Media Use Diary 

Alanah Keating - S4290687

Over the past couple of decades, the meaning of media has significantly expanded, originally defined as; the means of communication that can reach large numbers of people, such as television, newspapers and radio (World English dictionary). It is become much broader since the creation of the Internet, boom in popularity of social networking and wide range of society using smart phones. Now I will analyse my own media use and production against the JOUR1111 cohort.

Table 1: Raw data of media use

Dossier

Internet

Daily Internet usage:

I spend on average 3 hours a day on the internet (as seen on the graph 1), this correlates to the            survey results (picture 1, Q12) as most of the cohort using the internet 2-3 hours a day. The age ranges (as seen below in picture 2, Q1) of the survey participants are 17-18, which is my age bracket. This explains the strong correlations between my personal data and that of the cohort as we are from the same generation who highly indulge in technology.

Graph 1: Hours of media use per day

Picture 1: Question 12 Survey Results

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Picture 2: Question 1 Survey Results

Common Internet usage:

My data correlates with the survey information (as shown on graph 2), I use mainly Facebook when on the internet this is supported by the 91.9% (below on picture 3 Q13) of the cohort who also mainly uses social networking when on the web. I personally use Facebook regularly as a way to stay connected to people. I’m often moving around and it’s my way of staying in touch with people who are back on the Gold Coast, other parts of the country and overseas.

            

Graph 2: Internet usage

   Picture 3: Question 13 Survey Results

Phone type:

I align with the majority of the JOUR1111 cohort as I as well have an IPhone (as shown on Picture 4, Q10). I actually spend approximately 3 hours on it everyday, listening to music, playing on apps and making calls and texts.  Another link between the age group in the cohort and myself, smart phones are more popular with my generation due to our obsession with technology and communication. I go no where without my phone, it is my connection to everyone and is a good friend on my hours of commuting each week.

Picture 4: Question 10 Survey Results

Music

Traditional media vs. new age. As shown by the pie chart below I clearly use new technology to listen to music rather than the traditional radio. Also there is a high spike in listening time of the IPod on the days I travel to university as I have a couple of hours of commuting also I am into music, its just part of my daily routine.

Pie Chart 1: Music daily use

Reading

I clearly read media for the university benefits rather than personal enjoyment (as demonstrated by pie cart 2). Which I would guess would align with most of the other university students who have textbook chapters to read each week as well.

Pie Chart 2: Reading use in a week

Television

My usage of TV was non-existent during the middle of the week, this parallels to the time I spend at my friends apartment that has no TV. I often ignore this type of media as it is not important in my daily life.

Consuming VS Producing

The data I collected indicates there is a strong correlation between my daily activates and media, I am an active consumer of journalism and communication, consuming a great deal more than I produce (as shown on pie chart 3).

Pie Chart 3: Consuming vs Producing 

Summary

Internet

            I spend a great deal of time on the Internet, mainly using social networking.

Music

As a commuting University student I highly indulge in modern technology to listen to music, rather than traditional radio as its more convenient and accessible to me.

Reading

            I spend more time reading for the purpose of education than pleasure.

TV

            I am not an avid TV viewer; this media often doesn’t come into my day.

Texting

I have a phone on an unlimited plan, resulting in a large amount of texting, there is not a day I do not text, I am pretty dependant on it.

Calls

I make limited calls but when I do they are very long, up to an hour at a time, for the times texts just won’t do.

Apps

My phone has the Facebook app, which I tend to look at whenever I have spare time (eg. On public transport), I also have the Draw Something app which I use every day to compete against my friends.

Emails

I mainly use emails to send out resumes and contact people in relation to university, I don’t really ever email for perusal reasons. I do check my email everyday and I have several accounts.

Blogging

Before JOUR1111 I did not blog, I did read other peoples but never made my own. Now I spend quite a bit of time finding interesting things to put up. Not something I do everyday but is one of the more personally enjoyable things I produce.

As a 17 year old University student, media is a large part of my day as demonstrated by my use diary, the need for communication results in a lot of hours spent on my phone and the interent. I can conclude that I do not refrain from indulging in journalism and communication, alike to the JOUR1111 cohort and that I have patterns of media use that can be clearly linked to my personal needs.