We may not even realize it in our modern world, but our lives are essentially run by our devices. A three-day log analysis of my personal media habits has caused me to reflect and realize just how addicted I am to media, and I did not even realize it!

Upon analyzing my media habits, I was able to find that concepts introduced in our textbook and lectures were relevant to specific personal media habits. I was able to pinpoint how media was being tailored for me as a user specifically and keep me engaged with the media for the longest time possible.

I noticed this was strongest in the field of social media. Social media has the highest rate of user response compared to traditional medias and is able to produce the best algorithms to keep users engaged. For my personal media usage, Snapchat was my most used social media.

My logging began on Tuesday, February, 12^th

It shows that I am on some form of media device longer than I am not on one.

• 7:55 a.m. cell phone, 5 min.- opened snapchat and checked email
• 9:30 a.m. cell phone, 30 min.- watched YouTube video reviewing a movie
• 10 a.m. desktop, 30 min.- returned emails, used Bolt to work on some assignments
• 1 p.m. desktop, 45 min. -worked on Bolt
• 1:50 p.m., 5 min. opened snapchat and browsed reddit
• 3:20 p.m., 10 min. browsed reddit while in Qdoba line
• 3:30 p.m., PlayStation 1 hr. and 30 min. -watched Regular Show and American Dad on Hulu
• 5:30 p.m., desktop, 2 hr.- used bolt, word, and google to work on my internship.
• 8:15 p.m. PlayStation, 2 hr. and 15 min. – watched Regular Show and American Dad on Hulu
• 11:20 p.m. cellphone, 20 min. -checked snapchat, browsed reddit, and watched quick YouTube video about NBA

Looking back on this day, I did not even realize just how much time I was spending on my devices. I noticed that one app I was particularly fond of was Snapchat. I have noticed that more companies and political figures have been advertising on Snapchat lately and I believe that Potter may have an answer for that.

He says on page 70,

“Media programmers must find new potential members of their audience in other audiences so the programmers can promote their new messages and thus attract people to the audience they are trying to construct.”

Potter pg. 70

I would agree with this statement because I know that corporations are realizing the power behind social media and are using it to find audiences at younger and younger ages. I find that this practice is becoming more unethical though as more children enter the internet at increasingly younger ages.

My second day of logging looked like this:

• 8 a.m. cell phone, 5 min. -opened up email and checked weather
• 8:30 a.m. cell phone, 30 min. -watched YouTube video about a video game
• 9 a.m. desktop, 1 hr. -opened Bolt, checked email, used word, used BU athletic site to write sports article
• 10:55 a.m. cellphone, 5 min. -opened snapchat and browsed reddit
• 1:30 p.m. desktop, 3 hours. -used Adobe InDesign to work on sports page, Word to write another article, and BU athletic site for reference
• 3:42 p.m. cellphone, 10 min. -browsed reddit, sent texts
• 5:48 p.m. desktop, 1 hour. -checked email, checked bolt, used Word for other assignments
• 7:36 p.m. PlayStation, 2 hr. -played Doom 3, watched Regular Show on Hulu
• 11:40 p.m. cellphone, 10 min. -set alarm, sent texts, checked snapchat, browsed reddit

When I study this log, I notice how websites like Reddit and YouTube are seemingly designed to keep me on their sites, and I find myself spending more time on them than I even originally planned. This relates to lecture 4.3 about convergence which states,

“Instead of focusing on the lowest common denominator, media companies now focus on long-tail marketing.”

I would absolutely agree with this statement, because websites like YouTube have algorithms that are designed to keep me engaged for as long as possible.

My final day of logging reads:

• 7:36 a.m. cell phone, 5 min. -checked email and snapchat
• 7:57 a.m. cell phone, 3 min. -answered texts
• 9:45 a.m. cell phone, 10 min. -listened to Spotify
• 10:20 a.m. cell phone, 25 min. -watched YouTube video from Fox Sports
• 3:30-5:30 p.m. desktop, 2 hr. -opened bolt, checked emails, used word and internet to work on internship
• 5:40-6 p.m. cellphone, 20 min. -used Spotify while on run at the gym
• 7:02 p.m. cellphone, 5 min. -responded to texts and snapchats
• 8:15 p.m. cellphone, 15 min. -browsed reddit
• 9 p.m. PlayStation, 2 hr. -played Doom 3 and watched Regular Show on Hulu
• 11:55 p.m. cellphone, 20 min. -responded to texts, snapchats, and watched YouTube videos until fell asleep

When I reviewed my final day of logging, I found that once again I was repeatedly checking sites like Snapchat and Reddit for user interaction. I believe this relates to what Potter describes as “audience conditioning” on page 71.

Audience conditioning is a mass media organization driving you for repeated exposure after a message has gained you attention. I would agree with this idea because I find myself checking these sites almost instinctively and even if I get bored with them, I always find myself checking again.