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Emily’s Media Diet

From the moment my alarm goes off at 8:10am, my life is consumed by media in small ways. The first thing I do after snoozing my alarm (a reminder to get up after 10 minutes) is open Twitter. I scroll through my entire timeline from the night before to catch up on what I have missed in the 6-7 hours I have been asleep. This is quite easy for me to do because I admittedly use the app a little differently than most users, and only have a following count of 70. My account can be considered more of a “fan” page, although I don’t personally consider it one. I use Twitter to connect with fans of small indie bands and artists that I listen to; however, my tweets are not dedicated to them, as fan pages are typically viewed as doing (in fact, I rarely post my own updates anymore). These artists are the only “celebrities” I follow, and the rest of my following is filled with other fans, most of whom have become my internet friends and some that have even become “irl” friends after meeting up at a concert.

Me and my internet friend Audrey meeting at a concert

According to the new Screen Time feature on iOS 12, I only spend about 45 minutes on Twitter everyday. Admittedly, this is the smallest amount of time it has been since I downloaded the app in 2013. Before coming to college, I spent almost all day on Twitter, but this first semester has drastically changed how much I use social media and how I use it. I used to be in constant communication with everyone on my timeline and in DM group chats, but now I use Twitter less for its personal social connections and more for keeping up on music release dates and the news. Although I wish it wasn’t the case, Twitter is the main source of news I consume. I usually read headlines of articles linked to tweets and only read the entire thing when I feel the subject is important. I tend to gravitate more towards recreational uses of media than ones of educational substance.

A band I support advertising their new EP in their Twitter header

In addition to Twitter, I love Instagram. I have two accounts: a main and a “finsta,” where my photos and captions are much more candid. I rarely actually post on my main, aside from photos from occasional important or fun events, but I am constantly scrolling through my feed. I follow 470 people on my main account. I have my account on private and usually only accept follow requests from students with local schools in their bios. I use Instagram to keep tabs on a few favorite celebrities, and what students from Penn and other local schools are doing. I tend to “like” every post on my main account’s feed.

A gif of my preferred way of “liking” on Instagram - the double tap

The feature I enjoy most about Instagram is the explore page, where posts based on my “likes” are curated. I scroll through my explore page on my finsta since I follow more accounts of my interests on there, making the page more accurate. My finsta explore page consists mostly of photography, poetry, tutorials (makeup, hair, food), and memes. I also use my explore page as a way to keep in contact with friends by utilizing the share button on posts that I know they would also enjoy.

A post I recently shared with my friend using the paper airplane icon

Aside from Twitter and Instagram, I don’t really use any other apps with the main purpose of social connections, although I am almost always streaming music from Spotify and occasionally make playlists that I share on Twitter (so my friends can follow them). In terms of TV consumption, I watch shows exclusively through Netflix and Hulu, and I watch them on my Macbook. I enjoy watching series and prefer to binge watch them, especially sitcoms. I only have free time to do this during the summer. Shorter series like Stranger Things and End of the F**king World are ideal types of shows for when I want to have a continuous storyline, but do not have as much time to commit to a long series. When I don’t feel like following a story with a plot that stretches across episodes, Catfish or Black Mirror are my go-to shows to watch. I especially like to do this when I have a couple of hours between classes.

A gif of Nev and Max from MTV’s Catfish, which I watch on Hulu

By making this post, I have realized how much of a scheduled and specific “media diet” I have, and that it is hard for me to use media in ways differing from the habits I have already developed (ie: not opening up to actual news sources, having specific show preferences during free time). I am realizing I should use the ever-growing internet in more effective ways in order to utilize its full capacities, especially since I ultimately have the world at my fingertips at all times.