Media Diet

Some times I have to stop to think to remember how I used to get my news before I had access to internet or my first iPhone. I know that I used to go to newsstand and flip through magazines for what seemed like hours. I loved that, always loved the feeling of holding a magazine in my hands (I was never crazy about newspaper though, my hands used to get dirty when reading them..) and this hasn't changed. The downside of it is that the magazines were weekly or monthly, so I had to wait to get the news that interested me the most (pop culture news for example) and I would watch the news once in a while ( I was too young to prefer watching the news over my favorite cartoons). So I had to wait. And wait. But to be honest, there was something magical and exciting about this. When I held a magazine in my hands, there was this feeling that I don't feel when I hold my iPhone in my hands for example. Everything happens so fast these days that you kind of take technology from granted, you know the news will come to you and they will always be there, all you have to do is open an app and search for whatever you feel like reading about. I miss the old times.

My current media diet:
About two years ago I used to check Twitter a lot more, specially in the mornings when I had time and could scroll down and see what was happening in the world. But since I've been super busy with school and work lately, on a daily basis I check my Facebook a few times a day and that's mostly when I will end up clicking on some article that someone shared on their timelines. I just assume that whatever is really important will show up on someone's timeline. Again, most of the time using only my phone. I don't own an iPad ( I don't feel like I need one at all, even though I think it's cool.). I have a laptop but I barely use it. I do work on my desktop computer so I tend to spend a lot more time then I should on it which slows down my work process.

What news do I access?
I'm part of most social media websites and I follow a variety of people and publications. To be honest, whatever pops up first and seems interesting would the one I will click on. I don't always check one particular website ( and I don't check the news daily as I know I should) but will follow their Twitter or Facebook account for example. Some news websites that I check are Globo.com, yahoo.com, eonline and if its something serious (war related issues, terrorism, etc, I usually check CNN or the NY Times.

I don't have a lot of time to watch TV so whenever I can, I go to YouTube and either watch short clips of interviews I missed from talk shows or I download them and watch later when riding the subway. I ignore the amNY that give for free because I'm usually listening to music and trying to get some extra sleep on the train when I'm too tired from work.


How do I have access to media?
I believe that most  of the news I consume I use my iPhone to access. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Youtube and some websites are easy to access with it and that's how it works best for me, since I'm always on the go.

The other part comes from access through my computer, specially in the evenings when I'm in front of the computer editing or writing blog posts

And I would say that a really small amount comes from TV. When I don't have school to worry about, I confess I spend a little more time watching some bad reality TV and pop culture news, but nothing crazy. If I'm home I might turn on the TV and leave the Today Show on so I can listen to the news of that day.

 

I don't own an iPad ( I don't feel like I need one at all, even though I think it's cool.). I have a laptop but I barely use it.