Media Analysis Essay: My Personal Media Habits (1500)WORDS 

Everyone turns on a TV to watch shows, or uses a phone to call friends. Go beyond that; what role does this media form have in your life? To assess and understand how you use this media form, keep a daily journal that documents your activities with this medium.  

This assignment is guided by the Uses and Gratifications Theory: people use media to satisfy their needs. This theory asks, “What do people do with media” rather than “What does media do to people?”

1) Observation and Description: Every single time you use this medium, answer at least these basic questions in a detailed entry to your journal:

–How many minutes or hours did I use it? Why that long? Why did I start, or stop using? –What are the circumstances in which I use it? Why then?
–Where am I using it? Why there?
–How was I feeling when I turned to it? When I stopped? –What other activities or behaviors seem to accompany my use of this media form?

Here is an example of what one journal entry might look like:

“Monday, 9/15/15. Turned TV on in living room at 4:30am. Why? Woke up, had trouble going back to sleep, thought TV would help me get back to sleep. Channel was on ESPN, left it there & scanned channel guide. Saw that “The Thing” was on HBO & turned to HBO. Watched “The Thing” until 5:30 when it ended. Switched back to ESPN while I washed face, brushed teeth, etc. Turned TV off at 6am. Why? Because I was heading out the door to get coffee. No special feelings noted, though watching TV did NOT help me go back to sleep, as I’d expected. Total time: 90 minutes. Channels watched: 2, one actively (HBO), the other as background (ESPN).”

2) Analysis: After carefully noting your media use for about 3 weeks, review your journal. Look for patterns in the behaviors and feelings you exhibited around your use of this medium. Are there patterns related to when you use, how you use, where you use, or why?

3) Interpretation: Now that you have identified your patterns of use, assess which are most important and why. Rank the patterns from most to least important, noting to yourself why you have ranked them this way.

4) Evaluation: Assess both the positive and negative consequences of the patterns of use and the reasons for use that you have identified. What do these patterns and reasons potentially say about your relationship with this media form? What do they tell you about yourself? Are your practices helping you reach your goals? Are they getting in the way? Both?

5) Engagement: Now that you have documented and examined your habit methodically, write the Media Analysis Essay.

How Do I Write The Media Analysis Essay?

The M.A. essay is your chance to present what you found in your journal in a concise, analytical, and reflective manner. There’s no “thesis” here, but the essay will have a specific structure, centered around the following 3 issues:

1. A) Basic Information: Start with several key pieces of information. How much total time did you spend using the medium over 3 weeks? What was the average per week? Per day? Per use? Also, include a list of the places in which you used the medium in the last 3 weeks. Finally, this first section should include other useful data depending on your medium. If you chose texting, you should include the total number of texts sent and received, etc. All of this will help you and the reader put your media use in context.
2. B) Your Patterns and Reasons for Use: A big part of this project is learning about your patterns of use—what are they? Explain them here, one at a time, in detail. How did you use this media form? Why did you use it in these ways? It may be tempting to talk about the content your media provides, but stay focused on YOU. The question isn’t about what content you consume, it’s about when, how, and why you choose to use media at all, ever. That has to do with YOU, not the content. What makes you use your media form in the ways that you do? (Pro Tip: When identifying and explaining your patterns, use the data on time, place, etc. to clarify each one. For example, “Out of my total of 20 hours of use, 5 hours were spent on the bus…”)
3. C) Consequences: Now that you know what role this medium plays in your life, assess the consequences—both positive AND negative—of your specific patterns of use. Are your patterns and reasons for use helping you reach your goals, getting in the way, maybe both? What does your use of this medium say about you, the choices you make, or the circumstances that you find yourself in? Remember, this is about the consequences of YOUR specific ways of using the medium—not about the medium itself.

Essay Do’s and Don’ts:
This is an assessment and analysis of your media use over a 3-week period. Don’t try to start writing the essay until after 3 weeks of careful journal-writing. For some of you, current media use is tied to historical events or experiences. You can mention them here, but remember, this is about the last 3 weeks of your life so stay focused on that rather than giving a historical narrative of how TV made you who you are today, or whatever.

MY JOURNAL THAT YOU NEED 

DISCORD 

Discord is a proprietary freeware VoIP application and digital distribution platform designed for video gaming communities, that specializes in text, image, video and audio communication between users in a chat channel. Discord runs on Windows, macOS, Android, iOS, Linux, and in web browsers. Whenever I play games I will use the communication app discord at the same time so I could communicate easily with my friends/teammates. 

Day 1, Monday

10/29/2018 

I used discord to talk with my friends which are Joey who is currently studying in San Francisco, Kelvin who is currently studying in Malaysia, Chun Jen who lives right next to our apartment and Pek Won who is working in Malaysia right now today and we were talking about how classes are going so far because we have reached the middle of the term and everyone of my friends just had a midterm exam. 

TOTAL 15 MINUTES 

After that we played League of Legends together for 3 hours straight while using discord

Discord is an application just like skype but it is mainly for gamers.

3 HOURS 

TOTAL: 3 H 15 M 

Day 2, Tuesday

10/30/18

I opened Discord around 12:20 pm when I am chilling by myself but I see Joey is online. Therefore, I joined the chat room and I had a conversation about the upcoming game that is going to be released in a few days. Joey asked if I wanted to play games but I have to go to school soon so we just had talk for about 30 minutes

30 MINUTES

7:23 pm

I just got home from school and I saw Joey and Kevin are online so I joined the room and talked with them for about 10 mins

10 MINUTES 

Then I suggested that we can play one round of Rainbow Six Siege which is a first person shooting game that last about 15 minutes per game, but I ended up playing 2 more rounds then I am using discord for this because we can communicate easily during the game 

45 MINUTES 

TOTAL 1 H 20 M

Day 3, Wednesday 

10/31/2018

I opened discord at 11:15 am, I saw Joey and Chee Kai online and I joined in and see what they were talking about. Chee Kai was asking Joey about which computer parts should he upgrade so that he can enjoy the game without lagging. The conversation last about 30 mins because I had to go to school soon.

30 Mins 

9:56 PM 

I got home and opened up my discord and i ask them if they want to play Black Ops 4, they said okay and we play so many rounds that I lost count of how many rounds did I played and I just knew that it was 12:23 am when I stopped playing and while I was playing I used discord to talk to my friends so that we can communicate better in game and give more accurate information. 

5 Hrs 59 Mins

TOTAL 6 Hrs 29 Mins 

Day 4, Thursday 

11/1/2018

8:39 pm I opened discord and Joey was waiting for me while I was showering because we agreed that we will play some games after I am done with showering. Me and joey wasted 30 mins thinking what game we should play. Finally, we decide that we will play Fortnite and Chun Jen Joined the chat after a few mins later. we play for about 6 hours straight without closing discord nor the game and then I figured out that I should sleep soon because I have to wake up early and go to bank tomorrow 

6 Hrs 30 mins

TOTAL 6 Hrs 30 Mins 

Day 5, Firday 

11/2/2018

11:12 am I switched on my computer and opened discord to see if any of my friends are up already and I see joey online so I ask him to join me and play some games. I don’t have class on Friday so I would usually play game for the whole day if something important didn’t came up. Therefore on that day I played games for the whole day. (11:12am to 9pm)

10 Hrs 12 mins 

After that I told Joey that I had enough of games for today and I went out and eat with my housemates.

TOTAL 10 HRS 12 MIS 

Day 6, Saturday 

11/3/2018

12:41 pm 

me and my friends talked about which UC are we going to apply for and how should we write our personal statements. The deadline is by the end of this month and we haven’t started anything yet so we were kind of worried, we talked about it for a few hours and I just created my UC application account then we stopped there. After that we decide we should take a break so will play some games.

3 Hrs 

2:39 pm 

We played League of Legends for about 4 hours and then we totally forgot about our UC application after that.

6 Hrs 

7:49 pm 

we finally remembered that still have to continue our UC application but we thought that it is better to do it tomorrow and we talked about games instead.

30 Mins 

TOTAL 9Hrs 30Mins 

Day 7 Sunday 

11/4/2018 

3 am still playing games with my friends while using discord to communicate in games. Stopped playing around 6 am because I was too tired and I want to go to sleep.

3 Hrs 

I woke up around 2 pm and opened discord to see if anyone is still awake. None of my friends woke up yet so I went back to sleep and I did not play games and use discord for the rest of the day.

TOTAL 3 HRS 

Day 8 Monday

11/4/2018

woke up around 10AM , switch on my computer, open up my discord and I see no one was online so I close it and went to shower because i need go get to class at 12:45

didn’t open discord for that day because i was not feeling well.

TOTAL 10 mins

Day 9 Monday

11/5/2018

9AM opened discord to see if there’s anyone online, but no one was so I close it and go get ready to class.

8PM came back home and opened discord to see if anyone wants to play a few rounds of Leauge of Legend because the season is ending soon. Played one round with joey and we lost so I call it a day.

1H

TOTAL 1 H 

Day 10 Tuesday

11/6/2018

Didn’t have time to go to my computer and open discord this morning because I overslept I have to I campus for meeting at 11AM and I almost missed my bus.

7:55PM

got home and Chun Jen and Joey ask if I wanted to play games but I told them that I’m not playing but I’ll stay in discord and chat with them 

45 Mins 

TOTAL 45 Mins 

Day 11 Wednesday 

11/7/2018

I got up and saw my 12:45 class got canceled so I quickly went to switch on my computer and open my discord to see if anyone is online but no one was online because most of them are still in class so I leave my discord on and I went on and play some games myself for about (45 mins.)

Joey joined the chat room a few mins after that and we talked a bit about how are we doing in class so far.

We played a few rounds of League if Legends and discord to communicate during the game play. (we played about 2 hours long)

I stopped using discord after that because I have to go out and find something to eat.

Total 2Hrs 45 Mins

Day 12 Thursday 

11/8/2018 

Didn’t switch on my computer and use discord today because I had to get to the AS office at 9AM to help my director with the proposal and got home late and I was too tired to do anything else.

TOTAL 0 H 0 Min

Day 13 Friday

11/9/2018

8:22 PM

Got home from school and Joey texted me if I want go for a few rounds of League, so I join him on discord and we talked about that he is going to meet his girlfriend this Winter break. 

20 Mins

Something came up and he has to go out and do something with his house mates so he left and I switch off my discord and I play League by myself.

Total 20 Mins 

DAY 14 Saturday  

11/10/2018

11:32 PM 

I woke up, took a shower, brush my teeth, too lazy to have breakfast, switch on my computer, turn on discord and Joey and kelvin are already online so I join the chat and ask if they wants to grind some games today and they said okay so we played League with discord ontocommuncate with my friends for the whole day from 12 PM to 12 AM  

(whit out any breaks except toilet breaks)

TOTAL 12 Hrs 

DAY 15 Sunday 

11/11/2018

2AM 

Still gaming from yesterday it’s 2AM now and I am writing this journal as a break. 

2:15 AM

Continue gaming from the break from writing the journal and ate a cup of instant noodle and Joey and Kelvin just came back from their break too so we are going to playing League with Discord on because I have to use it to communicate with my friends 

And it is holiday/veterans day tomorrow so we deiced that we should continue grind our League’s ranking until tomorrow night 

TOTAL 21 Hrs 15 Mins 

Day 16 Monday 

11/12/2018

1AM 

Still gaming from yesterday and I am writing this journal as a break. But I am still using discord to talk with my friends right now.

12 AM

I finally stopped playing games and I realized that I am exhausted and I need some sleep so I check out from my boys and go to sleep

TOTAL 23Hrs 

Day 17 Tuesday 

11/12/2018

7:44 PM

Didn’t use Discord today because I almost overslept and missed my bus and class. So I decided that I should not touch my computer for today but laptop is fine because I don’t have games or discord on it 

TOTAL 0 H 0 M