The Impact of Media On My Life
It has come to my attention that media has played a major role in my day to day life. As I have gotten older, technology has gotten more and more advanced. Media reveals the dependence that the world has on technology. For example, when I was thirteen years old, my parents decided that in order to maintain steady communication with me before leaving for boarding school at Episcopal High School in Alexandria, Virginia, my parents decided that a phone and an email address were necessities for me. In my more recent years, the social media scene became bigger and bigger with the introduction of social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, which are forms of social media that I still use today in order to connect with others and to stay up to date with everyone’s lives around me, as well as to get information. There are many ways that media is used in my day to day life, where it has a positive influence on my personal, business and academic life.
I use social media very differently depending on what platform I am using. Regardless of which platform I use, I have one very important rule, which is to be smart about what I post, like and share because I know that a bad post can reflect poorly on me and can potentially pose a major threat on my reputation in the community. My first exposure to social media was through Instagram, where I was able to create an account and connect with all of my friends and family. To this day I still use the same Instagram account which I check frequently to stay in touch with friends. Snapchat and Twitter are two other social media platforms that I use quite often. I use Snapchat and Twitter quite differently than I do Instagram. I use Snapchat to communicate with only my close friends and family. On the other hand, Twitter is a very helpful and important tool in my life. I am very passionate about sports. Twitter allows me to access and is my main source of pretty much all of my sports updates. Twitter is also a good way for me to enrich my knowledge on what is going on in the world around me, because access to a television at boarding school is not always easy. The social media platform that I am the newest to is Facebook. I plan on attending Duke University this coming fall as a student athlete, I created a Facebook account because I wanted to join the many college-run groups created for students who will be attending Duke along with me. I am still learning how to use the Facebook website and app, but I am interested in it and can see the potential for me.
Although social media is a major focus in my media use, it can also be broken up in a couple of different ways which include music and planning. I love to listen to music, I find it to be a great way to clear the mind and focus. My passion for music has led me to a number of platforms that allow me access to music, specifically Spotify and Soundcloud. I usually listen to music whenever I can whether I am studying or working out. I also find music is to be very helpful to me when it comes to falling asleep at night and waking up in the morning. Planning apps are another form of media which are very helpful when it comes to laying out daily schedules. An example of a planning app that I use regularly is Google Calendars.. I find that Google Calendars keeps me on task throughout the day where I am constantly updated on what I have to do next. It is also very easy to use with Gmail, where sending an invitation to someone to add to their calendar or vice versa is made simple.
My typical day involves many electronic devices such as: my iPhone and computer. I try to limit my phone use, because I find it hard to return my focus to the task at hand. At the same time, I find it difficult to limit my computer use, as it is a vital part of my academics and learning. I like to check my social media when I wake up in the morning and when I have free time, such as, after school, after dinner and before I go to bed. During a typical school day, I use my phone for communication with my classmates rather than for Instagram, Snapchat or Twitter. I have found that Siri is my good friend because it is easier to tell Siri to call or text someone. I talked about how one of my main uses of social media is to connect with friends, this is a common theme when it comes to my pictures and wallpapers. A picture of my friends and I usually takes up the majority of my camera roll and is my wallpaper. I enjoy going back to remind myself of the fun times we have had.
Overall, I feel like I am very active and connected member of this technology-oriented world, and have benefited from the different media forms. Although, I still know I can improve the number of minutes I am using my devices. At times it is a challenge to resist the temptation of checking my social media or listening to music, but as I grow older I have found the strategies that work best for me.
