My Relationship With Media

Media. We may not realize it, but we are living in a world where at every corner there is media screaming in our faces.  It bombards us in the car, at the grocery store, and even at home  on our TV's. For myself, media is something that I depend on every single day.  This can range from listening to traffic updates on the radio, checking my phone for my grades, to watching youtube videos.  It has become something that I cannot imagine my life as it is without.  By relying so heavily on media to function everyday, I never realized how much of it I actually absorbed.  For example after watching the Meow Mix commercial on TV, I would find their slogan or catchy theme song playing on repeat stuck in my head.

The fact that there are times that I can almost fully recite the song truly shows that I have taken in this source of media quite a bit.  However, some sources that provide a sense of comfort for me.  Listening to music has definitely always been there to take down my stress levels and ease me through heavy homework days.  Music is also there when I work out and provide a rhythm for me when I run.  Even when I am not doing anything I use music as a way to break the silence, so it really is a type of media that consumes much of my attention.  This is particularly one of my favorite types of media because of how diverse music can be.  Whatever the mood may be there is always a song that can match that mood.

Despite that some media may be a source of entertainment for me, it is also something that takes control of my life every now and then.  Whether it be spending time viewing between social media sites like Instagram and Snapchat or binge watching on Netflix, those are endless hours spent feeding my brain with the ideas projected by these sources.  Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that these sources of entertainment are necessarily a bad thing.  In fact, I think that letting yourself indulge and relax every once in awhile is a good thing and lets many of us unwind from our stressful lives.  However, when not enjoyed in moderation, media can very easily mold our opinions and consume our attention.

I suppose my relationship with media can be described somewhere along the lines of a love-hate type of deal.  In some instances I feel as though I need it in order to get stuff done more efficiently and other times it acts as a way for me to let loose the accumulation of the week's stress.  However when looking in retrospect,  I tell myself that I should not be spending so much of my time immersed in media and almost feel guilty for my actions.  Despite telling myself this, I don't actually do anything to change the current situation that I am in.  This blog is my opportunity to take a step back and truly understand what media is and how it affects not only me, but the rest of the world.