New vs. Legacy
Some years ago, I took a test that Wired magazine had published on its website to determine what category of technology user I was. According to the results of the test, I was what is known as a gadget-phile or more specifically, someone that uses and continuously accesses a wide-range of gadgets in their daily activity. Naturally, the number of gadgets that I use also affects the amount and types of media that I access and how I use that media. What my analysis of my media use showed was that not only and I am a new media, gadget person who accesses content, generally from mobile or portable devices almost continuously from the morning to the night. The most obvious illustration of my self-definition is that I don’t have a television, or more precisely I do not use a television for what it is traditional used for, namely a means of watching real-time, network or cable scheduled programs. I use my television specifically as a larger, high-definition screen for my computers. All content that comes across my television screen is from the internet via a computer. A second illustration of my self-definition is that I do not own a desktops computer and, frankly never have or never will. What I do own is currently, one Microsoft OS laptop, one Google Chromebook netbook, a Mac mini, and an Apple iPhone. Depending on the time of the day I use these devices to either stream content to the television or connect the device to the television via an HDMI cable. In other others, I rarely use the actual screens provided on the devices (excepting the Mac Mini) to view content, if I am at home. Naturally, when I am outside of home I use the device screens. I begin using these devices shortly after I wake up and continue to use them throughout the day. In fact, I have access to at least one devices always and almost everywhere
Types of Content
My choice of actual content is fairly divided between entertainment such as movies, television programs and sports; and news and information including educational content. My entertainment content tends to mainly be focused on television series both domestic and international and sports. For news content, I tend to browse well-known domestic news sites such as New York Times, the Guardian, ESPN, and the Washington Post. Almost all of my movie-watching content is from Netflix or other similar content providers like Hulu. I am not an extremely avid consumer of music content, though I average about 60 to 90 minutes of listening to music or more precisely music videos each week. After news, information, and entertainment, I am most likely to access social media content. While I constantly check my social media throughout the day, I only actively engage in it about 60 minutes a day. Interestingly, I have accounts on all major social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, Vine and Periscope, as well as quite a few less-well known networks including CyberDust, KaKao, Meerkat and WeChat. Again while I check these all via notifications, I am not that active in terms of content that I add to these sites. Generally, I use them to keep updated on friends and family.
Reaction
As the Wired test revealed, I love gadgets. I think the reason that I do is because of the access it provides to the media content that I want. Moreover, I was surprised to see how consistent my use was. My media use was the same for the three days. Someone once described me as an “information junkie”. I think that description is correct. I like all types of information, moreover, I like the ability to access all types of information when I want it whether it is finding a sports score, following a news story, or checking in with my family. Accordingly, I do think that my media consumption affects my life in that it allows me: to be me, to feel connect, to be informed. While I consume substantial amounts of media, I do not think that it controls me. I have strict shut-down periods such as prior to sleep or when I am talking with people. I am not the type to constantly check my phone when with others. I simply wait till I’m alone to do that. My media consumption also provides me with a form of relaxation that I enjoy, namely escape into whatever world that is on the television or the competition in the sports. This rests my mind so that when I need to focus on more important aspects of life such as study I can do so with emphasis.
Works Cited
