment opportunities. People are more cautious now in college about what they post because there are a multitude of new and unprofessional things one could share on social media.

Personally, I do not think email is becoming or will become a legacy medium. The form of email between professor and student holds a standard of professionalism that texting, Facebook, and WhatsApp lack.

Students in high school were never taught how to properly email teachers which is why they enter college clueless about email etiquette. However, the high school teacher-student relationship is probably more relaxed and casual compared to the college professor-student relationship. Whenever I would email teachers in high school though I would always try to keep the email as respectful as possible because I knew they would be taking time out of their day to read and respond to me. I have never thought about casually addressing a teacher in email because I understand there is a professional relationship that still needs to be maintained.

I think especially in college that professors need to be addressed in correct email etiquette because as our educators they need to be shown respect in their rightful positions of authority and expertise. Email etiquette also shows that students know the proper way to address others in a professional manner, such as potential employers. Professors are used to writing in such a formal manner because they have to address other professors and coworkers with the same respect when making a special request. For students, they are used to addressing each other via texts in shorthand notation so formal emails in a letter template seem almost foreign.

Hopefully email as a media stays relevant because texting professors or Facebook messaging them would seem really weird and too casual for an educational setting.

One piece of residual media that my family has completely abandoned is cable TV. Recently a few months ago my dad switched from using DirecTV to completely relying on antenna TV. Though it seems like we were reverting back to a an almost obsolete media, what made us switch was the emergent media of Netflix and other online streaming sources.

Because I have Netlflix, Amazon Prime, Youtube, and other online streaming sources I have an infinite library of movies and TV shows at my finger tips, available to me whenever I need them. It allows me the ability to watch shows on my own schedule instead of keeping up with shows weekly, anxiously waiting for the new episode to come out. Instead I can just wait for a season to come out on Netflix or possibly find the new episode somewhere else online. It also saves me money because I can also just wait for movies to come out online too.

With DirecTV there were over 300 channels we could watch, but barely watched half of them. I only ever watched cable TV for all the cooking shows I never actually learned from to kill time after school or kept it on as background noise for other activities I would be doing around the house. My parents only ever watched local news channels or sports games, and the antenna is still able to provide that same entertainment, just limiting what games my dad can watch.

It is ironic how an emergent media allowed for a residual media to come back; however, because my parents are more old school and do not comply to newer technologies, I am the only one that uses the internet as my new source of TV entertainment.