Post #1 - (Me)dia

When it comes to media and its usage, I, like many other people, consider myself an active consumer of all types (and sometimes a media make, but mostly a consumer) . However, I think by growing up and simply living in our current age, engaging in media is inevitable. Our modern society has advanced so much that media quite literally just surrounds us at all times. There are traditional mediums, like newspapers and magazines and general news, and then there are the newer types, which include social media and streaming sites and shopping pages and so on. Having been born in the 90s, I think I, like my parents and some generations younger than them, can recognize the differences and advancements that have occurred since I was younger, and therefore appreciate both the ease and distraction that such media has been able to produce. That being said, I guess I also fall under the category of media critic, because while I am not ignorant to the ways it has improved activities and sources of information, it has also been instrumental in some negative aspects of society as well.

As I somewhat mentioned earlier, I am an avid media consumer and have always been one. I was always a shy kid, so I found most of my excitement in the stories of other publications or broadcasts. I think my first committed nature to media was through books because they gave me an opportunity to vicariously through the characters, as well as have something to talk about with people in the real world. In fact, I remember one of the first websites that I checked religiously when I began to regular use the Internet was Good Reads, which had the general public give reviews of books. I felt as though I was part of community, and while I didn’t post any reviews on the site, reading about how other people connected with the same books that I did was comforting and helped me feel like there were people who were similar to me. Next, I became infatuated with movies/television/music videos (basically just video recordings). I began to think that books were perhaps not as efficient when you could tell a story through a 30min episode or 2 hour movie instead. On top of that, there were visuals to go along with it! While I still appreciated the support I felt through books, I found that the more popular and arguably more effective mediums were ones that were explicitly showing me what I wanted to see.

Then, as I got a bit older, the Internet started to become a regular part of the household, which led to the creation and spread of the social media (Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, etc.) that we know today. I personally was baited into the social media world through AIM (which has been discontinued, RIP). While it was mostly a private messaging system, it allowed you to create an “away status” which was a message as to why you couldn’t answer a message right away. I remember clearly that the

AIM was a hook for a lot of people my age into the internet because of its offer of free Instant Messaging

messages were mostly along the lines of “Having so much fun hanging with ___ so I can’t answer right now :P” or “Hacked by her bff xD” or something along the lines of that so that people just knew you were have a great time. From the very beginning of social media, it has been clear that our “common experience” is dependent on mass media and how many witnesses there are to it. AIM soon advanced on to MySpace, and then to Facebook, and to Twitter, and then to Instagram, and so on and so on. Since I was trying to keep up with what was relevant, I tried to keep up with it, which in retrospect, was probably a mistake. When I was reading books and watching movies of stories and images that I admired, my view towards the media was more of an appreciation. However, with the rise of social media, I have found  that I often feel left out or even jealous. As that shy and maybe unapproachable kid, social media started to take a negative toll on my self esteem, especially when it came to popularity and looks (because apparently women can only have one of two types of bodies to be considered "attractive"). Social media is constantly rating people based on silly things like followers and likes; things that don’t really matter. I have found that because of the nature of social media, it makes it easier to compare yourself to people who lead completely different lives than you, which can be kind of a downer. While I know that a person’s worth isn’t determined by their media presence, I think it’s important to have an awareness to what is being projected in the media landscape, but hold your own values close to you.

Likes determine the enjoyment or quality of an experience

While I know I often view recent media in a cynical way, I don’t think as a whole it is inherently bad. It has obviously brought upon some of the most important sources of things like mass communication and information. I think unfortunately there has been a shift in the way that our culture has prioritized certain things, which gives it a bad rep. But, that being said, I will continue to be a media consumer (and on occasion, creator) in an effort to keep up with the rest of the world and keep myself entertained.