Silas Robinson
Science Fiction Literature
My Media Log
I was semi-looking forward to this project, because I knew it would be revealing. And I
was very right. I have a close relationship to media and technology due to the world we live in
being heavily dependent on it for communication and social interaction. Attached below is my
log (taken in a notebook throughout the day) in the form of bullet points. This data was taken on
a typical Sunday (April 21st) without any restrictions or preventions from using media.
● Played music in the car from my phone. 9:45AM
● Sent an iMessage 9:50AM
● Checked messages as well as my work schedule 10:03AM
● Checked and responded to messages 10:54AM
● Open and used bible app on my phone 11:35AM
● Sent multiple iMessages 12:47PM
● FaceTime called a friend 12:49PM
● Music was played in the house 12:55PM
● Checked movie showing times on google 1:19PM
● Send iMessage 1:22PM
● Opened computer to do homework 1:40PM
● Sent iMessage 1:50PM
● Made a call 2:30PM
● Sent a iMessage, then played music 2:45PM
● Watched TV 3:02PM
● Ordered WHCT yearbook on google 4:00PM
● Opened instagram 4:11PM
● Played music in the car 5:50PM
● Got back on desktop to do homework 6:14PM - 9:16PM
● Opened instagram 9:45PM
● Started a conversation on iMessage 9:50PM - 11:14PM
● Used google 10:03PM
● Opened instagram 10:10PM
I am afraid that these results may not be the most accurate, because of my lazy tendency
to not want to record data. I recorded all of the data I took part in, however I may have had a
subconscious tendency to use media less, because I’d have to record it. This is a common way to
prevent habits that I’ve read about before. If you make something difficult or undesirable, it is a
good way to break bad habits. This may be a good way to make me spend less time on my phone
or media as a whole in the future.
Throughout the day I observed that I message people more than I thought I did. I don't
personally consider messages counter-productive, because it's communication and conversation.
That doesn't mean I don't believe it's distracting, because it can very easily distract from
important tasks. I believe that messaging is a form of communication which is a great part of
socialization, and it's normal and healthy.
Something else that is distracting and unhealthy is Instagram which I used for a total of
1h 25m that day. I have unfortunately noticed that I am addicted to Instagram. Currently, my
weekly average is 11 hours a week. That is 572 hours a year, which is 23 days out of my year. I
already have preventative measures to keep me off of the app, so I'm already working towards
my goals of controlling it.
During the evening I sat down to do work from 6:14 PM - 9:16 PM, which is not
uncommon at all. If anything, I spend less time on homework today than I do regularly. This is
frightening and revealing because of the amount of hours that build up while I'm using my
computer. However, some of the time spent (maybe most of it) is used to do “productive” work
and or homework. Such as writing this paper for example. It is hard to track and restrict the bad
time spent on media / unproductive time Vs. the productive working time.
Overall this was, as I assumed it would be, a revealing and successful experiment. I'm not
as excited for the media fast. I believe it will be rather difficult in the modern world to
completely avoid the media, however it could be helpful. I hadn't noticed any other patterns
during the media log.
