It is truly incredible to see how much media influences the structure of our daily lives. I monitored my media usage on Friday, and I was completely blown away by the sheer amount of media that I relied on for information, communication and entertainment, in just a short span of 24 hours.
8:00am: I wake up and immediately check my personal email, my ASU email, Facebook, Instagram and Reddit. I also check Ebay, where I’m watching listings of vintage magazines (which I collect), and also selling some of my old textbooks (which sadly have not been bought yet). I already use a large amount of media before getting ready for the day.
9:30pm: I briskly walk to the bus stop and ride the bus to the area where I work. During my commute, I answer a text from my friend and get lost in listening to music on my phone.
10:30am: I often go to the gym before work, but I had a blood test the previous day, so I was still feeling a little lethargic. I decided to stop by the nearby Barnes and Noble instead. Being a lover of fun facts, entertainment, and all things retro, I excitedly make my way to the magazine section, where I sit and skim through Mental Floss, Entertainment Weekly, Retro Fan, Remind and Reminisce. I buy the latest issue of Remind and walk over to work.
12:00pm: My workday at Starbucks begins. No time for outside media while serving coffee to the masses!
2:00pm – My 10 minute break: I grab some coffee and sit down to check Facebook again, where I come across a hilarious video of people dressed as Star Trek characters dancing while singing a parody of The Monkees theme song. I can’t stop laughing, because not only are the Monkees my favorite band, but my (identical) twin sister’s boyfriend (who is also my good friend) Dan, loves Star Trek! I immediately share it to our group chat before heading back to work.
4:00pm – My “lunch” break: An odd time for a lunch break, to be sure. Luckily, I had packed something, so I could sit down the entire half hour. While I was on the floor, my sister had texted me and told me that the high-end shopping mall in town where she works is getting an outdoor expansion. I immediately Google this to find any news, and sure enough, The Cleveland Jewish News had a remarkably detailed story on the subject. I can’t wait to see this come into fruition! At Starbucks, this will unfortunately be our last week selling newspapers. I seize the opportunity by thumbing through the “Arts and Life” section of The Plain Dealer that was sitting on the back desk. I read a nice tribute to former decorative arts curator of the Cleveland Museum of Art, Henry Hawley, who passed away on Aug. 8, before heading back out for the last half of my shift.
8:30pm: I arrive home from work, where my Mom has dinner leftovers waiting for me. After dinner, I turn on my computer and log on to ASU to do some first-week classwork. Afterwards, I join my Mom, my twin sister and my little sister in watching Miraculous: The Adventures of Ladybug and Cat Noir on Netflix in the living room. Once my little sister is in bed, we log onto Hulu and watch an episode of my favorite sitcom, Perfect Strangers. I check my email, Facebook, and ASU again before my bedtime routine.
11:00pm: After getting ready for bed, I log onto YouTube to wind down. Call me an oddball, but I love old TV commercials, and I could watch them for hours on end. “Pannoni9” is one of my favorite YouTubers, as he always posts some great content! I happily find some “new” commercials to watch. I also watched a few interesting segments from old episodes of What’s My Line? from the 1950s and 60s. I think about how much I would have loved to have met journalist Dorothy Kilgallan, who was a regular panelist on the show. I do a Google search on her, where I read an archived article written on Dorothy from The Washington Post called “What Did Dorothy Know?” The last thing I do before falling asleep is play “WordBlitz” on Facebook with my buddy Dave.
I consumed media from a variety of sources this day. My estimations on the credibility of these sources I have ranked below (1 to 10):
Retro Fan: 6 – This is a newer magazine that is independently published, and many pieces seem to be based on publisher biases and limited interests.
Entertainment Weekly: 7 – Though widely known, it exists more for entertainment purposes than for informational purposes.
Remind: 8 – This fun magazine is professionally laid out and the content is well written and researched. However, it sometimes comes across as more of a thin “high school newspaper” type publication.
Reminisce: 8 – Thoughtful and professional, though much of the content is based on personal accounts.
Mental Floss: 9 – Facts are well researched, and are professionally displayed. The magazine has grown into a popular multimedia brand that has even teamed up with National Geographic.
The Cleveland Jewish News: 9 – Weekly well-established and award-winning local newspaper.
The Plain Dealer: 10 – Cleveland, Ohio’s major newspaper.
The Washington Post: 10 – One of the most renowned newspapers in the country.
