My Media Diet

Analyzing and understanding my consumption of media

[my-media-diet]

Constantly Connected: Are We Puppets under Media’s Spell?

At first, it was easy. If something was needed online, someone went to the computer, turned it on, waited for the Internet to load, did whatever task was needed online, then logged off. Like turning a light switch on and off, there was a definite break between the online and offline. This was back when Internet was synonymous to the AOL dialup noise. It was where we logged in and logged out, signified by the little sound of a door opening or slamming shut on our AIM messenger. Fast-forward to modern day media and that distinction is no longer as easy as a door opened or closed. As of 2013, 63% of adult cell phone owners used their phones to go online (PEW). The Internet has caught up and is now as on the go as we are, increasingly as mobile as our phones. When speaking about media consumption, it is not something that can be defined to one place, especially in a city as in-motion as Chicago. As a 21-year-old student living in Chicago, I can attest to how mobile the life of my peers and myself is. Taking a step back, I quickly was able to notice just how big a role something handheld played in my life, blending the online world with the offline one. So I put it to the test. I thought quitting mobile media would change my life, but it really just strengthened the evidence that my “connections” follow me wherever I go, and that there are physical, mental, and social consequences we face being with and without said connections.

I was sure cutting my mobile social media intake would steer my life into order, bring “normalcy,” whatever that was, or at least make me more productive. I had high hopes, to be sure. My main hope for this test was to compartmentalize my media use in a way that would make it more efficient. Mirroring our in-class discussions of the relationship between utopic thoughts and new media, I believed that only being able to use media during certain times would allow me to use social media for the purposes I needed it for. For example, my Facebook would keep me up to date with friends’ birthdays, something I was very concerned about missing if I was completely disconnected from social media. In my grand mobile-media-free diet plan, I would check it at night when I was home and write a birthday message, having had my whole day when I was on the go free for me to do other things, such as read on the train. This did not happen. Like most diet plans, I quickly realized my life was not on an ordered schedule to do things like this. I never knew when I was going to be home. In my field notes I express anxiety because I almost didn’t open my laptop one night because I got home so late. I would have missed a long-distance friend’s birthday. In other words, my utopic vision for social media as a useful tool quickly diminished if I did not have it available to me in a mobile manner. Without the push notifications I was left my own, or rather, other, devices that did not always work as efficiently.

I might have felt lost without my social media in terms of efficiency, but my media diet was also able to help me notice the first major consequence of mobile media: a change in my physical presence. Being “present” somewhere can have many meanings. Normally, presence refers to being in a certain place at a certain time. Not too far into my media consumption monitoring, I was able to understand Rushkoff’s rule of Place in terms of social media. Just as the line of being online and offline was blurred, so was the line of where I was in a specific moment. I was not making up this sensed of ambiguity. Rushkoff argues in Program or Be Programmed, “the bias of networks were absolutely intended to favor decentralized activity” (43). Physically I was sitting on the train, but I was using media to put myself in many different places: reading international news tweets, responding to a friend about a class we had in an hour, or just posting a photo of the food I just ate in a restaurant down the street. Nicholas Carr furthers this thought in his article Is Google Making Us Stupid? by remarking that the “Internet, an immeasurably powerful computing system, is subsuming most of our other intellectual technologies.” As internet and media begin to replace more things, such as newspapers, clocks, calculators, or cameras, it becomes necessary in more places. I experienced firsthand during my media diet when I went out to eat with my boyfriend. We sat at the table and immediately I put my phone face up next to my fork, as if it were another utensil. It got me to start thinking, how much was the phone just like a utensil? Even while on a media diet, I still had it at the ready, simply out of habit.

I noticed how Rushkoff’s tale of Gina, the girl who was both at the party and simultaneously searching for the next best thing online was a reality. I too noticed how my phone was able to remove me from my physical space. In my field notes I was in awe of how engrossed I was in facebook feed while a friend was trying to speak with me. It took so much mental effort on my part to switch from one “location” to the other.” Even on facebook, which a day earlier I had called “boring” and mused why I was even still on the site in my notes. Which brought me to another question: which one of these spaces did I hold to higher importance? My online or In-Real-Life location? While my knee-jerk reaction would always be to say “IRL” is most important every time, the evidence showed how subconsciously it was the opposite. My only explanation is that the physical buzzing and obnoxious notifications keep pulling us in. “The red notification is so enticing,” I wrote in my field notes, “apps like facebook and twitter, that constantly show notifications were harder for me not to check.” Only until we have someone doing the physical equivalent, slapping our wrist or waving a hand in our face, do we pay attention.

As mentioned before, realizing there was no strict divide between this online life and IRL demonstrated how we tow the line, with one foot in each realm most of the time. I felt like I was teetering between the two, waiting for one to pull me in a bit further than the other. Danah Boyd discusses in her lecture, Incantations for Muggles, how “there are no walls. The walls have come crumbling down.” I was physically in multiple places and mentally there as well. I named it “media snacking” during my monitoring. In my notes I checked my phone 23 times in a 40 minute train ride. They weren’t long intervals of  use, but I went in and out of one medium and my real life. Carr notices the negative effects this seems to have on us. “What the Net seems to be doing is chipping away my capacity for concentration and contemplation. My mind now expects to take in information…in a swiftly moving stream of particles…” In my media diet I noticed this as well. Constantly being online, or on-alert for the next notification, status update, etc. has our brains subconsciously checking constantly. When this breaks down, we are suddenly sedentary and it is uncomfortable. I noticed I reacted in one of two ways: I was either annoyed or feeling lazy.

Primarily these feelings occurred in what I referred to in my notes as “the tunnel,” a period of time on the Red Line train in which it goes underground and all 3G connection is cut on mobile devices. “People stared, like I was. I took note of how interesting we are when communication is suddenly cut. So many people are like zombies who don’t know what to do without a phone to check,” I wrote in my field notes. However this was a similar expression to that which I had while doing my Camtasia video while on media. I noticed this in my notes as well, stating, “being honest, I’m not sure disconnecting from media makes me any less of a zombie, just a different type of one.” If they weren’t spacing out with me, they experienced the other emotion I felt during my diet, “some even got desperate and kept trying to call back the person whose call they had dropped.” They were annoyed. Being removed from the constant connection was extremely uncomfortable.

My time monitoring my media intake has also demonstrated another type of consequence: social consequences. Boyd is correct in her assumption that people my age use media “primarily for coordination.” The biggest loss I felt was not being able to check facebook for possible events coming up or to see if I was missing something on campus. It was not simply this social disconnect that I felt howere. What I noticed it in “the tunnel” as well was “staring at people on the CTA at this point was starting to feel weird…We all avoid eye contact, while most pray for their service to return.” Referring back to my first consequence of presence, socially, we can see how in public settings we rely on our media to provide an invisible barrier. Without it, the excuse to not participate socially is not there. During my media-free time on the train, I felt like I had to retrain myself in how to be okay sitting in a full train of people without my phone as this excuse to not be in my environment. I had to ask myself if I was staring at people for too long or looking too open to unwanted conversations. The tunnel did not just disconnect me from the Internet, it also showed the disconnect I felt to the people around me.

As I sit writing this final portion of my media diet project, I have only checked my phone three times, a record in comparison to previously. What do these findings mean? Are we doomed to suffer the weight of being constantly connected? I guess my answer would be yes, but with a caveat: we are only as connected as we allow ourselves to be. Like Boyd suggests, I’m in my 20s. I want to be connected. Not a slave to technology, but “in the flow” of information, whatever it may be. The most important lesson I learned from all of this was what Rushkoff suggests throughout his book, to understand the system in which you are operating in. Now that I know how my connections influence me physically, socially, and mentally, I do feel more empowered and able to make it to my benefit rather than my distraction. A true master of media is connected, but surely isn’t a puppet.

[my-media-diet]

What I Learned

My literal "diet" from social media on my phone for three days definitely did what most diets do for me...it left me hungry.

I came back to social media with a vengeance, immediately back into the old habit of perusing through facebook on the train. Was it all in vain? Did I learn anything?

I don't think it was all in vain, and I do believe I learned a few things.

I started this test with a few questions, so I feel like I should tackle those first.

Did it change how I experienced my day?

I would say it did. Aside from the obvious, not running into people if I was blindly on my phone (happens to everyone, right?), I was forced to spend some time alone with myself. It forced me to connect differently since certain means were unavailable. I sent more texts. I used a calendar. I actually listened in class, instead of half-listening, half-browsing. There were some negatives. I was frustrated on the bus. Wht was I going to do for those 45 minute commutes? I did a lot of dozing off, staring into space, and some productive things, like figuring out my schedule in my planner and trying to study. So, being honest, I’m not sure disconnecting from media makes me any less of a zombie, just a different type of one.

Did I miss out on anything? I wrote in  my notes about a friend’s birthday which I did almost miss. Like I mentioned in earlier posts, I don’t say happy birthday to every “friend” I have on facebook, but it is an extremely useful tool for me, especially with far away friends. Not having it made me utilize a calendar for plans, but some things still almost fell through the cracks.

What I did notice, like most to-do lists I make in my life, my hopes did not mirror reality. I wanted to study, be productive, get things done. With or without social media, I was still myself, a tired student who just needed a break during her commute. My brain wasn’t about to accommodate more school or work. My time in-transit is usually my break in the day. My facebook browsing, however mundane, it somewhat of a much-needed mental break for me.

The connection to our in-class discussions that stuck out to me the most was Rushkoff’s idea of “Place.” Nowadays, we are so “programmed” to check media, this constant connection, we must actively disassociate ourselves from it in order to be present in daily life. I noticed this when I would be sitting at dinner with my friends and immediately put my phone next to me, as if it were another utensil with my meal. Social media is not something physical in place and yet I saw how transformed I was by it not being in my life. It was like I had stepped outside of a comfortable place that I could enter with the press of a button. Without it, I experienced the outside world quite differently.

If I were to do this again, I would also try to take it a step further and remove texting. That would surely have me “disconnected.” While I’m still checking facebook on the train, I think back to the “tunnel” and how between the North/Clybourne stop to Grand, we all stopped. I think that is the true thing needed. We all need to, voluntarily or not, experience a “tunnel” during our days. One that shuts off our connections outside the place where we physically are. One that makes us stop and look at the person sitting next to us. As uncomfortable as it might seem, I think it is necessary to remember what happens and who we are without these connections, providing a balance.

Then, before you know it, you’ll be out of the tunnel. Maybe you will check facebook right after. Maybe you won’t.

[my-media-diet]

Putting Plans to the Test

Sure, looking at my media consumption as a whole was really interesting, but testing it's limits, or more accurately my limits, was a whole other experience.

Just to refresh, for this second step I applied certain rules to my media consumption. For three days I planned to:

Make myself not use social media sites (facebook, instagram, tumblr, vine, twitter) on my phone.

With friends or in social situations, I will not be allowed to check these sites on my phone.

Try to make note of every time I get the urge to check social media and hopefully be able to explain why.

Take note of the things I hope to do on public transportation rather than check my phone. I will then write what I actually get done on public transportation instead of checking my phone during these 72 hours.

Because my notes were jumbled blips of little information, I'm going to divide the information by the days the test took place: September 29 - October 1.

9.29

Day one was a decent start. I was pretty sure I could handle not using social media on my phone. Since I had work so early in the morning I wasn't really able to use my phone anyways since it was so crowded, but by the time I transferred to the less crowded bus, I noticed how I would tap my phone to see if I had notifications, without really thinking about it. To make matters worse I had forgotten my headphones so I had no source of entertainment.  By the time I was coming home from work I was beginning to notice other people around me. "I’m not the only one. I’m spending my free time people watching. Some of them are smart and have books. Others are just staring," was a note I jotted down. This mainly occurred in what i referred to as "the tunnel" or the Red line stops from North/Clybourne towards 95th. These are underground and have little to no cell reception. I noticed that as soon as reception/3G dropped, half of the car shifted into an uncomfortable stillness. People stared, like I was. Some even got desperate and kept trying to call back the person who's call they had dropped. I took note of how interesting we are when communication is suddenly cut. "No 3G in the tunnel. So many people are like zombies who don't know what to do without a phone to check."

When I got home I turned on my laptop and went through facebook. I had survived not going mobile.

9.30

Day two was more rough. My headphones were still missing and I had not had time to go to the library to pick up a book. But I also made note about how having a book on CTA is wishful thinking.  “I’m just sitting on the train. I don’t have a book. I said I would get a book to occupy this time, but honestly it’s more weight in my backpack to carry.” Later I also wrote, I don't have time for a book that isn't for school." But by the time I wanted to read my Media Law Textbook, the train was once again packed for rush hour. No reading.

I also took notes on when I would want to check my phone. Usually as soon as I sat down in the seat and put my stuff down, I picked up my phone. It was as instinctual as setting my purse down on the train. "The red notification is so enticing," I wrote. "It's 6...what is happening on facebook that i have 6 notifications?" The apps like facebook and twitter, that constantly show notifications were harder for me not to check. I found myself able to go without instagram and vine much easier.

I tried to tally how many times I checked my phone during one 40 minute trainride. I got 23. I checked it for the time and texting predominately.

I didn't even make it home to check facebook. I found myself checking it in class just to see what those 6 notifications were.

10.1

Really tired this day. I realized how I sometimes use my apps on my phone to stay awake. Browsing facebook puts me in a zombie-daze, but at least my eyes are still open.

My friend Mary's birthday was this day as well, I almost missed it. Had I not checked facebook at home, I would've not said anything, and I'm going to her wedding in two weeks. Yikes.

Staring at people on the CTA at this point was starting to feel weird. In the tunnel we all avoid eye contact, while most pray for their service to return. I just sigh and page through my textbook. Important note: with or without social media banned from my phone, I never got further than a page on my reading for school.

[my-media-diet]

Project Proposal

After analyzing all of my media consumption, thinking about what I do with media, and trying to understand why I do it, I have decided to experiment with my mobile use of media and my use of media in social interactions.

My findings have shown that my use of social media has almost completely stopped on my computer, while I am constantly checking it on my phone. I am curious to see what my life would be like if I wasn't checking it on my phone constantly. What if I didn't check facebook as soon as I got on the train, or while I was walking to class, or even in class?

Procedure:

For three days, I will be making myself not use social media sites (facebook, instagram, tumblr, vine, twitter) on my phone.

Also, when I am out with friends or in social situations, I will not be allowed to check these sites on my phone.

I will try to make note of every time I get the urge to check social media and hopefully be able to explain why.

I will also take note of the things I hope to do on public transportation rather than check my phone. I will then write what I actually get done on public transportation instead of checking my phone during these 72 hours.

I'm curious to see if it will change how I experience my day. Will I notice more? Understand more in class? Be more productive?

I also spoke a lot in my field notes about how I almost need social media for planning my weekends and keeping track of birthdays or other events. Will I miss out on anything?

Just how much am I connected to media?

[my-media-diet]

Summary

From all of this data, I've been able to come to a couple conclusions, while other findings have me more lost and critical about media than before.

I think the first thing that was surprising to me was realizing how much I used my phone over my computer. Had someone asked me before this project, I probably would have said I used both equally for social media. However, I now can fully attest that my media usage is significantly higher on my phone. My field notes and Slife numbers support this. I also was surprised about my "snacking" of media and how it added up. Sure, a quick peek at facebook isn't bad, but when it totals up to an hour or more a day, that's a lot of time dedicated to a site that "I don't really know why I go on" anymore.

As for emerging patterns in my media usage, I noticed I had a routine. In my walkthrough, I tried to do exactly what I do when I sit on the train. I open my texts, then facebook. I scroll through my feed until I feel "up-to-date,"  and then check all my notifications (responding and liking as necessary). Next, I usually check Instagram or sometimes twitter. These I "snack" on much less than facebook, and I definitely do not spend as much time on them during my "media moments." I was more often to "snack" when bored , I now understand the analogy to food, or when I was trying to stay awake (even though half of the time I'm on it I apparently look like a zombie). Also, I would check it at the very beginning of my day (before I got out of bed) and at the very end of my day (right before I went to sleep). Essentially, it is the first and last thing I see.

In response to my friends and relatives, I did notice a few reactions. The most apparent to me was the moment I had with my boyfriend. He was trying to interact with me and I had completely lost myself to zoning out in facebook. I hadn't checked it in a while (meaning all day, which is abnormal for me) and couldn't pull away. As soon as I noticed it I locked my phone and apologized, but I realized that this happens a lot. Not just with me, or with him, but a lot of friends I know. It was kind of scary to realize how much you can miss by being sucked into this "media zone." My other friends expect a somewhat quick response to media shared and sent. If a friend sents me a facebook post, they expect a response usually within a half day. If not, they might be worried. I have professors who sometimes won't respond for a whole day and a half! Our sense of response time is very different in this age of instant social interaction at all times.

Something that also became apparent in some the data gathering exercises was how I felt extremely unable to hold my attention to anything for too long on these sites. Watching myself go through in both the walkthrough and camtasia exercises, I can see my eyes darting back and forth, watch myself clicking away to highlight the words I'm reading, or just see me switch tasks so quickly as my interest in many sites dies quickly. Compared to how I read print, how I interact with real-life activities, etc. this behavior is surprising. It brings up questions about how my brain works with media versus without. Does this scatterbrained activity effect how I act anywhere else in my life that I might just not notice? I'm not sure.

Overall, I feel like I use media for entertainment and staying connected. I use it to connect with friends, share and express things about myself, as well as get a good laugh after a hard day. Social media generally is there to make me feel good. I definitely don't feel negatively about it. If I did I would probably switch to something else. However I think it goes deeper than what emotions we feel using media, I think the subconscious is also something worth exploring as well. So many of my actions on these websites are not intrinsic and yet I know myself and other friends to go on autopilot checking up on their social media. While I am on autopilot many times, I do try to maintain using media for its benefits, not as a distraction.

[my-media-diet]

Camtasia Experiment

So for the second video, I decided to share my camtasia experience. This app, which I have via free trial allowed me to rewatch how I appear while I look at my computer screen. Terrifying, right?

Here's what I learned:

Zombieface: Watching certain parts of the video, I cringed. I imagined myself at the library making this dead face and wondered what people thought. Is this how I really look when I'm on the computer?

I get bored. As if 50+ tabs open wasn't enough, I still watched myself pick up my phone to browse through instagram when my computer decided to stall. Re-watching this I feel very scatterbrained. I never linger on things for too long.

I read online in the weirdest way. I love Rookiemag.com , a website geared towards young women and teens. Towards the end of the video you can watch me reading and I am amazed. I scroll up and down as I read, highlight and unhighlight text, and click all over the place. It's like I'm doing so many activities while I just try to focus on one place. I feel extremely ADD while reading online and it shows.

I get annoyed quickly. When the vine website started to freeze up and double play videos, I quickly was over it (see my face at 2:47). This is interesting because immediately after I refreshed and it didn't seem to work, I left. In this day and age if your site doesn't work or hold attention, we just flat out leave.

I actually do LOL. As you can see during the Vine watching portion of the video. I do laugh out loud. And it is embarrassing. But at least I'm not lying if I comment LOL.

Vamtasia

[my-media-diet]

FIELD NOTES

For my field notes, I decided the best way to monitor my media intake would be through notes on my phone.

I had downloaded Slife for my computer to monitor time spent on things like apps and social media, however two weeks in I realized the application had stopped monitoring my time spent, partially because I just don't use my computer that much. If we're being honest, I soon realized when it comes to using my computer it really is only for homework or the occasional netflix movie.

Why? I think what is a large factor is that I am a student with two jobs and trying to maintain a social life. Therefore when I use media, it is mostly in transit. I'm either walking somewhere, on the train somewhere, or (sorry professors) in class.

I also found it was a lot harder to track my movements on media on my phone. Unlike the computer where you just sit down and veg for incredible amounts of time, I found myself "snacking" constantly. A quick facebook check before I sat down for a meal, checking instagram right before the bus pulled up, or even liking a friends status while I was conversing about it with another friend. These "media moments," are exactly that. Quick, fleeting moments, but they add up.

Time-wise, based on my notes and numbers, I would say I spend about an average of an hour on facebook a day. Tumblr varies, it can be anywhere from 0 to 2 hours a day. That is more dependent on how free I am, and how bored I am. I check instagram about 10 minutes maximum a day, and websites like Rookiemag.com or Thedailybeast.com for less than 30 minutes a week.

I chose some of my favorite fieldnotes and took screenshots. I think some of these could be useful in my final project.

I think this one shows my growing concern with when and where I use social media. I never stop. There doesn't seem to be a disconnect. I only have a towel on and yet I'm already back on social media.

I'm not the only one addicted to social media. On the train, almost everyone is sucked into their smartphones.

Something I've noticed as I've gotten busier/older is that I am using facebook less. I can't tell if it is because I'm just growing out of it or if I'm busier. Maybe both.

I am always on the go. Like mentioned before, I feel like most of my media usage is outside my home.

This episode was similar to the first screenshot. I was amazed at how difficult it was just to put down a phone and pay attention to someone right next to me. It wasn't because I didn't like him, but something about media can suck you in, turning you into this zombie unaware of your surroundings.

Old habits die hard. When my phone died on the train one day I sat there, and had to really train myself not to check the dead phone. I didn't really know what to do, honestly.

Overall I have just a few more important things to touch on:

Motivations: I realized I mostly use media for the social aspects. It is how I plan and coordinate, as well as communicate. I also use it for entertainment purposes.

Who I communicate with: mostly my friends, sometimes online community (via tumblr posts), and sometimes family.

Social expectations: I have noticed that many people get frustrated when you do not respond on social media "quickly" (depends on who you are talking to. For people my age, the time is usually within 2 hours since they understand people have class and might work).

[my-media-diet]

First piece of data in this Media Diet Project...my social media walkthrough.

In this video, you get a glimpse into the exciting time that is me exploring social media on my phone! Riveting, I know.

While this might not be extremely exciting for anyone other than myself, there are some interesting things I learned from this exercise:

How subconscious many parts of social media are. What I mean by this is that at this point in my life, I barely feel cognizant of the actions I make when I'm on these social networking sites and other media. Walking through it made me realize that I probably couldn't tell you how I got from A (let's say, facebook) to Z (instagram or timehop) other than autopilot-like clicking. In fact, I seem to be so aware of how unaware I am on these apps, I changed the majority of the languages to Spanish, hoping to tap into some of that subconscious learning.

Without social media I wouldn't remember anyone's birthday. Now this might sound silly, but think about it. I really wouldn't. Facebook has become so integral to my social calendar. Besides people's birthdays, I also use it to plan my weekends, far ahead in advance. Sure, I have a planner I physically write things in, but having the halloween party online is nice because not only do I remember via facebook as well, but I can interact. I can ask the host if I should bring food, find out who else is dressing up, etc. I enjoy the social part of social media. My social calendar might look completely different without it.

Maintaining friendships is interesting with social media. Re-watching the video, I hear myself sound almost mean when speaking about what I will like and what I will not. "I have to be judicious with my likes." It's true. While I can finally maintain a relationship with people across the ocean (one simple "like" can sometimes be like saying "hey, I'm still thinking about you. And this is cool!") it can also be a lot of work. As someone who is slowly weaning herself from Facebook addiction, I can't help but feel like I have to interact on facebook. "I haven't messaged blah blah in a while." "Oh god, I missed blah blah's birthday! I didn't check facebook that day." "I should post a video on so-and-so's page to make sure they don't think I hate them." These might sound a bit silly, but they are true thoughts that have passed my mind. Before, friends were slightly more understanding to pauses. Now, social media has a day of "silence," or no social media interaction, coming off as the cold shoulder.

It's a vicious cycle. I wasn't sure I'd be able to pass the five minute mark. The first time I checked the clock it had already been five minutes! Even when I said I was done, I kept going. And this happens, you get that "oh wait, one more thing..." feeling and before you know it five more minutes have passed. There is a reason they say social media is addicting. It's all at your fingertips.