Media Use Diary

As internet access expands in the form of new technologies, media consumption patterns are becoming more varied and individual. This ten day media use diary shows just how reliant my media consumption is on technology, with 68% of all media being consumed and produced on either my laptop or phone (Figure 1). Surprisingly enough, my smart phone provides the largest access to media (See Figure 1). Interestingly, over 20% (Figure 2) of the JOUR1111 cohort do not own a smart phone, demonstrating the vast differences in potential relationships with media consumption. 

Figure 1

Figure 2

To my generation media consumption, in particular the news, is no longer a conscious habit as it is to my father, who reads the paper, watches the morning and evening news and checks his emails daily and like clockwork. As a uni student, my day to day schedule is vastly varied and as a result, just as no two days of my week are identical, my documented media usage is surprisingly erratic in some regards. Radio, for example, was never something I thought I listened to, however through being forced to consider all of my media consumption it became clear that a vast portion of my media consumption was listening to the radio while driving. In fact, my one conscious habit of watching thirty minutes of the morning news over breakfast was outdone by radio (See Table). Therefore, in particular with the portability of media exemplified in my usage of smart phones (Figure 1), my media consumption relies heavily on the type of day. As seen below in Figure 3, reading the newspaper is a luxury afforded on lazy days, whereas news apps are heavily utilized on rushed days and while catching the bus.

Figure 3

Despite my lack of daily routine, this log has displayed certain habits of mine which I was previously unaware of. If asked prior to starting the media use diary what I spent most of my time on the internet doing, the reply would have most likely been “apart from uni work, you know just surfing – websites, videos, blog posts.” Upon scrutinising the results of this log I was quite shocked to discover this was about as far from the truth as possible. It seems as soon as I open my laptop, I unconsciously direct myself to similar, self-tailored and familiar sites. Take the blog posts for example, not only were most posts I read similar in viewpoint and subject, but they were all from limited authors – the bloggers I had subscribed to. Same with youtube, instead of casually browsing youtube, I again automatically narrowed my exposure to different content by only viewing videos in my subscription feed. News, which should be fair, hard-hitting and non-biased (right?!) was viewed mostly from the same few websites, spewing out similar viewpoints and content. In fact, out of all logged internet usage, only 7.9% was spent ‘surfing’ (Figure 4). 

Figure 4

  

This figure is apparently consistent with the JOUR1111 cohort, of which only 15 listed general surfing and browsing as their activity most done online, demonstrating the concept that technology and the 3.0 web interface is personalising not only the internet, but people’s media consumption. The way my browser is designed makes this so simple to do. I log onto my computer and Google Chrome instantly pops up. With that comes a homepage full of the websites I frequent the most. Within those websites, most contain ‘subscriptions’ or feeds, all of which I can pick and choose what I view, and even what appears. Especially in the consumption of news and opinion, this can be critical in the way it can ‘blinker’ people’s logic, beliefs and judgements.

Facebook is a significant influence in today’s world, and it is where I feel I differ most from the trend of the cohort. With 43% of the cohort spending most of their time online on facebook, my facebook usage is comparatively diminutive (Figure 5). Out of all internet usage, only 8% is spent on facebook, making it one of my lowest ranking frequented sites (Figure 6). The reason for this is my attitude towards news.

Figure 5

Figure 6

While over 61% of JOUR1111 students use facebook to check the news, my use of facebook rarely exceeds chatting and sending messages, checking photos and events and to keep in touch with friends overseas (Figure 7). On the other hand, I am among the 78.2% of students utilizing online "newspapers" - and it is no surprise why (Figure 7). As a journalism student, I value news. However as a busy student I also value my time, and as a result have adapted my need for news to fit into my busy schedule. As mentioned before, my smart phone is heavily used (Figure 1) and reliant on the activities of the day. It is, therefore no surprise that I receive the most news from my phone (Figure 8). This represents the adaptability of news media, in that while print media in the traditional form of newspapers is, arguably, a dying industry, the practice of journalism and people's need to stay connected to their world through news is just the opposite. While some may lament the fall of the traditional newspaper, if not for online content and resourceful news apps, I would receive much less news than the 16.6 hours I did consume over the ten day period.     

Figure 7

Figure 8

Finally, the survey results show that the average JOUR1111 student spends 3-4 hours online, every single day. I answered 3-4 hours, putting me right in the average category. However, upon reviewing my results, it appears I considerably underestimated the significance of the internet in my day to day life. In total, I used the internet for a total of 2642 minutes across the ten days. My actual media usage for all categories exceeded my expectations in the number of minutes I spent consuming media a day. I consumed a massive 7161 minutes of media throughout the log - or nearly 12 hours a day! Upon double and triple checking these outrageous results, I realised that a persistent pattern of media usage explained all. I watch TV, I check my emails or messages on my phone, I look up information for my next lecture and I glance over a textbook - all at once! This 12 hours a day is not singular media usage, most consumption occurs in conjunction with one, two or even three other media activities.

Media is an inescapable part of modern life. The media we consume is always part of a larger picture, whether that be interests, society or issues of access. As technologies advance, the personal experience becomes ever more relevant. As my media use diary has shown, media use is heavily reliant on the activities of any given day. This assignment has confirmed some ideas already held, and challenged some views toward the way I consume media. In all regards, media is most definitely an important part of everyday life.