Media Use Diary

Over the past ten days, I have systematically typed out every minute of my personal media usage. This meant that each time I went on the internet, read my book, made a phone call or bloody well sneezed I wrote it down. The whole process was time consuming and inconvenient. It wasn’t until I started graphing the results that I saw the benefits of media logging.

Uni assignments aside, it is the best way to see how I interact with and use all the types of media at my disposal. As a journalism student, I have to be aware of how the world uses different technologies to suit its needs. How am I to do this without knowing the ways, and the reasons I use media in my own life? The following analysis of my results will look at the types of media I used, and  why I used them in that way. 

The table below is my ten day media log, the data provided was the basis for all of my personal graphs. Each category was classified into the different forms of media in use, and totals calculated at the end.

FORMS:

With over twenty different subcategories in use, I organised my data into five media groups: Radio, Computer, Smart Phone, Television and Text Media. The graph of this can be seen below labelled ‘Media Usage”. Each of these forms of media is integral to journalism and communication. This tells us that news has found a niche in all the forms of media we are exposed to. Journalism and communication obviously play a vital role in modern life.

Forms of Media

Originally, I thought the graph would show me which forms of media I favoured. I was wrong; radio aside the time spent on each was similar. I attributed this to the fact that each media group is used for very different purposes, all of which I value. These purposes are summarised below:

Computer – University study

Smart Phone – Social networking and News

Television – Entertainment

Text Media – Novel

Radio – Music

To prove this I made another graph where I presented my media uses, rather than the forms. Seen below, these corresponding graphs show beyond doubt that I am a very media specific person. 

Media Purposes vs. Media Forms

FUNCTIONS

In relation to journalism this means that each form of media has a specific role my life, and more specifically that my Smartphone is the only way I am subjected to the practice of journalism. If the large majority of people showed the same statistics, it would be a huge concern for those in print or radio journalism. Evidently, subscriber numbers have dropped in both of those fields since online news.

The reason for this, as I see it, is because online news is so convenient. Not only is it available twenty-four hours a day, but it is updated constantly. The graph below shows my news sources:

Ways I access the News

Apart from one lonely little Sunrise session before uni, all of my news, a huge 88%, came from my Smartphone. For me it is the easiest, most thorough and cheapest way to access news. I have outlined below some of the positive functions of on-line news (particularly with Smart Phones):

·         I can read the news whenever I want, not just when a program starts

·         Stories are updated twenty-four hours a day

·         Hundreds of news sites are available, all in the palm of my hand

·         I don’t have to go to a newsagents, a radio or a television to read the news

·         I can save stories that I like at the touch of a button

·         People are able to contribute easily and openly on most stories by commenting

The reason so many people are using on-line news is because it has more functions than radio and print media have to offer. This affects journalism and communication because people in today’s society want functionality. They want to do more with less effort, an ‘all in one’ lifestyle. Smart Phones are helping people worldwide achieve that goal. This link shows a list of all the things an Iphone (my model) can do. I had no idea I have so much at my fingertips. 

Ways I use my Smartphone

Far less impressive than the list on the website, the above graph shows how I used my Smartphone over the ten day period. It’s amazing that only 14% of my time on the phone was actually spent making calls and texting. This shows that my Iphone is much more to me than a means of communication. All of my social networking, banking, gaming, e-mailing and most of my news are done on my Smartphone. Without it I wouldn't get e-mails until I came home, exchanging money would be a nightmare, and I probably wouldn't play games at all. 

This form of media has completely changed the way I operate, along with many others. In JOUR1111, 77.3% of people own an internet enabled Smartphone; this can be seen in the table below. 

Class Results on Smartphone

To see how this has affected journalism directly we can look at another section of the survey which shows the ways the class accessed news (see graph below). It can be seen that online news is the second most popular form, with 67.8%. The class’s data does not match my own, as television and newspapers rank highly. Then again, when I completed the survey I selected newspapers and television, which it turns out I barely use at all. 

Class Results on Ways to Access News

In conclusion, completing this assignment has made me realise how limited I am in my media use. This doesn't bother me. I use each form of media in the way that serves me best and is most convenient. I think this is how everybody approaches journalism. I have grown up in a technological world, where every day things are being made easier for us. I believe Smartphones and the internet will become increasingly important to the practice of journalism and communication in the future.