Personal Media Usage
My Digital Life
On average, I spend approximately 6 hours and 30 minutes of my day on my phone. This time is divided between my favorite social media apps, listening to music, and communicating with my friends and family.
Like most people, I use my phone and the distractions it provides as a way to escape reality, and see the world through highlight reels. But mobile media can also be used on different platforms and devices for educational and informational reasons.
My personal media usage is a mixture of social media, communication, and educational/creative interests.
Social Media
Social media is one of the most addictive and distracting habits in the world today. As an avid social media user, I can attest to this. Social media is an addictive habit for me because of the freedom and creativity that is available (to anyone) to use. Anyone can be considered a content creator or influencer on social media, and
The most used social media app on my phone is TikTok. TikTok is a wonderful platform for creating and posting videos to reach specific groups of people across the world. I love scrolling through my ForYou page to see new content from my favorite creators and friends, as well as random videos that filter through my page.
Even though I continually use a majority of my time on TikTok, I do not use it as one of my personal content creation apps. Occasionally I will film silly videos with my sisters, but those do not leave my drafts. I have two videos posted to my account, but nothing that could consider me a successful content creator.
The most common videos that appear on my ForYou page fall under four categories: "Get ready with me" and makeup videos, Christian content, Disney parks content, and edits about my favorite celebrities/artists.
I will constantly catch myself throughout the day mindlessly scrolling through TikTok, hearing hundreds of videos with the same sounds, followed by similar content by different creators.
Coming in a close second behind TikTok, Instagram is my most used social media app on my phone. Instagram is my favorite way to access my favorite content, as well as create my own.
I technically have three personal Instagram accounts that I am consistently active on. Each one is used for separate purposes in my life, focusing on the different aspects of my life.
My main Instagram account (my most active account) is taylorrich_2002, I use it to post about important moments in my life, or moments I deem "Instagram-able".
I choose to post major moments in my life such as my high school graduation, my trip to Europe, and my acceptance into the Disney College Program. But I am not opposed to just posting for fun either!
I use Instagram as my main social media outlet for my personal life and generally post things that I am interested in.
In the summer of 2022, I started my Disney Instagram account (taystorymania_), to document my experience at the Disney College Program. This account is directed towards a niche audience and my posts reflect this interest. While I was in Florida, I posted on a consistent schedule, where I shared my favorite pictures and moments throughout my program. I like to refer to my Disney Instagram account as my digital scrapbook, which I get to share with my friends, family, and the Disney community.
Instagram is my favorite app to share news about my life, it gives me the freedom to create the specific kind of content I want to share. And although I am not an influencer by any means, it sure is fun to
Communication
The most used app on my phone, with a daily average of 2 hours and 12 minutes, is my Messages app. My favorite thing to do on my phone is communicating with my friends and family, in any free time I have.
Generally, I access my messages throughout the day from the moment I wake up until I go to bed, trying to keep in contact with my long-distance friends and family. Since most of my friends live in Texas or Florida and my family lives six hours away, I prioritize texting them in an effort to stay caught up in their daily lives.
My family group chat is constantly active, sharing a mixture of important news and silly updates about our lives. I also make sure to have constant communication with my best friends that I am not able to see as often as I used to.
When I am picking up my phone to check my notifications, I most often check for messages. According to my Screen Time data on my phone, last week I received 1,445 messages, making messages my most notified app on my phone.
Creative Content
One of the newest additions to my personal media usage is creative apps and programs I can use for personal and educational use. Canva is the main contributor to this section, which I generally use for my Mass Communication classes, as well as my own personal projects.
I am by no means a professional or creative designer, but I do enjoy experimenting with designs to use for projects. For example, almost every media throughout this paper was edited by me on Canva, to give my paper a personal and creative touch.
Once school is in session, Canva becomes much more prevalent in my personal media usage. Besides Blogger and Google Slides, it is my largest tool for education.
I also love to use the app, A Color Story, to edit my photos. A Color Story is a simple photo editing app that provides basic filters to enhance photos.
A Color Story is an app I generally use on a daily basis, one of my favorite things to do is take pictures, so I always have
a fresh template to edit.
Overview
My personal media usage is a huge part of my daily routine and has a major impact on my life. However, as I previously stated, social media can become an addiction. Sometimes I can find myself overwhelmed by the world inside my phone, and I have to take a step back from media. To aid in this dilemma, I try to give myself time every single day to take a step back from my phone. This past semester I learned about a practice called "Amish Hour", where you set aside an hour a day without any media, internet, or technology to reset and promote healthy habits. Many experts recommend doing this an hour before bed, to create better sleeping habits.
Although I try my best to have my Amish Hour before bed, sometimes I find different times during the day to separate myself from the digital world. During this time, I set my phone, laptop, and television aside and focus on what is in front of me.
While it can be important to take a step back from media, it is also important to recognize the impact it can have. Recognizing the patterns of my personal media usage is beneficial to acknowledging how I spend my time and where my focus lies during the majority of my day and my life, and how it can benefit me.
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