My Media Diet

1. Your Media Diet

Your task for this assignment is to record your media consumption for 5-7 days straight. Take note of how many hours you spend reading, watching television, using the Internet, or engaging with any other forms of media. While you do not have to give an exhaustive account of every TV show you watch or website you visit, do note what types of books, TV, websites, etc. that you consume. You can also describe which particular shows you watch or sites you visit daily/on a regular basis. After listing your media diet for each day of the week (length of time, types of media), you should provide a brief analysis. Questions you might address in your analysis include: What does your media diet say about you? How do you think it might compare to the media diets of other people your age? What might your media diet suggest about American society more broadly? Are there changes you'd like to make regarding your media consumption? How might your social location influence your media intake? 

Reading: This past week, I had a fairly small amount of homework. Even then, the amount of reading that I did added up to about 14 hours for the week. 

- I read for Poly Sci, spent a lot of time researching for Spanish and Poly Sci, and read for Sociology.

Watching TV: This week I watched more TV than I usually do while at school. I watched a total of about 3 hours for the week.

- I watched Glee, Modern Family and Law and Order

Using the Internet: This week I used the internet for fun about 2 hours a day. So, about 14 hours total. Also, I used Skype and IChat for like 3 hours.

- I am usually on Facebook, checking my email, watching Hulu, or on Skype and IChat.

Using the Computer for Homework: This week I used the computer for work for about 2-3 hours a night, so around 14-21 hours total. 

- I read texts online, type everything on the computer, research a lot of things for classes online and look for videos online.

Texting or Phone calls: This week I spent an extra amount of time on the phone, trying to figure out something with my parents. I spent about 4 hours on the phone during the week. I always spend a lot of time texting. It’s hard to calculate how much time I spend texting, because I spend a lot of my day texting. 

- I had to talk to my parents about housing a lot this week, and I usually spend a lot of time texting friends and family.

Driving: I spent about an hour driving this week.

- This week I drove to the mall a few times.

Going into detail about how much time I spend with technology, I realize that, even though I feel like I am not a huge user of technology, I still use technology a lot! I still feel like I use technology less than most people my age, or any age in society, use technology. I see a lot of my friends on the computer or watching TV for a majority of the day. By looking at my media diet log I realized that I spend a lot more time with technology, particularly the computer, than I would like to. It’s weird to see how much time I think I spend with technology compared to how much I actually do, and when I see people that spend even more time with it. I feel like their actual amount of time with technology is ridiculous. 

I definitely feel like being in college, or just any school in general affects my media consumption. Without a lot of readings and assignments being online I wouldn’t be online nearly as much as I am. I don’t like to spend a lot of time with technology, however, because of my classes and the way most things in the world today work, I have to be constantly checking my email, my phone and my Facebook if I want to be in touch with people and what is going on. I feel like this just shows how much people really use technology and how reliant our society really is on it, even though we probably don’t realize it. It is just a part of our everyday lives and is pretty much a necessity now that just molds into our lives. After seeing the amount of time I spend with technology, I feel like, while a lot of it is necessary, a lot of it is also unnecessary. I don’t want to rely on technology so much and I feel like I should work harder to control my technology intake and spend more time focusing on other things in my life, like the people I am with at that moment. 

Remix Culture

Before seeing the movie “RIP: A Remix Manifesto,” I pretty much had no understanding or sympathy for people who make remixes, especially of songs. I felt like it was a lack of creativity and that it was almost lazy. I actually wrote about in my last discussion question how I don’t agree with remixing. I didn’t see the inspiration in remixing, but rather I felt that people who remixed were just not inspired enough to write their own music, so they took music from other artists. Also, I felt that remixing music wasn’t as talented as making your own. 

I still feel that, while remixing is a challenge in the way that you have to have a knack to know what music sounds good together, It’s still more talented to create your own music. There is something so special and inspirational about music from real instruments. Now it is hard to find music that doesn’t have a lot of techno sounds, either techno voices or techno instruments. You have to learn how to play music from when you are little and practice throughout your life. Then you have to transfer your emotions into words and put all your talents together. I always saw the passion and inspiration in nonremixed music, however, I failed to recognize them in remixed music. 

The movie “RIP: A Remix Manifesto” gave me a much better appreciation and understanding for people who remix music. I still prefer music that is not remixed better, however remixed music can be fun for dancing or just having a good time. The movie opened my eyes to the talent and passion that is put into and comes out of remixed music. I really enjoyed the way that Girltalk spoke about his reasoning for sharing music. Sharing music is like sharing knowledge. It’s better to spread it around and have it available for everyone’s use so that everyone can be exposed to it, learn from it, and enjoy it. This is a side to remixed music that I never saw. It allows artists to combine the meanings of many different songs and create a a new song that reflects the passion and talent of the new artist. 

Even though this movie has allowed me look at remixed music from a different angle and learn to accept this new form of music, I still don’t like the way that remixed songs of older, classic songs sound. I don’t mind remixes of newer songs, but remixes of songs like Build Me Up Buttercup just aren’t meant to happen. I still see the reasons why artists remix these classic songs and the art in it, I just don’t like the way it sounds. 

Anyway, I would recommend this movie to anyone who wants to learn more about remixed culture. It might not change your opinion on the way remixed music sounds, but hopefully it will at least open your eyes to understanding more about the reasons for remixing music and the purposes that it has.