My Relationship with Media

11/27

As many teenagers of the 21st century do, I spend hours of my life consuming digital media. I use platforms such as Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook to communicate and connect with my friends every day. These social media platforms allow me to maintain friendships and connections with people I don't see often, which I truly enjoy. In addition to these programs, I listen to music on Apple Music while hanging around the house or running. I also use Netflix to watch Friends or Grey's Anatomy and unwind on the weekend or during a break. I am almost always surrounded by one sort of media or another in my daily life. I keep updated on current events in the world by reading the newspaper or the News App on my iPhone. I believe that while it may help me keep in touch with my friends and family far away, relax when I need time to myself, or keep up with current events, it can distract me from schoolwork or even social interaction. I notice that when a homework assignment gets boring or repetitive, I reach for my phone to entertain myself with "the latest and greatest" on social media or to turn on some fun music to listen to. These activities interfere with my ability to focus for long periods of time. Additionally, I find that if a social situation becomes awkward, I turn to my phone to escape the awkward feeling rather than starting conversation or acting normal. Also, when I am walking by myself in the hallways at school, I often go on my phone to seem "busy" and not lonely. I think that I feel very dependent on media, it would be very beneficial for me to take some time off of social media, without that constant distraction. I think that I would focus better on my schoolwork and be more efficient with my time and I would be forced to interact with others rather than shrink into "social-media-land" whenever I feel awkward in a situation. Such changes would make me a more productive and socially confident person. I think someday I would like to take time away from social media to allow this to happen, but whenever I think about acting upon this idea, I quickly forget about it and decide that there is no harm in watching one more episode of Friends.