Assignment One: Media Use Journal

Although I was already aware of the obscene amount of time I waste on different types of media, having to log it for ten days really opened up my eyes more. I'm sure that I should have maintained my media use accordingly to how much I would usually use it. But after working out on the first day, the 7^th, that I managed to spend 7 hours using media but doing nothing productive, and had worked for 5 hours that day, I made a very conscious decision to try to cut back the time I was on the internet and watching TV. I am hoping this change will continue now that I have finished my media diary, and so far, it is.

Figure 1 illustrates my time, in minutes (except for texting); spent on the four categories all my media use can be broken into. These are social networking, such as Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, texting, internet use and watching TV and movies. As previously mentioned there is a drop in most media use following the first day, with an exception to the 9^th and the 14^th. The only major factor that alters my media use is work, for example, on the 12^th I worked 12.5 hours, so aside from the amount of texts I sent and received, which was consistent throughout the ten days, my time on the internet and watching TV significantly dropped.

Figure Two graphs my total time, in hours, over the ten days using various forms of media in comparison to the average of these times. This graph reinforces the point that my media use follows no real pattern and holds no real consistency as it varies so much from the average.

The only two types of media that I used that haven’t been included in my diary are listening to music and using my computer for things other that the internet or watching movies. The reason for this is that I use them too much, more so in regards to music. The only times I don’t listen to music is at work, in university lectures and tutorials, and only occasionally when around friends. The only things I used my computer for was logging my media use each day/every couple of days and writing another assignment.

In the survey most people submitted, the amount of time the majority of people, 24.8%, claimed they spent on the internet per day was between 3-4 hours, and 27.9% of people said they watched around 1-2 hours of TV a day. Figure Three compares these two answers with my use of internet and TV over the ten days. It can be seen there is no real pattern between my use and the results of the survey, some days I spend a lot more than the majorities estimate and other days I spend a lot less time online or watching TV.

I don’t think my media use follows and kind of pattern, particularly in regards to journalism. The only types of media I used in the ten day period that relate to journalism or communications are Facebook, Twitter, and I only saw the news and the Olympics when they were already on the TV, as I wouldn’t have gone out of my way to turn them on. I think this is something I need to work on, not just to help contribute more to this course but to broaden my knowledge of what is happening outside my own bubble.