Media Journal

When I documented the media I had consumed, I realized that not only do I watch the same four channels and nothing else, but I am also influenced and persuaded by what is shown in front of me. It might be considered sad, but I never read anything for news or personal interest, like the newspaper or magazines. I never watch anything that is not sports related (i.e. ESPN, ESPN 2, ESPN news and the NFL network) and I am perfectly fine with that. When documenting how many hours a day I watch TV, it was cool to find out that I never watch TV more than twice in one day and most of the time only once. The most TV I watched in one day was Sunday for close to three and a half hours, while on Wednesday I did not watch any. For the whole week I watched a total ten hours and thirty minutes of television. Due to my strict viewing pedigree, I am more so swayed over the advertisements that appear during breaks because since I watch the same channels, I see the same ads every single day. Would I like to say it doesn’t affect me? Sure, but that would be a bold face lie. Since I see them so much, my attention gets more and more drawn in and ultimately I will want to buy the product or watch the program that I keep seeing ads for. ESPN has gotten me completely hooked on as-seen-on-TV ads that I personally own a slap chop, magic bullet, countless sham-wows, ka-boom, and not going to lie, I kind of want a shake weight. ESPN is smart in the way they advertise because they take more commercial breaks, but the duration of the breaks are shorter; therefore, someone like me feels compelled to sit and watch the commercials because they don’t last as long. They also use product integration in a very smart way; for example, when talking about football, they will air the Coors Light six pack of cold hard facts. They make it look all fancy and cool, and for me as the viewer, now I want to go out and drink some Coors light because it looks cool and it’s associated with football. Even though I have the feeling that ads are just there to trick you into buying or watching something, I have to say that I actually enjoy them because it keeps me updated on what’s happening or what is cool and what movies or TV shows are coming out. Granted I’m a sucker for product ads on TV, and most of them don’t even work that well, but I like trying new things and using new stuff because that’s how I roll and that’s just how the cookies crumbles in my life.
Outside of watching TV, I would have to say that I consume a small amount of media each and every day. Since I don’t read magazines or newspapers the only other main form of media consumption is the internet and even there I don’t really consume anything. Pop-ups aren’t a problem because I have them blocked, so the only ads that I might see are the ones on the side of Facebook pages, but even those don’t catch my attention. Although I seem to beat the media outside the classroom and other than on TV, when driving, I often look at billboards to see what’s on them because I feel as though if they are up there, then they are worth looking at. Billboards have persuaded me to make decisions, especially where I eat; for example, Dominoes might have a billboard that shows a yummy picture of something and a crazy new deal they’re having, and if I see that then I will most likely eat there. Also, at football and basketball games, it’s hard not to succumb to the distractions of ads across the stadium or arena because they are literally everywhere. This might not make any sense, but the most effective ads are my friends. Since I trust them, when they tell me about a new product they are using or something they just bought or watched and think I should do the same, I’ll cave in. I’m a sucker for a good sales pitch, so if my friends try and sell me on something, I will do it. There’s no way to document how much this goes on because you don’t even realize it, but it’s very prevalent to the point where it might be the most media I consume.
Overall, when I was doing this assignment each day I figured out some things about the media, as well as some things about myself. One of the things I learned was that there is no escaping the media: it is literally everywhere. Another is that my friends influence more than any ad shown on TV, radio, billboards, magazines, etc. Media without a doubt affects my everyday life because when I look at what I eat, drink, watch and do, they are all from ads I see from various places. The media doesn’t run my life, but it unquestionably impact it. I think that in fifteen years, the media might get so ridiculous from becoming so powerful, that we the people will become so dependent on it and rely on it for almost everything, that it will run this country completely. It’s a scary thought, and probably not true, but that is just how I feel from tracking the evolution of media, as well as my own progressive consumption.