Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Here We Are Now, Entertain Us

I turn over as Crazy Town’s “Butterfly” blares out of my cell phone and I turn off the alarm that wakes me every day of the week. I turn on my computer as I am waking up, getting dressed, and putting books in my bag for class. I check multiple sites on the internet including myUMBC, Yahoo! e-mail, Facebook, and MySpace. I attend my classes where I talk to my friends and professors. As I walk back to my dorm from my classes I call someone on my cell phone, usually my mom or my boyfriend. After getting home, I turn on my television and Xbox 360. On the video game console I connect to Xbox Live which allows me to exchange text, voice, and picture messages to other gamers all over the world. I talk to my boyfriend over the Xbox using a private chat feature while I play Two Worlds. Later, I go to dinner in the dining hall with my roommate where I pick up an edition of the New York Times. After dinner, my suitemates and a few friends from my floor watch a DVD, Scary Movie 4. As I work on some reading and homework for Biology, I also talk to my boyfriend over the Xbox again. I fall asleep with my microphone and controller right next to me.


In a typical day, as described above, I use many different forms of media everyday. When I was six years old, the variety of media I used was much different. At six years old, I didn’t have a cell phone, and I hardly ever used the internet. I have evolved my use of media greatly as I have grown up. I watch more than just sitcoms and CSI- type shows, now I watch the news. My change in media habits has definitely been affected by many people.


My mother and father obviously affected my habits by buying me a cell phone and also by encouraging me to watch something with substance, like the news. Others, such as my friends, furthered my love of video games, which led me to get an Xbox 360. Other people have influenced my media habits in smaller, less significant ways.


I try very hard to not have personal media biases, however I know it’s almost impossible to not have them. While I will watch both Fox News and CNN, I find sometimes I will skew my opinion of what is reported based on who is reporting it. I know Fox is more conservative whereas CNN is more liberal, so I always have that in mind while analyzing the news.


In the future, I don’t think video games will be as important to me, and I feel that the technology of cell phones, internet, and TV is still evolving and will change how everyone utilizes media. Right now though, my media habits are mostly revolving around my entertainment and education.

9 comments:

Alex Pullen said...

Hey,
I think it is really funny cause we almost described the same morning in our blogs. Although I am not a big gamer I do text and talk on the cell phone a lot too.

Tonja Rice said...

I text more than I talk on my phone. I use to talk more, but since texting has become such a big thing, that's all that I ever want to do.

Lindz said...

Wow, I read your blog and immediately cringed. No offense! It just seems like your entire life is revolved around media. My life used to be the same way. Fortunately, (I say that now) a couple years ago I had to spend some time in a hospital and didn’t have access to the computer or cell phone. I hated it then but now I look back and am glad that it happened because it forced me to live without all of that and that is what helped me to have the life I have now, where I would rather spend time with my friends OUTSIDE of the house instead of sitting in front of the computer all day long. Again, I hope this doesn’t sound like an attack, I just saw a picture of my old life when I was reading.
Lindz

Rebecca Eskew said...

Great title for this blog. I really like how you related your current habits to the ones you had as a kid. My how things have changed. It is interesting who influences these changes and how.

Jwat said...

Wow I didn't know people actually kept in contact with communication devices through out every transition. That's cool though. Hey how much does the XBOX Live package cost now? I forgot it had all those capabilities.

Christine Osazuwa said...

I love that your ringtone is "Butterfly," that song takes me back to my elemetary/middle school days haha, and your day is similr to mine. I require contant human interaction haha.

Nick Jameson said...

My parents also encouraged me to watch the news when i was younger. I hated it back then, but I'm glad they did now.

meioux3 said...

Wow I didn't know you can chat using an Xbox. Anyways, I agree with what you wrote about media and bias. It really is impossible to be completely unbiased because people have different opinions to begin with in the first place.

Ashley said...

I love how you started your blog as a "in the life of april" kind of way. It's great. It's cool how you play two worlds while chatting with your boyfriend. My boyfriend is always getting crazy voice mails on his xbox 360 live its really cool!