My Day :
It often takes me two or three tries to wake up in the morning; I have to set my phone alarm clock earlier than I need to wake up so by the third attempt I am ready to rise and face the day. As I sit in bed and my Bixby alarm (an Android application) reads me the weather and predicted forecast, along with the top articles from NPR and New York Times (which, like most media, cannot be fully trusted since they do get things wrong every now and then). After my alarm gives me a quick 2-3 minute spiel, I’m up and in the bathroom getting ready for the day.
As I get ready in the bathroom which includes, brushing my teeth, showering and makeup, I play my favorite Pandora station, Summer Hits of the 2000’s, to further wake me up and get me energized for the day.
When I finally made it to the kitchen, I made myself a simple breakfast of cereal and as I eat, scrolled through my Instagram feed and check my FaceBook account. My Instagram is used mostly to keep up with friends from out-of-state, or those who I have mostly lost touch with. On FaceBook, I can see what my out-of-state family has been up to. By the time I have finished eating, I make sure my bag is packed for school and I typically have about 20-30 extra minutes before I make my commute to school. With this time I turn on my TV and watch whatever has been peaking my interest on Netflix (currently a new drama called V-Wars, starring Ian Somerhalder). I dropped cable over a year and it has been the greatest decision ever because I only ever watched 4-ish channels, and I absolutely LOVE Netflix and all the content they offer!
When I’m finally ready to leave and start my 45 minute commute, I plug my phone into the aux cord and listen to Audible. Although I hated listening to it at first, it eventually started to grow on me and now allows me the ability to drive and read (kind-of at least). I am almost done listening to Michelle Obama’s memoir, Becoming. It’s a great read (or listen) if you ever get the opportunity!
When I get to school, I typically am a bit early and will sit down outside my class and read my local news stations like ABC15, Fox10 Phoenix, and AZFamily. I read, Phoenix: Things To Do, on ABC15 and am now planning to go to a noodle festival (YUM) this weekend! Then when I get into class, I put my phone away and take out my laptop. With the 15 minutes before class starts, I browse MSN and check my email for anything that might be important or advertisements from my favorite stores. As my classes progress throughout the day, I typically don’t check my phone other than to respond to the occasional message from my family about off topics such as dinner or if I know the price for gas at my local Costco, random stuff like that. When all my classes are over, I head back to my car and opt for the radio (93.3 AltAZ is my fav!). Then, I turn on Google Maps to help navigate my way through traffic. With my longer school days, I typically get home around dinner time and eat with my family, where there is a strict ‘no phones at the dinner table’ policy. If it was a shorter day, I would come home and start my homework with the TV on and Netflix playing in the background, most likely of a random show that I won’t really pay attention to.
After finishing homework, or just hanging out after dinner, I make my way to the bathroom to get ready for bed. I put on a Pandora podcast, Ted Talks Daily, this time. They are very inspirational and informational, so I like to end the day with one or two. I’m then soon off to bed, but (of course) that means sitting in bed playing on my phone. I look over Instagram and FaceBook one more time, then check ABC15 for anymore interesting news stories before I go to bed.
Ranking Credibility :
- ABC15 – 9
- All the stories I read on ABC15 are local news stories typically involving things that are happening around Phoenix. When it comes to incidents that happen around the city (violence related, etc.) their information usually if not always comes from the Police Department. I see this as most trustworthy.
- Fox10 Phoenix – 6
- Fox10 has a lot of political news coverage for both Arizona and the United States. It can become apparent as you’re reading that they are bias towards certain ideologies.
- AZFamily – 7
- AZFamily often covers developing stories around Arizona. While you can get many perspectives from a single one article, they often have witnesses give their side of the story, thus giving the opportunity to get the story twisted.
- MSN – 7
- I read MSN for world news going on and they often release an ‘Ongoing Situations’ sections for those looking to get an update about something important. This means that they are posting information as they receive it, so there is always the opportunity for false information to slip by.
My Activity :
Looking at my phones usage for the day, I have used it for about 4 hours. Considering I wake up around 8AM and go to sleep around 11PM, thats 4/15 hours a day that I’m on my phone, which isn’t to terrible. One of my New Year’s resolutions was actually to be less involved with my phone and go out and do more stuff without it. So often people (including myself) are so reliant on their phones for everything. I want to aim for around 2 hours of screen time a day and use those extra hours away from my phone to find a new hobby or something fun to do. Got any ideas?
