MCOM 1003 - Carlin Whaley

Term 1 Paper - Personal Media Usage

 Carlin Whaley

Professor Reppert

Mass Communications

September 4, 2020

Personal Media Usage

        Unlike my parents who did not have cell phones until they were around the age of twenty-five, I have been one that has grown up with technology being the norm in my daily life.  I have had some kind of technology in my hand for as long as I can remember. Technology as well as social media are a very huge part of my everyday life.  I honestly really don't know what myself or my peers would do without it. My cell phone is in some way a part of me as weird as that sounds. I feel that I could not go anywhere without it or I would not be able to function. If I lose my phone or forget it in my room, I will stop everything that I am doing to go on a search for it.

    In the mornings, I am that person that will set about eight alarms to wake myself up in the morning.  However, I am lucky to actually wake up to the alarms without having my roommate having to yell at me to turn it off. I am not the type of person to get on my phone as soon as I get up in the morning mainly because the light hurts my eyes. I like to get up and get moving.  I will then come back to it to check to see if I have any important text messages or emails.  There are occasional mornings that I will get on Snapchat before I go to class, but not normally. I will listen to music on Spotify in my car on my way to class.  Also, if I decide to walk to class on particular days, my head may or may not be looking down at my phone. I never get on my phone while I am in class.  Yet, I immediately check to see if anyone texted or Snapchatted me as soon as I get out of class. If I don't have another class that day or I have an hour in between classes, you will usually find me in my bed watching TikTok.  Throughout the day between practice and class, I will get on my cell phone or laptop. After I am done with everything I need to do for the day, I will log into my social media for about two hours before I go to bed. Almost every night, I fall asleep watching TikTok and checking Snapchat, Instagram, or Facebook to see if any of my family or friends have posted anything or just to check up on people that I didn't get to talk to throughout the day. I don’t text much throughout the day unless I am talking to my parents or grandparents. I am honestly pretty bad at checking my texts, because I am always on my social media platforms. Although, I will normally choose to call someone over texting them because I feel as if it makes it easier to communicate.  I also find phone calls allow you to figure out what kind of mood someone is in by calling them over just texting them. I spend on average about seven hours a day on social media. As far as using social media goes for classroom usage, my time is very slim because I have very few classes that will let me use my phone.  I do use the internet for research on my laptop if the class requires it. 

    I would say that my friends and I have very similar social media habits. When we are all hanging out, we will either all be talking and having a good time without our cell phones or we will all be on our phones usually on TikTok sending our favorite videos to each other.  My friends and I actually compare our screen times every once and a while just to see who is more addicted to their phones just as a fun little thing to do.  On Snapchat, Instagram, and Facebook, my friends and I usually post about the same amount on these platforms and it is basically the same content. We will normally post around the same days if we have been hanging out and decide to take pictures of whatever we have been doing during that time period. 

    There are many positives and negatives to social media in my personal opinion when it comes to personal usage and it interfering with my academic life. A very big positive aspect for me with social media is being able to keep in touch with family and friends that I do not get to see very often.  I especially feel that it was a helpful communication tool during the pandemic when I am not allowed to see some of my family members because of health reasons. We enjoy seeing pictures of each other on Facebook and Instagram because it makes it seem as if we are not missing out on what is going on with during these crazy times. Along with all of the positives, there comes the negatives.  One major negative is that being on these platforms to much can cause major interruptions and can cause one to be non-productive.  Some people actually become so addicted to social media platforms that find themselves not completing homework and routine tasks due to their overuse of their social media.  I sometimes struggle with this when trying to get myself to do homework because I will take a break and then end up being on my phone for almost an hour.  This then results in me having to rush to get my work done. It can also lead to not having meaningful relationships and conversations with friends and family.  Many times I  find myself looking around a room full of close friends and we are all engrossed in our devices and miss out on having conversations with each other.  Media platforms could also have a negative impact on others if it is used in the wrong way. Some may use it to take out their anger on others by posting social media rants.  Also, in severe cases, it could be a source of cyber bullying. All in all, there are so many positives and negatives for everyone's personal lives but these are just a few of mine. 

    Social media has a very huge impact on our lives today. Technology will continue to grow and improve as we get older.  One can already notice how the younger children have easily adapted to the use of technology. Social media is a huge part of my life and has been for the majority of my life. I could not really imagine what our world would be like today without social media.  I am very blessed with the social media platforms that we have today even though sometimes it can take up too much of my time.  I can definitely work on my time management in regards to my usage.  Social media continues to grow each and every day and make our lives a little more interesting to say the least.