I like to think of myself as an informed media consumer. I’m pretty sure we all do. The ideal version of ourselves is someone who questions every story we read or hear. We’re doing extra research and fact-checking everything to make sure the information I am consuming is reflecting the truth of the world and is not simply filling me with a steady stream of propaganda. I would like to think that I am one of those viewers who deeply engages with every piece of media I see, trying to dissect all of the messages so I can see the reality behind the headlines, and using all of the key skills of media literacy. But, the truth of my situation is far from the ideal. In reality, I don’t question much of the media that is presented to me and how it got there. Much of the time, I simply look at it, assume it will be good enough, and move on. For the rest of this blog post, I will try to outline a typical weekday of media consumption for me.
5:00 AM
I get up, and soon after I have put on coffee and got myself a little ready for the school day, my media diet begins. I usually like to think that I don’t like to think of myself as someone who uses a lot of digital media, but there is one digital media service I use a lot during my downtime: YouTube.
I have found YouTube to be the most versatile of any media service I can imagine. No matter what topic I can think of, I can find someone who is talking about it, many times for hours and hours on end. Whether it be US college football or the fall of the Roman Empire, I can find multiple people who will talk about it and sound authoritative about it.
But, “sound” is the key word in that last sentence. Many of the people I watch on YouTube can use the vocabulary of the expert, but I never check their credentials or look into any additional sources to actually verify their claims. I just kind of take them.
Now, when they are talking about a football game on the weekend, I don’t think my worldview will be destroyed if I learn they were wrong, but when the events are of actual real world importance there are more chances for misinformation, especially considering how much of a problem misinformation is becoming for students and adults. As well, the news content I consume on YouTube does primarily reflect my worldview. I don’t try to seek out content that comes from other sides, and this has lead me to being in a bit of a “filter bubble” of my own creation.
7:30 AM
I am at school now, and I get a little time for current events before my day starts. I go through my typical repertoire of news sources: CBC Saskatchewan for local stories, The Guardian, and The New York Times for international ones. I’d like to think that my go to sources give a fairly broad brush of potential stories and views, but I do recognise that I’m not getting everything, and there are a lot of views that are left out, particularly more marginalised perspectives.
8:45-12:00 PM
The teaching day has begun.
This is the part of the day when my inner media critic tries to come out. I want to be able good media literacy skills to my class to make sure my students are able to make informed decisions in their media choices. I try to show them how to verify the validity of sources, and how we can tell if a news source if reliable or not. I try to explain what shows bias in sources, and how these biases can shape the information that comes out.
This is where my ideal version of the media consumer can come out. When I am able to put on the disguise of the expert, I am able to feel like an expert.
12:00-1:00 PM
Lunch time in the staff room. An hour spent reflecting on the morning that ways with my colleagues. Much of time is spent talking to colleagues about what the morning was like and what they hope their afternoons will be, but there is also a good amount of time spent scrolling on phones trying to spend a few minutes lost in our own media universes. This is one of the things about human interactions in the 21st Century. No matter how close you are to a person, as soon as there is a lull in the conversation the phone is not too far away. Whether it be in line at the grocery store or when there is a conversation I don’t want to be involved in at work, there is always my phone there to try and make it seem like I’m wrapped up in something more important than what is happening around me.
6:00 PM-end of day
Most days, I try to have my work stuff done by 6:00 PM so I can have time for other commitments, such as university classes, family, and other hobbies. If there is one part of my media diet that I try to include in my end of day it is a print book. I always try to make sure I have a physical book with me that has nothing to do with work or school and is purely for fun. I hope that is a way for me to keep me reading as a pleasurable activity, and I like to have one part of my media diet that is totally analog. I don’t know if there is any real benefit to this, or if it is just a placebo, but it has become the way that I like to close out my day.
I would like to be able to find more of a balance in my media consumption going forward. More of a balance between screens and other mediums, as well as having more time to reflect on what I’m taking in and being less passive. I don’t know how I’ll strike that balance yet, but hopefully I’ll find a path soon.
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Great post Jordan! Our uses of technology are very similar, but I couldn’t agree more that in a social setting, the lull that happens causes people instantly to go for a quick media fix or search on their phone. I watch quite a bit of informative YouTube as well, but once again I never really think to question the source as much as I probably should, purely because it sounds like they are the experts in the topic.
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Hey Jordan – completely agree with you about having a non-digital medium link a print book to unwind with. I’ve been realizing the importance of that lately. I think there is something important about the physical “grounding” that occurs with a real-life tangible object that helps us decenter the digital aspect of our lives!
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Hi Jordan,
I appreciate your post, parts of this very resonated with my own experiences and observations as of late. In particular, your reference to the ways that we tend to fill moments of social silences by scrolling on our phones and immersing ourselves in digital spaces. I have started to notice a shift in myself, when it comes to those moments of social quietness or of being “alone” in a public space. I will automatically grab for my phone to avoid feeling any kind of social awkwardness.
Where I have seen this shift most prominently has been in the ways that students interact with one another. It is not uncommon to see groups of students sitting together during lunch, all on their individual devices, engaging socially in digital spaces. Recently, we had parent teacher conferences, and during one conference a parent expressed concern about their child spending time alone in the library at lunch reading. The parent felt that this was anti-social behavior. I do wonder, whether the parent would feel the same way if their child were choose to use their lunch periods emersed in their own digital spaces?
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Jordan, be honest – how often do you think about the Roman Empire? The TikTok fad has made me so curious if the male preoccupation with it is true. Your media-enriched day sounds similar to mine. It’s funny how we shift from media-consumer to media-director for our students. I try to be honest with my students about my own consumption and finding balance, but I often feel like a hypocrite. Striking a balance is hard, no doubt about it – good luck in your efforts!
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