Media In My Life
Over these past 5 days I have been asked to not only record, but check my consumption of my media intake. At first I thought “ this assignment seems odd, I certainly don 't use or interact with media 8 hours on average like studies say. There 's no way”. But after these five days I can say without a doubt that my initial observations were way off target. Thought the monitoring and recording process I found that on a daily average I am exposed to about 7 hours of media a day. A number I thought I would be nowhere near at the start of the 5 day process. But by digging deeper and deeper into my actual recordings I found many of the answers to not only why my consumption was so high, but also what forms of media were making it such a high number.
One of the first things that I noticed in my closer examination of my data was that while a good amount of my media usage came for my own personal use, I found that an astonishing amount of media was thrown my way unintentionally. To be more specific on average I was exposed unintentionally to media about 1 hour everyday. I encountered this 1 hour through music played at either the Cafe or the Gym/ Rec Center. As well as many television channels such as ESPN, CNN, and TMZ all which were playing while I was at the school gym. Other examples of unwanted media that I came into contact with was fliers, banners, and poster located in or outside of the Cafe. To me these numbers were staggering and almost a wake up call, making me realize just how much I come into unwanted Media every day and it just goes over my head. Now if we switch to my personal media consumption I find my recordings to also be a little more than I expected. From what I could see the types of media...
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... was accomplished my goal of going media silent and learned that I don 't truly need Media to be in my life 24/7.
In the end this assignment was one that was not only eye-opening, but also one that had some personal fulfillment was well. I was able to truly access my own personal usage and see not only how it compared to others but also show me that I needed to really think and question myself about if I truly need to use Media as much as I currently do. Along with this the Media silent day also showed me that we don 't need to be connected with the media for our lives to function normally and that in fact we as humans can be much more productive without it, something that I was able to experience first hand over these 5 days. What I learned about my media consumption I know I will carry with me not only throughout this year but hopefully my entire life as well.
Ultimately this assignment was beneficial to my perspective on class issues. It exposed me to multitudes of informational sources ranging from mainstream to alternative. It was also interesting to see the ways in which issues are portrayed differently, and as I mentioned other the lack of blaming the system is extremely interesting. The various sources opened my eyes to the reality of media impact and control over our lives and opinions. It is difficult to see beyond the obvious appeal of corporations such as Wal-Mart, but this should be apparent to me after all these years of sociology. I think this assignment really helped me to think outside the box, and really analyze who has control; it isn’t me or you. That’s for sure.
Bryant, Jennings, and Mary Beth Oliver, eds. Media Effects: Advances in Theory and Research. Third ed. New York: Routledge, 2009. Print.
“American children between 2 and 18 years of age spend an average of 6 hours and 32 minutes each day using media (television, commercial or self-recorded video, movies, video games, print, radio, recorded music, computer, and the Internet),” claims the article citing the Kaiser Family Foundation Report in 1999. This helps to show that media is definitely a major part of a child’s life which would definitely help to make in an influence, but how does a child have time for all of this media usage between school and homework? Another statistic the author uses claims by the time a child is 18, he or she will witness over 200,000 acts of violence on television alone, stated by a Un...
Croteau, D., Hoynes, W., & Milan, S. (2012). Media/society (4th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
In my everyday life I use all sorts of media, they range from cable television, Internet, radio, and the newspaper. For myself media, is the form and technology I use to receive and communicate information. The different forms of media I was trying to avoid were cable television, the internet and radio. I figured if I could avoid those things I would be doing well in avoiding most obvious forms of mass media. What I realized as I began this whole experience this whole experience is that the mass media is an important if not the most important part of my everyday life. I use it for almost everything I do and it surrounds me.
Unquestionably the media being newspapers, internet, radio and television, influence society. They can affect, have affected and will continue to affect the progression of life in this nation and around the world, as electronic technology continues to be the chosen mode of communication for a whole generation, offering direct, often anonymous influential information.
Whether consciously aware of what is being displayed or not, media plays a substantial role in influencing consumption patterns and lifestyle. Researchers noted television's power to influence even people who are illiterate. Smith-Speck and Roy (2008) explained that even individua...
Paired with the concept of gratifications are media uses which pertain to “the function of media that fulfills the need of the audience” (West, 2011). Katz, Gurevitch, and Haas (1973), as adapted in West’s (2011) book, listed five kind of needs answered by media: cognitive, affective, personal integrative, social integrative and tension release.
The Role of Media in the Society Media has always played a huge role in our society. For a long time media is one of the methods of controlling people and leisure. In In ancient times when there was no newspapers and television, people used literature as a source of information, some books like "the Iliad", and different stories about great kings, shows those people the information about them, and how they are used. Nowadays, media is one of the main parts of our lives and our society, because we use word media, to combine all. sources of information to be used.
If one asked “What is media literacy?” a majority of people would be puzzled. Some would say that it is the ‘written’ part of media that is not usually seen or a written layout of how media should be produced. The bulk of people would say they have no idea what media literacy is. People in today’s society should be informed about media literacy. Society should be informed of what media literacy exactly is and how it applies to the field of communications.
What is Media? Did you ever wonder how we can find out information we need, or just want to know what is going on around the world? We use it in all different types of ways to retain the knowledge and communication that we use on a day to day basis. Media is one of the many ways of communication that is used to receive and deliver information to influence people across the world. The use of media is communication being advertised through televisions, radios, internet, magazines and newspapers. These are by far the main resources of how we use media to reach our audiences. Media can be classified as a forum of information that is ready to be released into the world. How we do it is entirely up to the person who withholds that information.
Perhaps the strongest foundation for media education rests in the fact that increased awareness of media transforms students from passive to active participants in society. Learners must be offered hands-on application opportunities to increase their own knowledge and enjoyment of the media. The integration of formal media analysis with media production is an essential constituent of media literacy. Creative ventures, such as television or radio production, the development of a rock video or song, photography classes, script-writing, web-page development, or hypertext projects should be made available for students' participation and perusal. Students must be exposed to various forms of communication before they can recognize logical disparities, determine the strength of an argument, evaluate mass media, and actively join our democratic society as partners.
The mass media has played a key role in shaping people’s lives. The modern society’s use of mass media including TV, radio, newspaper, as well as print media has largely influenced people’s ideas regarding themselves and the society at large. This is evident from their behavior towards themselves and their community as well as their treatment of the environment. While some experts believe that the media is to blame for most of the negative behavioral traits among the active members of society, the majority agree that the media makes people understand and develop a positive sense of association with their society within which they live, making it easy for them to identify and get their role in it.
Social Scientists say that the average American watches too much television and plays too many video games. I would agree with this, because in high school that is all I did, but not so much for me anymore. Back when I was in high school that is all I did. Watch television, play Nintendo, hang out with my friends. However, now that I am in college, I have had to change my ways. It helps a lot that I don't have either one of those in my dorms.
Media technologies are becoming an important aspect of today’s society. Each and every day, people interact with media of many different forms. Media is commonly defined as being a channel of communication. Radio, newspapers, and television are all examples of media. It is impossible to assume that media is made up of completely unbiased information and that the media companies do not impose their own control upon the information being supplied to media users. Since many people use media very frequently, it is obvious to assume that it has affects on people. According to the text book Media Now, "media effects are changes in knowledge, attitude, or behavior that result from exposure to the mass media," (386). This leaves us with many unanswered questions about media and its influences. This paper will look at how the effects of media are determined and explore the main affects on today’s society - violence, prejudice, and sexual behavior.