Media Consumption For an On-The-Go Life
My media consumption has proved to be very mobile and social media-driven. I am always on the go, which means I often use my smartphone as my main source for media and often spend short amounts of time with it unless it is being analyzed for a class assignment.
An interesting aspect of my consumption I noticed is that I got a lot of my news from applications that I mainly use for personal posts, particularly Instagram and Snapchat. Snapchat’s “Discover” feature pulls up stories based on my perceived interests and presents them in a visual way with catchy headlines. I also like how the Discover page presents multiple stories at once so readers are drawn towards whatever most catches their eye. I also follow many of my favorite news outlets on Instagram, which keeps me constantly up to date on the latest news while scrolling through my friends’ posts. Two of the main Instagram accounts that caught my attention over the past few days are CNN and JerryNews — a news account by the creators of the humorous meme account FuckJerry. I often find that apps like snapchat and Instagram give me quick but satisfying glimpses into stories. If I want to read more in-depth about a topic I find here, I usually google it to find more information. While they are not very thorough, I feel these apps do an excellent job of attracting attention and keeping audiences in tune with the news. Personally, I feel it would be a lot harder for me to consume news if it wasn’t an integral part of my social media activity.
Facebook is my most-used path for more in-depth media consumption. I find that I use Facebook less for personal posts and more for news consumption and sharing than it’s social media counterparts. Over the years, I have seen Facebook evolve from a medium used primarily to post statuses and photos to one used primarily to share news and opinion. When I open Facebook, It’s not uncommon for me to find several news stories at once, and I am drawn to the most compelling headlines and the stories that are frequently shared. For example, the first time I saw a headline regarding scandal on the set of “A Dog’s Purpose” I scrolled through without a second look, but the more the story was shared, the more it caught my interest and made me want to read it. I see facebook as a medium for collaborative sharing between friends and a direct gateway to more in-depth stories. Rather than receiving content directly through the news source, as is common for Instagram and Snapchat, I recieve content based on what my friends find interesting.
I think my media use habits are reflective of how society in general is becoming more mobile and social media driven. As a journalist, I believe the most effective way to reach out to people, especially a millennial audience, is to make information readily available through social media and mobile platforms. I expect to get most of my media for free through these platforms since most of them are already free and accessible to all.
