Personal Media Inventory - Essay Example

Personal Media Inventory al Affiliation Personal Media Inventory Day Time of the day Example of media exposure Informative, entertaining or combination 5.00 AM Cellular Telephone Informative & Entertaining 6.30 AM Television Informative 8.00 AM Newspaper Informative 11.30 AM Magazine Informative & Entertaining 1.00 PM Radio Informative & Entertaining 6.00 PM Movie Informative & Entertaining 8.00 PM Internet Informative & Entertaining Day 2 Time of the day Example of media exposure Informative, entertaining or combination 5.00 AM Cellular Telephone Informative & Entertaining 6.30 AM Radio Informative & Entertaining 9.00 AM Internet Informative and Entertaining 11.00 AM Magazine Informative & Entertaining 1.00 PM Television Informative & Entertaining 6.00 PM Film Informative & Entertaining 10.00 PM Internet Informative & Entertaining 1. Describe to an alien that has never visited our planet your Personal Media Inventory information and entertainment ecology Media plays an important role in human life. Media refers to the main means of human communication. Communication can be either entertaining or informative as indicated in the personal media directory. Mediums of communication indicated in the directory include television, newspaper, magazines, movies, cellular telephones and the internet. A television is a system which transmits visual images to the viewers. These are accompanied by audio information. Television images are reproduced on screens which can either be colored or limited to black and white. Televisions have the ability to receive signals and reproduce them on screens. With technology, it is possible to have televisions which can stream media content without relying on the analogue signals used in the past. News and occurrences across the country and beyond are relayed through the television. One can also use a television to watch movies which are informative and entertaining. A newspaper is a printed publication which contains news, advertisements and other information that the producers considers important to reach the readers. Newspapers are better sources of information compared to television since one can keep the newspaper as a reference to a certain piece of information. They are both informative and entertaining. Magazines are closely related to newspapers. However, they are periodical publications which contains articles from various individuals on different topics. Whereas newspapers cover the contemporary issues in the society, magazines are more specific and dwell on a smaller niche of information. They cover a particular topic or area of interest. The internet is a global communication network that allows computers, phones, and other devices to communicate, connect and exchange information. It has taken over the entertainment and information industry considering that most people own cellular phones which can access it. To access the internet, one has to be connected to a mobile service provider or Wi-Fi. It is not only entertaining but also highly informative. A movie is a recorded event using a camera. It shows a continuous flow of action. Most movies are entertaining though they harbor informative themes which are helpful to the viewer. They can be viewed on a television or a personal computer. Radios are informative as well as entertaining. Just like televisions, they receive signals which are reproduced in audio form. 2. Explain what your inventory communicates about the convergence, content, and concentration of media in your life. Media convergence brings together computing, communication and content. Looking at the personal media inventory, I have a balanced exposure to entertainment media and informative media. The content that I get from any media must be informative, entertaining or both. Convergence means that there two or more things coming together. Using that to describe my media directory, it is impossible to get the required information from a single media source. It is therefore important to seek it from various sources. The internet for instance has revolutionized the media industry. Using it, it one can access the television channels at the comfort of his office. The developments made in the phone industry, especially with the emergence of smart phones has made it easier to access any form of information. Nowadays, accessing the magazines and newspapers is easier without seeking the printed version. This can be done by simply logging in to the producing company’s website and subscribing to the magazine or newspaper. The new productions will be directly sent to one’s email. Social media can be used to obtain any kind of information such as health information (Logsdon, Mittelberg & Myers, 2015). The same change can be seen in the radio industry where most people get the required information using their personal computers, laptops and smartphones. In the internet era, media convergence can be viewed or understood in four dimensions. The rise of social network media such as Twitter, Facebook and Whatsapp. Accessing quality information has changed. It is easier to understand what is happening across the world without having to wait for long. Considering that companies such as Facebook cover the whole world with more than one billion users, it is easier to get informative and entertaining information easily. Using a technological approach, there is a combination of computing, mode of communication and the kind of content that one has access to. The rise of companies such as Google where one can easily search the kind of information he wants has changed how information was accessed. Youth today use the internet as a social tool (Grace, Wood & Connell, 2014). Social platforms such as Facebook allows users to exchange media which can be entertaining or informative. This therefore forms the basis of the information I have access to as indicated in the personal media directory. 3. Identify how new technologies in your inventory affect your sense of self and your sense of your social life. New technology such as smart phones and internet have significantly affected my sense of self and general social life. Before the advent of the smart phones and the increased use of the internet, the television and radio served as the main sources of information, either informative or entertaining. With new technology, the amount of time one gets to watch news on the television is limited. My social life has changed especially with the use of social platforms such as Facebook and Whatsapp. It is easier and faster to link up with family members and friends. Using search engines such as Google, I can get any kind of information that I want. This makes it easier to get more refined information rather than relying on a single source of information such as a newspaper. Social media has changed the way people portray themselves. Everyone has the ideal self which could be different to actual self. The social media prompts most people to portray a different image from the people they really are. I have therefore drawn a clear line between social media and my normal life. I use the social media limitedly mainly for informative purposes. That way I have managed to merge my ‘ideal self’ with my ‘real self’ to avoid painting a false image that will later force me to live a forced fake life. My social life does not affect my personal life. Considering the damages the media can cause to one’s life, it is always good to be moderate. I therefore set the amount of time that I access the social media or use the internet to get information. I have created a circle of friends and other individuals whom we interact with based on the common interests we have. When accessing educational materials, the internet is also important. With the help of a smart phone and a working internet, one can attend online classes and even participate in discussions at the comfort of their homes or office. Therefore, with the developments in the media industry and the mainly the increased use of the internet, it is important to redefine the way one uses it to avoid a negative interference with personal life. Internet addiction should be avoided since it affects the time one dedicates to other tasks in life (Simsek & Sali, 2014). References Grace, E., Wood, D. & Connell, T. (2014). Learning to Use the Internet and Online Social Media: What is the Effectiveness of Home-Based Intervention for Youths with Complex Communication Needs? Child language Teaching and Therapy, 30(2): 141-157. Logsdon, C. M., Mittelberg, M. & Myers, J. (2015). Use of Social Media and Internet to Obtain Health Information by Rural Adolescent Mothers. Applied Nursing Research (28): 55-56. Simsek, E. & Sali, J. B. (2014). The Role of Internet Addiction and Social Media Membership on University Students’ Psychological Capital. Contemporary Educational Technology, 5(3), 239-256. Read More