JOUR 1111 - Media Use Diary

Media has become a fundamental part of our society and through the media use diary, the frequent use of media was observed. It is so difficult to imagine a society without any media and this would be same for many others. So, why is it so important?

Above, is a graph of my media use over the 10 days and as shown in the graph, Facebook, Twitter and general surfing was most frequently used as it was used every day. This was due to the easy access of social media by phone applications which is accessible throughout the whole day. Also, my interest towards K-POP and Korean boy bands leads me to check and browse twitter and internet all day.

The graph above is the results from the survey monkey, answered by 436 JOUR 1111 students. Through this, the type of media students spend most of their time doing was shown which was Facebook followed by general browsing. This represents how “socialising” is a significant matter to many people and how it has developed from the past. Compared with my results, however, twitter wasn’t so popular, in fact, 70.8% didn’t have a twitter account before they enrolled into JOUR 1111. I believe this is due to the vast arrays of social networking site, thus, twitter being slightly infamous would not be a popular use to many people.

So, how is social networking sites relate to journalism? I believe social networking sites soely relate to journalism and communication as it is an online space where you can post your thoughts and interests. Blogging is considered as a type of journalism, for the previous reasons. Blogging is a social networking site, so is Facebook and twitter.

Old media, such as television, radio, news papers and magazines, are still very significant and popular today. Many people still get their news off these old media, as shown in the graph below. In fact, 71.1% consume their news through TV, followed up by “online newspaper.” Personally, hours spent watching TV over the 10 days was 12 hours. All the hours however, were spent watching either KPOP singers or Korean dramas. This is because, I prefer reading the news through online or by the papers unlike the general pattern of watching news on TV. Through the survey, however, it is also evident that nearly 50% get their news from Facebook. Due to such popularity of the site the news spreads very rapidly and out of curiosity many people ‘click’ on the link to figure out the reason why it has so many “likes.” Also, it is an ideal site to catch the mainstream of the week instead of having to read through numerous uninteresting articles. The fact that you can debate and share your ideas about the news and that any news can spread worldwide greatly relates to journalism. It doesn’t have to be some kind of formal news report, journalism is simply expressing your opinions and engaging and interacting with others.

Through the survey and my media use diary, I have realised how significant media are, to me and to the society. It has also come to my attention how much I, personally use social media and how journalism is represented through my posts and ideas. Also, that online media plays a fundamental role in our lives as it helps to engage and interact with others and the world. Media will develop and we would move along with it in order to stay engaged with everyone.