Term Paper one - Media Usage

     Media usage has become a staple in our daily lives. From the moment that we are startled at ungodly hours of the morning by our alarms to the moment that we lay back down at night for bed setting those same alarms. I personally use my phone throughout the day for all kinds of reasons. While I say that I could go without my phone for a day with confidence I feel that my statement is not accurate. Using my phone has become a major convince; I have an alarm, a telephone, a newspaper, a calculator, and so much more all in the palm of my hand. However, with this major convince comes some drawbacks. 

  

  I begin my day with the sun shining, birds singing, and my alarm blaring obsessively. I usually only set one alarm in the morning; however, I may hit snooze at least two to three times. Once I finally decide to wave the white flag in the war against my alarm, I usually start playing some music while I get ready to head to class. Once I get dressed, I usually do a bible study on the bible app on my phone before eating breakfast. While I eat I usually either watch a comfort show like 'Golden Girls' or 'The Gilmore Girls' or if I don't have a lot of time I may scroll on Tik Tok for a little bit. At some point while getting ready for class or while I am waiting for class to start, I will check my emails and X for any updates or notifications. 

    

In between classes I may scroll on Facebook or Instagram for a little bit or respond to any messages or emails. I may also take the time to snap people back on Snapchat if I think about it. I am perpetually bad at snapping people back in a timely manner. After class while I am running around doing whatever kind of errands that I need to do I am usually playing music off of my phone. When I get home, I usually take some time to get some homework done. Once that is done, or when I have just had enough of staring at my computer screen, I usually go out to the barn to take care of the horses unless I have some kind of event going on with my sorority or something. When I am out at the barn I am usually listening to music or if my mom calls, I will usually talk to her for at least an hour. 

                                                                        

    Once I am back home, I will cook dinner or attempt to there have been quite a few fails recently. I am usually following a recipe that I have found on Tik Tok or Pinterest. I will usually prop my phone up somewhere in the kitchen so I can see the recipe. If me or my roommates don't have a movie or TV show playing in the living room I will usually, you guessed it, play some music. While eating I will either watch some TV, or I will scroll on Tik Tok for a little bit. 

    After dinner if I have some more homework to do, I will work on it for a little bit. And then once I am ready to settle down and relax for a little bit before bed I will usually curl up with a book either on the couch or in bed. While reading I like to listen to a movie score that has the same mood as the book. If I am not really feeling that I will play some background noise. My favorites are either some kinds of fire sounds with some light rain or ocean sounds. I think that it truly elevates the feeling of the book with the score or the sounds playing in the background. I have also found that I sleep so much better by reading for about an hour or so with the score or background noise playing. Once my eyes feel as though they weigh ten pounds I reluctantly finish the chapter and put the book down. Picking up my phone to once again set my alarm for the next morning. 

    While to me having my phone is a thing of convivence and enjoyment sometimes it does have its drawbacks. One drawback being that some I get sucked into constantly scrolling even though the mountain of things that I have to do looms. On Tik Tok especially it is easy to get stuck constantly scrolling, or in my case jumping down rabbit holes when something interesting catches my attention. So often I come across a Tik Tok that talks about something wild or crazy going on in the world and I have to know more.  Tik Tok makes it all too easy to dive headfirst down the rabbit hole when at the bottom of the screen a button pops up that when pressed takes you to other Tik Toks talking about the subject. Another drawback is that sometimes I feel that I do not take the time to take in the world around me because I am stuck doing something on my phone. 

    One thing that I have been trying to make a conscience effort to do is to put my phone down more. Especially when I am around family or friends. So often I felt like I was only halfway listening to conversations going on around me because I was doing something on my phone. Even if I didn't mean to end up on my phone what was meant to be a quick check turns into fifteen to twenty minutes of scrolling. And while I am looking down at the phone, I have missed quality time with my family or friends. I noticed that when I would look up that I had missed out on my Nana working hard to cook or bake something and that I could have been learning from her. Or that I story had been started, and I had missed the beginning, and I am lost. 

    When I started making an effort to put my phone down and enjoy the experience there was a few things that I noticed. One, that after leaving a family gathering or being with friends I realized that I had more fun and that I felt more connected to my friends and family. Two, whenever I started to put my phone down and focus on having conversations and being in the moment my friends started putting their phones down too. The third thing that I noticed is that I felt happier during the gatherings. 

    Overall, I have found that using my phone can be a great thing, but that maintaining a good balance is even better. That while I do use my phone a lot it is good to have breaks from the screen and all the noise. The constant pinging of messages, snaps, or emails can just be too much sometimes, and it is great to quite everything for just a little while.