Media Usage Diary

Journalism 1111 Jess OMahony 42921507

Aims and Objectives

Over the course of this report I Intend to compare my Media Usage to that of my peers in Journalism whilst also divulging what drives me to use certain type of media sources over others and how it connects to journalism and communication as a whole.

I am a Domestic student which coincides with 82.6% of students I am female as are 70.1% of students in this particular course And Im also, along with 48.5% doing a Bachelor of Arts as well as being at my second semester of my first year along with 52.1% others. However I am in the minority in age range being in the 21-25 bracket along with 15% of people taking this course.

Graph showing the extent of my media consumption (6/8/2012-16/8/2012)

Media Usage Facebook Youtube Blog Twitter Emailing Skype General Surfing Studying and Research Shopping Radio Tv Texting Newspaper WordDocument Books Day 1 30 mins 1 hour 0 0 45 mins 2 hours 15 mins 1 hour 0 0 0 20 mins 0 1.5 2 hours 1 hour 45 mins 1 hour 0 0 30 mins 0 0 0 10 mins 0 1 hour 0 0 0 15mins 0 30mins 30 mins 5mins 0 2 hours 50mins Day 2 15 mins 2 hours 0 0 Day 3 20mins 3hours 0 0 15mins 0 0 Day 4 0 45mins 0 0 30mins 0 0 2 hours 0 0 0 Day 5 5mins 30mins 0 0 25mins 2 hours 0 45mins 0 0 0 10mins 5mins 3hours 1 hour 1hour 45 2 hours 10mins 0 25mins 1 hour 1hour 45 0 0 0 20mins 0 15mins 0 0 Day 6 0 2hours 20 0 0 5mins 0 0 1hour 30 0 0 0 Day 7 0 1hour 30 0 0 Day 8 30mins 2hours 0 0 30mins 0 10mins 50mins 0 0 0 15mins 0 45mins 2hours 1hour 3hours 5mins 0 30mins 3hours 1hour 0 0 0 15mins 0 Day 9 15mins 2hours 0 0 40mins 1 hour 0 Day 10 45mins 1hour 30mins 5mins 10mins 1 hour 30 1hour 2hours 0 0 0

Hours over ten days spent on each media

Media Usage Facebook Youtube Blog Twitter Emailing Skype General Surfing Studying and Research Shopping Radio Tv Texting Newspaper WordDocument Books 2 hours 5 mins 5 mins 12 hours 45mins 16 hours 5 mins Total 2hours 40 mins 16 hours 30 mins 5 mins 4 hours 50mins 6 hours 30mins 1 hour 25mins 12 hours 20mins 0 0 0

Internet Media Usage Evaluated: Facebook

Compared to 43% of my cohort who spend most of their time online using Facebook I rarely and infrequently use it. As shown from the data collected over ten days I only used it for 2 hours and 40 minutes. I believe this is due to not feeling the need to connect to acquaintances whereas I either email my friends or text/call them via phone or Skype. The most used app was Facebook at 81.2% which in the day and age of the up and coming interconnecting Web 3.0 is unsurprising, half the time I go one Facebook would be through my phone app. Facebook is a medium that emerged rapidly over the last few years and is paving the way for the new interconnected web 3.0.

Twitter and Blogging

I dont use other media sources like twitter and blogging that much and was relieved to see that neither did the majority of my cohorts. 61.2% said they didnt even have a twitter account before signing up to journalism and likewise for blogging at 61.8%. I agree that in terms of connecting journalism and communications to the masses this type of Internet media (twitter, blogging, facebook) is key. The type of news that these sources generate is 24/7 and has opened the platform for many voices that would have been unheard or silenced in earlier years.

Youtube
Due to everything going viral these days I tend to use YouTube quite a bit for background music. From this graph over the ten day period I can see that I spend a shamefully considerable amount of time 16 hours using which is way above average as only 7.9% of students use it for this purpose. Even so the fact that so many videos have gone viral in a matter of years gives people and organizations yet another platform (besides twitter, facebook or blogging) to promote their cause or highlight injustice.

Skype and Email

55.2.% people use Skype when they go online and I would be one of those. I spend a considerable amount of time chatting to my family and friends on Skype. This is particularly handy as all of these are overseas calls. Which I dont have to pay obscene amounts to place one call. 84.8% of people use emailing whilst online which puts me in the majority as I frequently use it 4 hours 50 minutes over ten days. Generally I use it to contact people and set up meetings or just to chat and catch up with my family and friends overseas.

Texting, General Surfing and Study

Having a Blackberry puts me in a minority of 6.1% whist 53.9% of people seem to have an iphone. All these smart phones have to same end result; the ability to use the internet and check emails or Facebook. 24.8% spent 3-4 hours using the internet and during my daily recording was surprised to see that I was in that majority whilst previously thinking I only used 1-2 hours. I dont use the internet much for general surfing (only 1 hour 25 mins) but I do however find Im draw to the internet to study 12 hours 20mins over the 10 days (more out of habit) and have to my shame forgotten how to study from books. But with every available resource at my fingertips how could I resist.

Print Media
Rarely do I use print media as a news source however I do use it considerably when studying 12 hours 45 on Microsoft word or reading books 16 hours. Thankfully after all this internet use I still know how to read. Even though print media was the leading source of information and the news over several decades I believe that journalism and communications are going to have to evolve if they want to stay in the game.

Conclusion
Over a period of ten days I have been surprised by how little /if not at all I use print media as a news source as well as the amount of time spent on the internet mainly due to work and I must confess a little procrastination. I believe the journalism and communications have a great many more medians to perform from then ever before and we have to grasp and experiment with these concepts to make them work for us.
I have enjoyed documenting this report and have been both ashamed and surprised at my media habits.