My Media Diet

Tuesday, November 2

~30 mins or reading new manga releases
~1 hour doing readings for classes
~2 hours spent online on Facebook, checking e-mail, watching youtube videos, reading articles on allkpop
~6 hours playing League of Legends  with floormates
~1 hour total of texting on smartphone/calling mom/miscellaneous cellphone use

Wednesday, November 3

~1 hour doing readings for classes
~2 hours spent online on Facebook, checking e-mail, watching youtube videos, reading articles on allkpop
~1 hour skyping
~2 hour playing League of Legends by myself
~1 hour total of texting on smartphone/calling mom/miscellaneous cellphone use

Thursday, November 4

~30 mins of reading new manga releases
~1 hour doing readings for classes
~2 hours spent online on Facebook, checking e-mail, watching youtube videos, reading articles on allkpop
~30 min in the library using a computer to complete a tutorial for CTW
~4 hours playing League of Legends with floormates
~1 hour using Word to type a Chinese essay
~1 hour total of texting on smartphone/calling mom/miscellaneous cellphone use

Friday, November 5

~2 hours spent online on Facebook, checking e-mail, watching youtube videos, reading articles on allkpop
~1.5 hours watching a movie with floormates
~1 hour total of texting on smartphone/calling mom/miscellaneous cellphone use

Saturday, November 6

- Went to San Francisco for the whole day, not much media usage
~1 hours spent online on Facebook, checking e-mail, watching youtube videos, reading articles on allkpop
~1 hour of watching videos of cute animals on youtube with floormates
~1 hour min total of texting on smartphone/calling mom/miscellaneous cellphone use

Analysis

My media diet consists of extended times spent in a slim range of activities.  I tend to spend a significant amount of time during the day on my laptop.  Some hours may not be captured by the time I spend on idle while using certain media.

I did not quite realize it before, but I spend a lot of time playing League of Legends.  Just by looking at the numbers I marked down, I realized that I had a lot of free time which ended up being put into a nonproductive activity.  It should be noted that I am aware of my own history with online gaming.  Having spent up to 7 years playing RuneScape prior to coming to college, it can be said without a doubt I spent thousands of hours on a single game.  I tend to enjoy my online gaming time being invested into a single game rather than playing a plethora of games with no real skill or understanding developed.  I recently quit RuneScape and picked up League of Legends which continues to take up a lot of time, but not to the significant proportions I had spent before on RuneScape.  I have found floormates in my dorm who share an interest in League of Legends as well, so the activity has shifted towards being more of a social one.

I check my Facebook, e-mail, various news and blog sites several times a day.  I feel a sense of satisfaction being updated on my areas of interest as soon as articles are posted.  Sites of interest I visit daily include allkpop, 8asians, and MangaUpdates.  allkpop caters the English speaking population as a Korean pop news site which translates the latest articles about the Korean entertainment industry.  8asians is a blog that primarily deals with Asian American identity, offering commentary on the latest news in respect towards the Asian Pacific American community.  MangaUpdates is a site which covers releases of scanlations (manga translations) in real time.

My smartphone use, in my opinion, is somewhat minimal and static.  I am not a person who texts much (probably because not many people text me).  I will typically only text either to confirm something or if I have a question that one of my peers can answer.  Personally, I would rather meet with someone in a face-to-face setting.  However, since coming back from my immersion in Korea, I have begun to engage in international group convo texting via the app, KakaoTalk.  With this app, I am able to keep in contact with some of the people I met in Korea.  I use this app on a daily basis and I feel a stronger connection with my Koreans despite being thousands of miles away.  Furthermore, I call my mom everyday.  I typically inform her of my daily activities and whatever else comes to mind.  I don't necessarily feel the need for a smartphone, but I certainly do feel it has made my life much more convenient since I am able to have the internet on hand at all times.

I believe my digital intake to be slightly above my peers because of the sheer amount of time I spend on online games.  While others are on Facebook chatting or updating constantly, I am virtually killing other players in a multiplayer online battle arena.  The sites I visit occupy highly specific niche interests.  Since I visit them on a daily basis, I am constantly connected with events that occur in such areas.