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.

After logging my media last week, I noticed that I use media a lot more than I really thought I did, so I thought that this week I would try and use media less.  This started off going pretty well for about a day until I suddenly got really sick on Sunday. There is not much to do when you are sick expect watch TV, scroll through social media, and listen to music, which all require constant media usage. I found myself constantly being glued to either my phone, the TV, or both at the same time because there didn’t seem like there was anything else for me to do. The media sort of served as my sole entertainment and distraction for this week that I was sick. I did not count how long I was on media, but if I had, it most likely would have been 10.5 out of the 12 hours that I was awake each day. After a while my eyes would start to hurt probably from staring at screens for too long, but that didn’t stop me from checking my social medias or watching a new movie.

While this may have been an unusual week, I still think that I use media way more than I should. One thing that I learned from trying to use media less is that I am addicted to media. The more I tried to stop, the more I wanted to check snapchat to see if anyone had updated their story in the past twenty seconds or watch yet another episode on Netflix. Even while writing this blog post, I noticed myself reaching for my phone and scrolling through Instagram, Facebook, and Snapchat to see if anything new was happening. Even though I knew that there would be nothing new to see, I kept checking out of instinct.

I inputted my media usage observed last week into bar graphs and included a trend line to note any patterns in my usage. As I had noted in my previous blog post, my media throughout the week gradually increases as the day goes on. I tend to take a break from school after I’m finished with classes, either watching Netflix or checking my Twitter updates. On the weekend, with more free time on my hands, I tend to use media more consistently, as illustrated by the trend line. My average total numbers of hours of media usage on the weekends exceeds that of the amount on a weekday.

This past week, I also tried to modify my media usage. I started off strong, attempting to avoid any sort of unnecessary form of media (usually a social media platform) while doing my homework. Even though I tried to “avoid” media, I still ended up having to use different forms of media to complete my homework assignments, including eLC, WebAssign, etc. As a result, I ended up getting work done more efficiently, but this only lasted for a day or two, as a result of the election. The election results made staying away from an excessive intake of media almost impossible. I was always either watching the news, checking Twitter, or watching Snapchat stories of the election results. I found it interesting at how active certain social media platforms become and how users come together as a result of these nationwide matters.

Apologies for yet another late posting, my weekends are always very chaotic with work.

I chose to record my media usage on Thursday and Saturday. The results were nothing out of the ordinary. I didn’t expect them to be much different. I don’t have classes on Thursday, so you would think I would be spending most of my free time focusing on media, but that wasn’t the case really. I checked social media when I woke up around 11 for about thirty minutes. I didn’t have any school work to do so I wasn’t having to read any media at all throughout the entire day. I spend the majority of my time with friends so the only time I really am using media is when I am posting a snapchat story. I posted three on Thursday and they were all related to what I was doing with my friends at the time. We did listen to the radio to and from dinner, but other than that I didn’t use media again until I got back into my dorm. That is when I got on my phone and checked all of the basics (twitter, instagram, facebook, and snapchat) for nearly 2 hours. So while that is a little absurd, I’d like to say my lack of media throughout the day made up for it.

Saturday I worked a double shift at Red Lobster so I had zero time to actually use media in any sense. I checked my social media for a few minutes before work and then I checked them again after work for about an hour. While I was at work I didn’t check my phone once. I went nearly ten hours without checking it. That’s how my weekends usually go unless there is a football game or concert. I am just too busy to put time towards that.

Throughout both of these days there was one media that I failed to log, but know that I used VERY frequently. That was recorded music. I listen to music at all times of the day no matter where I am – even at work. I’ve learned the lyrics to nearly every song that comes on at Red Lobster now because of how often I’m there. Music is a media that plays a very large role in my life.

I logged my social media use on Thursday and on Saturday last week, and was honestly not that surprised by the results. I know that I use media  a lot, definitely too much. What I noticed on Thursday in my 75 minute classes, is that I could hardly focus for more than 15 minutes without checking my phone. I also noticed when I was trying to study that I had to take numerous “phone breaks”. I often think about how much better I would be doing in my classes if I didn’t constantly check my phone. Even after class on Thursday the first thing I do is get on my phone. For me is something idle to do as I’m walking around campus by myself, or sitting in my dorm room. I had a social on Thursday night, and even then I was on my phone snapchatting with my friends.

Saturday I had a different schedule, but still used my media a lot. I went to breakfast with my friends and on a long walk, so I didn’t use my phone as much as I usually would during that time. I also spent a lot of time on Netflix, and online shopping. I was not surprised by how much I saw myself on my phone or using other medias, but it still concerns me to see it written down on paper. I definitely think that in this generation the go to thing to do in your down time or any time is to get on your phone and check your media, even if you’ve already checking it 5 times in the last 5 minutes. It’s turned into a bad habit for most, including for me.

I logged my media usage on Thursday and Saturday and I wasn’t really surprised because I know that I use media that much. The only thing that threw me off was seeing on paper exactly what I was doing with my phone. On Thursday I had 2 classes that were 75 minutes long so I didn’t spend a lot of time on my phone. I noticed that on Thursday I spent a lot of time on my phone when I was on the bus or when I was eating alone. Sometimes, I would get distracted if I was not focusing on getting my homework done. On Saturday, I had a lot more free time so I ended up spending more time on my phone. I had friends visit so that helped in making me get off my phone. I usually spend more time on my phone on the weekends because I have a lot more time on my hands.

At the end of these days after analyzing these two days I realized that I should reduce the amount of leisure time I spend on my phone. Although I knew that I spend a lot of time on my phone, after looking at it on the paper, written down, I realized that I spend a lot more time than I’d like. However, I think that I don’t spend mindless time on Instagram. I’ve recently started working on only being on social media when I actually have to respond to people.

I decided to log Friday and Saturday because those were the two days I thought I would use media the most, so I was interested to see how much media I used on the days I used it the most. I thought I would use it more on Saturday than on Friday, but I was surprised to find out it was the opposite.

I used social media for the first time at 9:00 am when I woke up and scrolled through Instagram, pretty much the first thing I do every morning. I continued to use media throughout the day, like listening to music while walking from class to chilling in my dorm watching Netflix. I had a lot of homework to due this weekend, so naturally I procrastinated and watched a lot of Netflix. That was pretty much all I did Friday because I’m done with class at 12:00. I periodically checked my various social media accounts throughout the day, mostly just Instagram and Snapchat. I went to dinner and hung out with friends Friday night, so I really wasn’t on social media too much after 7:00 except to take a snapchat or two with one of my friends.

On Saturday, I continued to put off homework by watching Netflix and online shopping. I got on Instagram when I woke up like usual, but I didn’t check it again until around mid-afternoon. When I did get on it again, I (regretfully) spent about 15 minutes scrolling through the explore page looking at random accounts. I started to do some homework, so I made sure to put my phone away for a while. I got dinner with my sister, and then went to my friend’s dorm beside me to paint and relax with a couple of friends from our hall. I used social media occasionally to snap what I was doing to some of my friends and family back home. I got on social media and watched a little bit of Netflix before I went to bed.

This blog assignment was really interesting because I was able to see how much time I spent on media. It also opened my eyes to what could be considered media. I realized that I waste a lot of my time on media, whether it be Instagram, Snapchat, Netflix, or Youtube. I also noticed I used media more when I had homework to do and I didn’t feel like doing it. I did pretty well with making sure to put away when I was with friends, which surprised me. I didn’t use social media as much as I thought I did; my media time was mostly spent watching Netflix. All in all, this was a pretty cool “experiment” and opened my eyes to things I wasn’t aware of before. I will definitely be monitoring my time on Netflix thanks to this!

Goodness, I must not be a young person.

I say that because it seems that stereotypical young people always seem to be on their phones. Whether they’re on social media, taking pictures or doing research (this is actually a thing), they’re always on their phones.

I, on the other hand, pick up my phone when I’m around other young people. So I guess I’m only a young person when other young people are around. Honestly, I only get on Twitter  when I’m eating in a dining hall around young people, or when I’m at home with my roommate. Other than that, I don’t ever get on social media much.

Apparently, I’m just not a young person until I’m around other young people. And realizing this made me want to use my phones more. I would find myself trying to get a lot of data to analyze. Because of this, there is a lot of data that is not generally applicable to my normal everyday life. For this reason, it’s interesting to see that apparently I’m actually somewhat self-conscious about my media usage.

This media probe brought about some unexpected realizations about my media habits, specifically on social media. I logged usage on Friday the 4th and Saturday the 5th.

My Friday’s are rather uneventful days, as I only have one class beginning at 10:10. I wake up around 9 and browse through all of my social media(Snapchat, text, Bleacher Report, News, Groupme, Instagram). All of this is out of procrastination of the day and my lack of energy to get out of bed. While showering I listened to music through spotify as I usually do. On the way to class I am texting and listening to music. During class I occasionally check messages and emails as my class is a lecture class and being on my phone is not noticeably bad. However, this particular econ class prohibits the use of computers. This forces me to take notes with pen and paper which is not foreign to me. After class I went back to my rooms and actually took a 4 hour nap. Dazed and confused when I awoke, I checked just about every form of social media. I noticed that I wasn’t actually interested or even procrastinating anything, but I was actually curious and almost nervous to see if I had missed out on something in the electronic world while asleep. I move on with the day and Facetime my mom. After, I go to the gym and use spotify to listen to music. In between working out I noticed that I was browsing through instagram and responding to snapchats instead of actually being productive and working out. After the gym I ate dinner by myself and watched netflix. I went back to the dorm and did some homework and actually had to shut my phone off because I was getting nothing done. This lasted until 3 AM when I finally looked at messages before bed.

On Saturday I woke up at 2 PM very confused. Again, “Fear of Missing Out” set in and I habitually checked all forms of social media. I felt like I had to relive the part of the night that I had had my phone shut off for, as well as the entire morning. I scrolled through Instagram, snapstories, checked sports scores on Bleacher Report as well as read Fox News. I seriously felt as if I needed to be updated on my friends past 20 hours. I then went on to listen to spotify in the shower. After that I went and played Tennis with some friends and during breaks I responded to texts. After this, I went and showered and played some Xbox with minimal media exposure besides Xbox, the intended activity. Next I went to dinner with some friends and noticed my tendencies(as well as my friends) to check their phones mid conversation which definitely hindered the flow of communication.  After dinner, we watched the UGA game on TV, as well as streamed various other games on our laptops simultaneously. I was responding to texts and snapchats throughout the duration of this as well. After the game, I went to a party of which most people were taking pictures, sending snapchats, or responding to texts. I found myself doing the latter two. My night was still fun but the fact that I had my phone with me at all sort of tempered the amount of fun I could possibly have; it was always being interrupted. Before bed, as a procrastination attempt for sleep I watched Netflix. At 3 AM Creswell actually had a fire alarm go off, so I ended up snapchatting that as well along with many other students.

Overall I noticed that most of my media and social media activities were not intended. I never experience some special sort of joy or satisfaction out of the interaction. This has become a sort of habitually unnatural phenomenon in my life and seemingly in others as well. I constantly am looking at my phone not out of enjoyment but habit or need. The fact that I can actually feel like I was missing out on something when I sleep for a long period of time or shut my phone off somewhat defines this generations dependency on social Media. No matter what we are doing or have just been doing, we will always be interacting with some form 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.