My Experience with Media: Reflection

Working on these Media Blogs has really opened my eyes to the world of media and has also helped me reflect upon my own life.  On average, I consume probably around 2-3 hours (sometimes even four), of media.  When I'm just relaxing at home and have nothing else to do, I just turn on the T.V.  It provides me with easily-accessed entertainment, and I don't have to do a thing; just lift a finger here and there.  Even when I'm doing homework I get distracted and go on my Iphone, or I might look up something on Google to help me solve a problem.  The Internet is everywhere and is both efficient and easy to access.  However, media has impacted my life in a way that I tend to lose my focus a lot easier than before.  It also provides me an easy way out of difficult situations, such as looking something up on Google instead of looking in a book.  Luckily, my interaction with media has changed for the better due to my experiences with media.

 Even though I still go on the Internet almost everyday, I realize what I'm doing and tell my self that I need to stop being distracted.  Before, I never knew how much going on my phone took precious time away from doing something more beneficial.  Therefore, I don't use the Internet for as long as I used to.  My attention spam has also improved, where I don't get as easily distracted as I did before.  Along with this, my perception of media has changed.  As I watch different commercials or see advertisements in public, I am aware of the techniques being used or the need because it has become almost automatic for perceive media in this way.  Every time I see an ad, I can easily notice the ambiguity, double speak, and weasel words being used.  I just think to myself, "Oh wow," and sometimes just laugh at the ads due to my ability to see how each ad is trying to get my attention.

Now that I am an educated consumer, I realize that being one is very important.  In the world today, we are constantly confronted with the clutter of media and advertisement.  They are all trying to get our attention by using different techniques and appealing to our needs.  Many of us become sucked in, where we find ourselves believing what the media has to say.  We become totally reliant upon media to tell us what is true or false about the society.  For example, media has created the reality assumption that men hold all the power in the society by constantly using and treating women as objects.  This has made boys into believing that they have to be better than girls and constantly hold masculine appearance.  On the other hand, it has led to girls believing that they can never rise up to power, must rely on men for help, and to degrade both themselves and other women.  In addition, media has also persuaded us into believing that appearance is everything for a woman.  Girls at a young age are already exposed to the false idea that in order for them to be considered beautiful, that must be as inhumanly perfect as the models on the covers of magazines.  
However, as an educated consumer, I am able to ignore all of the false value and reality assumptions that media has about the society.



Before I created this blog, I didn't realize how much it would impact my life until now.  Keeping this blog has really opened my eyes to see not only the explicit messages of media, but also its implicit ones.  I am now able to see the different techniques ads are trying to use to get our attention and even the needs they are attempting to appeal to.  Along with this, it has broadened my perception to realize how much our society has been sucked into the world of media.  Our lives are practically shaped by the internet that surrounds us.  The false value and reality assumptions created by media have been made into a reality because of us being persuaded into believing in them.  It has ultimately had a negative impact on our society, in which the process of moving forward in life has slowed down.  Media has acted as the catalyst to our society's downfall, which is why it is so important for us to obtain a media literacy and become educated consumers so that we will no longer be negatively affected by the media surrounding us.