Reflection

As a teenager, I would say that i consume my fair share of media.  Whether it be Instagram or Snapchat, I find myself spending hours a day on my phone.  Wherever I go, no matter the place, I will always find time to check my messages or scroll through my feeds.  Media has basically imbedded itself into my life and I can't tell if this is a good or bad thing.  On the positive side, media provides me with a way to communicate with friends and make plans, but on the other hand, it distracts me from homework and even makes me feel isolated at times.

Being aware if this consumption definitely changes the way I interact with this media.  Without my parents lecturing me and having me acknowledge how much time I spend on my phone, I don't think I would know my boundaries.  I think that awareness of media consumption is crucial and helps to fix the problem.  I am definitely noticing a lot more when it comes to advertisements etc. through media and I catch subtle techniques that companies try to use to reel me in.

My media habits have definitely changed this semester.  I would say that I was a bit out of control freshman year due to the fat that the work load wasn't too much and I could manage it.  This year however, I have an extra class and the workload is overwhelming, which I think allowed me to reflect and limit my screen time.  Now, I know when to put down my phone when it is time to work, and I don't check it until all of my homework is done.  This year I was able to figure out prioritization and what comes first.

It is important to have media literacy because media surrounds us.  Media is everywhere now a days and we live in a world where you can't go anywhere without exposure to media.  Media Literacy is important because it allows you to understand, analyze, and evaluate this media, which ultimately allows you to enter understand the world around us.

Being an educated consumer is important because most companies are manipulative and just want you for your money.  If you are an educated consumer, you are able to recognize the advertisement techniques and your experience when it comes to buying products will be much better.  Once you are able to recognize these strategies, you can determine which companies stand by you and have the same goals as you do.

From keeping this log, I was able to learn a variety of new things.  Through the logs, I was able to look deeper into media and discover new things about the topic.  Ad techniques were especially interesting, because I now understand how companies attract consumers, and I have started subconsciously noticing these techniques in everyday life, which I thought was pretty cool.  For example, one of my first blogs was about the newest Avengers movie and I was able to recognize the product placement that occurred throughout the film.

I honestly think that media and literacy is such a useful thing to understand or have.  Like I said, I think that media is everywhere and constantly around us, so it is necessary for us to learn about this media because it gives us a better understanding of the world
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