Observing Exposure to Media

Media is defined as "the means of communication...that reach or influence people widely" by dictionary.com.
We have been surrounded by media our entire lives--so much that we might take them for granted or not even notice them anymore. For example, media can range from advertisements and commercials on television to graffiti drawn on the street.

Social media is widely used by people everywhere. I periodically check Facebook and my email throughout the day to keep in touch with what's happening. It's one of the first things I do in the morning to see what's going on during the day and what I missed at night. 
Recently I've been kind of obsessed with an app called 1010!. My friend introduced it to me a while ago and I've been a bit addicted to it. 

There are advertisements at the top and at the end of every game. I barely noticed the small one above the game because I'm focused on the game, but the end advertisement gets a little annoying if I can't exit out of it quickly. Sometimes it's a short video and it takes around 3 seconds before I can get rid of it and start a new game. These advertisements just seem natural to me now, but if there were no ads it would be even better. Honestly I barely glance at the content of them, I just look for the X button.

I also browse Facebook whenever I'm on my laptop. It's almost instinct for me now whenever I want to take a quick break from whatever I'm doing. I noticed that a lot of people post food pictures now... I'm not really sure why food pictures have become such a popular post topic, perhaps because everyone loves food and we want to show it off? "Artsy" pictures with filters have also become more common. It's become much easier in recent years to take better pictures now that we have the technology for it.

There's also some subtle advertising on the right on Facebook with trending topics, though to be honest I don't really look much at it... I really only use Facebook to be connected with my friends but Facebook can also be used for posts by celebrities or sports, etc...

I also noticed that I use different methods of communicating with different people.

For example, to talk to my parents I would either call them or WeChat them, and occasionally email to send documents to each other. That way, since my written Chinese isn't good, I can just speak with them by sending convenient voice messages. On the other hand, to make plans with friends in the area or to catch up with old friends, I would just use Facebook Messenger for quick instant messaging. Snapchat is also fun to use for capturing moments temporarily.

I mostly use email to have formal messages with professors or for official exchanges with clubs or recruiters. In the past, people used to have long threads of emails just to communicate with each other, and even before that was with snail mail. It's interesting how we have shifted to a world that's more instantaneous as we are constantly moving faster and faster.

Through email, I get notified by my advisor about opportunities at CMU that I could apply for, and keep up to date with news from my club, KPDC (Kpop Dance Club).

My friend came back from the Strip District in the late afternoon. He was really excited because he found a chocolate store there that sold Reese's Cups for just $1.00/6 pieces. He got a little carried away and bought around 10 boxes of them.

Later on when I was debating on eating one I realized it was a little too good to be true.

Upon checking expiration dates...they were long expired.

Tragic, really.

A lot of people take expiration dates for granted nowadays. I think it's really important to keep note of them. We often check expiration dates on milk, but on foodstuffs like chocolate and water we just assume they're fine, although in their defense it doesn't matter as much.

While doing homework, I tend to listen to music using Pandora or a Youtube playlist. Times have changed compared to the past when people would use an old fashioned radio or a Walkman/MP3 player. Then we have transitioned to a separate iTouch and cell phone and now it has evolved to a one-in-all touchscreen phone with apps and music as well.

Unfortunately apps tend to be full of advertisements...as do websites. Especially since they provide free services, they need to make money somehow. I can live with an ad now and then if I get free services. Still, we could get rid of the ads if we paid for a membership, but naturally if we can get something for free, we tend to.

As I walked down Craig Street to grab dinner, I pass by this triangular billboard-like thing by 5th and Craig beside PNC Bank. I didn't notice it at first but then I realized it was "media" and double-took. My instinct was just to ignore these advertisements, like the ones by the bus stop that I don't bother looking at unless I have nothing better to do. Still, I didn't care much for the advertisements, but the second one with the brain actually caught my eye and drew my attention, whereas I just glanced at the ones filled with text.

On my way back to my room after attending a Dancers Symposium hip hop class in the UC, I ran into some chalk art on the ground. Below was one of the well-drawn ones. A lot of them were advertising a BBQ that ASA was hosting where there would be free food too. Of course free food would attract college students. I think this chalk art is really cool because we notice it on our way to classes and it keeps us informed about events we probably wouldn't know about otherwise. The only downside would be that you don't know when the chalk was written so its hard to tell whether or not it was outdated or not, and also its easy to forget about.

At the end of the day, I remember many potential sources of media I may have overlooked and failed to document. There's the 40% back to school sale poster from the art store on my way to the Bagel Factory for breakfast. There are the flyers in the UC that advertise upcoming events at CMU. There are the videos my friend recorded of the performance my club KPDC had during Late Night on the weekend. There are the slide shows on the large televisions in the newly renovated Morewood. And likely there are many more. 

We see so many different kinds of media every day, perhaps some of which we might not even consider media, or just things we simply just ignore naturally, such as the ads at the end of a game or a billboard on a street. You see them, but the information isn't really retained. Essentially, "out of sight, out of mind." And then there are those that succeed and stick with you even after they're out of sight. There are just simply too many for us to remember all of the irrelevant ones. In result, it has probably become harder and harder for advertisers to find new innovative ways to grab a consumer's attention, since walls of text just simple won't cut it anymore, such as the few from the billboard that I just completely ignored. We have adapted so readily to just ignore advertisements that we just don't even notice some anymore, and some just get in the way and are annoying. On the other hand, there's plenty of media that I do appreciate, such as the videos my friend recorded, or the helpful reminder emails from my advisor and the conversations I have with my friends, all of which are relatively new technology that has allowed me to do so. We truly are in the era of technology.