MEDIA USAGE DIARYMaddi Duncan

IntroductionIn recent decades, forms of media have skyrocketed, representing both technological and social change. Over 10 days, I logged the hours I spent both using and producing media. My investigation examines which media forms I utilised and analyses why, and provides a comparison between the way in which my peers and myself interact with various types of media.

Usage Log

NEWSOver 10 days, I spent around 6hrs 25mns viewing the news. On only two days did I read the newspaper, and these were the two days I was working, where the paper is delivered to the desks of all employees. The vast majority of my news viewing is via television, and it was only on days when I was unable to watch televised news coverage, that I would browse through the headlines online, in order to remain up-to-date on current affairs.

NEWSAccording to the survey, my classmates shared my order of preferences for accessing news (television, then online, then newspaper). I suggest this is because the news is enhanced with visuals, and becomes far more captivating and meaningful when seen, rather than read.

AUDIO

0 hrs

< 1 hrs

1 hrs

1-2 hrs

2-3 hrs

3-4 hrs

> 4 hrs

0.00% 10.00% 20.00% 30.00% 40.00% 50.00% 60.00%

Peers Daily Radio Usage

AUDIO

The previous graph represents the number of hours my peers spent each day listening to the radio. Over half of them listened to less than one hour each day, 15% listened to an hour daily, and 16.7% listened to no radio at all.

On average, I listened to the radio for just over one hour each day, but, as the next graph demonstrates, my listening was unpredictable, ranging from nothing one day to 3 hours the next.

AUDIO

AUDIO

Much of my radio listening was, however, accidental. For 8 hours over 10 days, I was subjected to AM radio played by my mother, in the car and at home. Only when the radio was set to FM, was it a personal choice. Therefore, I only deliberately tuned in for 2 hours and 20 minutes over the period – a mere average of 14 minutes per day. This places me alongside 53.9% of my peers, who listen to less than an hour of radio daily. I believe this percentage who barely listens to radio is a consequence of technological advancement in delivering music.

AUDIO

Radio (used for music by 185 people) is clearly losing the battle against computers (used by 320 people) and iPods/iPhones/other Smart Phones (used by 385 people). Liv

eOther

Via CD's

Via rad

io

Via co

mputer

Via iPod/sm

art phone

Via LP

's

Via mp3 play

er0

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How do you listen to music?

AUDIOPresumably, my peers and my declining dependence on radio for music is due mostly to the choice offered by iPods, computers, etc. – that is, we can personally choose what music to listen to, as opposed to suffering through songs we may or may not enjoy on the radio. The portability of iPods and smart phones may contribute to their success, as they are far easier to carry than a Discman and CDs, or mp3s on a laptop. There is also the snob factor – no one wants to whip out a small, battery-operated radio on the bus, only to be scoffed at by Apple elitists, flicking through their indie playlists with fancy album artwork. Whilst live music is increasing in popularity as more bands include Brisbane in their tours, it is still more financially feasible to listen to a band’s CD than hear them play live.

BOOKSI have included books as part of my usage because, as a self-confessed bookworm, they form the most significant component of my media usage.

The survey of my classmates did not include books, but I would estimate the hours I spent reading over 10 days probably exceeds many, due to the text-heavy nature of my courses.

BOOKS17 hours and 10 minutes were spent reading textbooks, leaving only 3 hours and 50 minutes to read fiction for pleasure, and 1 hour and 55 minutes for non-fiction.

While television and movies, at one stage, gained popularity over books, I believe reading will soon regain its former glory, as eBooks and eReaders swarm the market, targeting the technological age.

77%

16%

7%

BooksTextbooks Fiction Non-Fiction

ONLINEThe graph below represents how many minutes per day I used online media. Though I spent significantly longer online some days than others, my 10-day internet usage totalled 16 hours and 10 minutes, averaging around 1 hour and 37 minutes each day.

Tuesd

ay 13/0

3

Wed

nesday

14/03

Thursd

ay 15/0

3

Friday

16/03

Saturd

ay 17/0

3

Sunday

18/03

Monday 19/0

3

Tuesd

ay 20/0

3

Wed

nesday

21/03

Thursd

ay 22/0

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Personal Daily Internet Usage

No.

of m

inut

es

ONLINEAccording to the survey of my peers (below), I am far less active online than my classmates, the majority of whom spend 2-3 hours online per day, followed by 3-4 hours per day. 321 pupils (75%) spent more than 2 hours online each day, with only 111 spending the same amount of time or less than I did.

<1 hr 1-2 hrs 2-3 hrs 3-4 hrs 4-5 hrs 5-6 hrs >6 hrs0

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Classmates Daily Internet Usage

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of P

eopl

e

ONLINEWhy am I in the minority? Quite simply, I do not do as much online. My only three uses for internet are Facebooking, web surfing, and researching, while my peers engaged in a number of other activities, such as shopping, reading blogs, and streaming radio and television.

20%

70%

11%

Personal Internet UsageFacebook Uni Research Web Surfing

Faceb

ook

Reading b

logs

Genera

l surfi

ng and bro

wsing

Shopping

Studyin

g and Rese

arch

Playing L

AN games

Enter

tainmen

t (rad

io, podcas

ts, et

c.)0

50100150200250300350400450

Classmates Internet Usage

TELEVISIONExcluding news reports, I spent 9 hours and 30 minutes watching television, averaging 57 minutes per day (table). This places me alongside 116 of my classmates in the <1 hour category, the second most common group (after 1-2 hours).

0 < 1 1 1-2 2-3 3-4 > 40

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Classmates Daily TV Viewing

Hours

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of P

eopl

e

TELEVISIONI expected my peers to watch more television than they did. When you compare the data for TV viewing with hours spent online though, it is less surprising – generally, as hours of internet usage increased, television viewing decreased. This may be a result of TV and podcast streaming online, or personal preferences to game, shop or social network online, over television viewing.

< 1

1-2

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> 4

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Daily Internet Usage vs. TV Viewing

Daily Internet Usage

Daily TV Viewing

No. of people

Hour

s

Production Log

ONLINEMy personal online production, shown the pie chart below, reveals an overwhelming majority of my media production involves blogging (with 5 hours and 20 minutes spent engaging in this activity over the period.) However, this blogging was solely for this course, and does not represent my usual personal production. Therefore, most of my time was spent Skyping (1 hour, 15 minutes) then emailing (50 minutes).

11%

72%

17%

Personal Online ProductionEmail Blogs Skype

ONLINEMy most frequent activity, though, was emailing, as I engaged in it 6 out of 10 days, while I blogged on only 4 occasions and used Skype twice.

This data corresponds to more than half (229) of my classmates, who answered that the majority of their online media production involved emailing, followed by Skype.

Twitter Emailing Skype0

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Internet Production

No.

of P

eopl

e

MOBILEThis section is titled “Mobile” as I spoke only on cell, never landline. Most of my calls lasted around 10 minutes or less, and were usually “where are you” calls. As a result of text messaging and Skype, my phone bill has dramatically decreased, and I imagine this situation would be common amongst my peers.

USE vs. PRODUCTIONOver 10 days, I spent 86 hours and 23 minutes engaging with media. 89% of that time (77hours, 3 minutes) was spent using media (watching the news and television, listening to the radio, reading and web-surfing), while only 9 hours and 20 minutes were spent producing media.

89%

11%

Media

Use Production

USE vs. PRODUCTION

What of my classmates? Though the survey did not provide as extensive information as my media log, I imagine the majority of my peers would also be “users”, namely because there are more types of media production available (eg. News, television, audio, books, net-use) than media usage (net-production and mobiles).

USE vs. PRODUCTION

Analysing the available data from the survey, my overall media use and production seems to be less than that of my classmates. Whilst I am in the majority (53.9%) of my peers who listen to less than 1 hour of radio each day, I am in the bottom 25% of internet users (less than 2 hours online each day), and the bottom 32% of television viewers (watching less than 1 hour of TV daily). Though I assume I read more than my other classmates, my phone use and internet production are probably below average.

USE vs. PRODUCTIONSocial media – Facebook, Twitter, blogs – is rapidly growing in popularity, and I predict that the gap between media production and usage will close over coming years.

Though media is a valuable tool, there needs to be balance. I have a discerning use of media; I am not dependent upon it, and, once coursework is discounted, it does not form a significant component of my daily life.