Ten Day Log
Break down of media usage.
Overview of Media Use.
This graph does not include the use of, Skype, Texts and Calls
Internet (Facebook, Email, Twitter, Blog, News and Studying)
Alike many of my peers and basically the rest of the world, Facebook plays a huge part of my life. Whether it be that I am procrastinating from studying, constantly checking my phone for updates just because the phone is in the palm of my hand or just actually keeping up to date with friends and family. In comparison to the rest of the JOUR1111 cohort there is no surprise that I am not the only one in the Facebook boat.
I am a bit skeptical at how accurate these results are from the survey about media usage completed by all the JOUR1111 students. I am very surprised that 12 people out of the 436 who answered the question do not have a Facebook. I applaud you to whoever you may be, for being the 2.8%.
As you can tell from the internet usage graph, Facebook, takes up a majority of my internet usage time, I have calculated this time from throughout the day and the majority of time I do spend on Facebook is when I am on the train commuting to and from University. This is because I travel from the Gold Coast to UQ and an hour sitting/standing can seem like a very long time when I am not occupied with anything to do.
The time spent on Facebook I use for a majority of different things,
Connecting with family and friends
Stating my opinions publicly
and 'like'-ing Celebrities, Musicians, Politicians, and News organisations.
I do use my Facebook time connecting with news and current affairs, as well as interacting with commentary about such events and issues with the wider internet community.
Blogging
Before JOUR1111 and the requirement to blog being forced upon us all I did have a blog and therefore have nothing to really complain about. I used to use blogger previously but grew out of that blog and into Tumblr. Unlike a lot of other fellow Tumblr friends I don't use pictures as my main source of blogging but rather music. I do include text, however it is on rare occasion that it is just text without a source of music being provided. Apart from JOUR1111 and the use of blogging for journalism purposes I have not interacted with many journalism blogs. As addressed in the first tutorial in JOUR1111, the question 'what is journalism and is blogging a form of journalism?' (not exact wording used but close enough) was brought up. I have not as yet come to a conclusion in my own mind about whether it is or isn't, I do find justifications for both answers but am yet to choose a side.
This will be a short and sweet paragraph. My use of twitter is still very scarce, I am finding it difficult to get into and have not yet trained myself to keep checking it. My first twitter account I have signed up to is for the use of JOUR1111 and my effort to use it I know is quite appalling. I still am yet to understand the 'hashtag' and the '@'-ing (I know, slap me). In the 10 days of doing the media use diary I did make an effort to attempt to spend time on twitter and increase my usage but as you can see in my log no more than 15 minutes was ever spent on it in one day.
News and Studying
My main interaction with journalism and communication is definitely through online news platforms. I am currently subscribed to the International Herald Tribune which, is costing me a lot more than I would want to pay for my news. I did subscribe in effort to encourage myself to engage in world news on a daily basis and to broaden my horizon on subject matter as well as information that would be useful to me in my Political Science major and now Journalism. As you can see I do use online news sources more than televised news or reading a newspaper. Apart from the International Herald Tribune I do also make a point to interact with local and national news and since starting JOUR1111 I have started making it a point to check up the brisbanetimes.com on a daily basis.
Television and Audio (Music, Radio, and Podcasts)
Television
My usage and interaction with the television is little to none. I have never been able to watch television for long periods of time and hardly, if ever, find interest in watching it at all. In the off chance that I do however watch television most times it is to watch a documentary that I can hear my family watch from upstairs or am interested in a particular event that I would like to watch live. On day 9 of the media usage log I did watch a whole 60 minutes of the television. If no one has guessed yet what this was for, it was to watch the progress of the state-elections on Saturday 24 March 2012. I only dedicated 60 minutes of my time towards the televised event due to the major upset that the LNP created for the ALP in securing the majority of the seats so fast. Therefore after the LNP had secured the majority I stopped watching and decided to follow the rest of the election online.
In comparison to the rest of my cohort I could be placed within the second major category, less than one hour. Although if it weren't for the QLD state election most weeks I would more likely to be placed in the Zero hour category. My observation of this survey has led me to the assumption that there really is a rise in the use of 'New' media and am now starting to realise why the television is placed within the 'old' media spectrum.
Radio, Music, and Podcasts
Like the television, Radio, is far from my prominent media usage. Although it is still used, I only ever listen to it in the car on my drive too and from the train station to come to university. I choose to use Triple J as my main station when it comes to the radio due to music choices as well as the their news segment. Compared to the local stations offered on the Gold Coast, Triple J, I have found delivers listenable, interesting and relevant news to what I am interested in. I do also like the Hack program broadcasted by Triple J on weekday afternoons from 5pm-6pm, although I do rarely get to listen as I am usually on the train.
Not surprisingly, I do fall into the majority of the categories for the amount of radio I listen to on a daily basis. I am surprised at the large amount of the JOUR1111 cohort do fall into the less than one hour category. I am also saddened by this factor and will after this realisation perhaps take into account using this source of media more and more often.
Music and Podcasts is a major usage for me as I find music very relaxing and a great medium for me to exert my down time towards. Podcasts is also something I frequently delve into as I like to listen to new podcasts on the train to and from University. The podcasts I listen to is Kevin Smith's Smodcast and Hollywood Babble On segments. They are based around satire and humour and although they re not news related podcasts, I would still consider them related to journalism and communication as they frequently bring up current news and issues that have arisen throughout the week.
Reading
Newspapers
My usage of the 'Old' media, newspapers, is still quite high I thought before comparing it to the survey produced by JOUR1111.
Although I am not surprised by the results produced for TV and Online News, I am happy to see that Newspapers is still of some prominence for the JOUR1111 cohort, especially due to the large amount of first-years in this subject.
As well as online news, newspapers, is also a major source of news and current affairs that I use. I usually read the newspaper in the morning whilst drinking coffee or while waiting for the train at the train station. I rarely finish it or read it extensively but I do use it as a platform of information for local and especially state news.
Conclusion
The media usage diary has definitely brought to light many new observations to my interaction with journalism and communication. I will take away from this analysis the realisation that the use of 'new' and 'old' media is becoming exactly as their titles suggest. While I will not sort to increase my usage of television, I will use radio to experiment and try increase my interaction with journalism.
