Mass Media Experiential Reflective Essay #1 9/25/16

Mass Media Experiential Reflective Essay #1 9/25/16

Susanna Schumann

Since this class started I am learning every day more and more about media use. Not only learning about it I also recognize my usage of technology every day more intensive. Sine I am from Germany my travel time coming back to America was quite long. I remember sitting in the airport being bored, waiting for my flight and playing on my phone. In this kind of situations, I am glad I have a phone and IPad to entertain myself so the waiting time goes over faster. But it also let me realize that I am not aware of my surroundings. At least in the airport I should probably get a little off my phone because I know I will use it a lot more in the airplane because I will be even more bored there. Looking around at the airport I remember that I was not the only one being in my phone or IPad. People with small children trying to entertain their children by showing them tv shows on their IPad and the adult are in their phones too. I would say at least 90 percent are starring at electronical devices. As soon as I got in the airport and I knew I had to fly now for 11 hours I got bored. Thanks to the entertainment in the airplanes and on my IPad I can entertain myself through this boring time. By looking around everyone else does pretty much the same or they sleep. I mostly hear music, read on my IPad, watch a movie or sleep. Besides sleeping this is all related to electronical devices. But in an airplane I just need to use this technology otherwise I do not know how to survive these 11 hours. When I compare Germany and America I often realize that the consummation of technology is slightly higher in America than it is in Germany. I’m not saying it is not high in Germany too but I feel like people are using their phones in America way more often than back home and also trying to entertain their children with electronic devices. I like to have a phone and stay in contact with everyone. For me it is especially important so I can stay in touch with my family and friends back home and now right away what is happening there. Skype for example is such a huge thing in my life. Without it would not be the same. Every Sunday I am skyping with my family to catch on the week and it is really important to me to stay up to date. Under the week I am writing with them through What’s App. Not having this kind of technology is inconceivable for me and would make it way harder for me to stay in touch with everyone. It is kind of stressful some time because you want to write every single one of your friends how you are and skype with them multiple times. Sometime I cannot imagine how people lived a hundred years ago with not having this technology. When I am forgetting my phone for a day it makes me feel like something is missing and I do not feel connected.

At the end of the first school week it was my birthday. This always means for me my technology use goes up by 100 percent. Because of the time difference I get messages 8 hours before my birthday starts here in America which is kind of weird. My brother and me have birthday on the same day and it makes me sad that I cannot be with him on that day. Since he turned 18 this year and it means to be legal in Germany it was even harder for me to not be there. But thanks to technology I was face timing my parents and could be with him. I was really glad about the chance technology gave me in this situation. On that day I got birthday wishes through What’s App, Facebook and messages. It takes me up to three days to answer everyone which I feel like it is my job to answer every single one to not be rude but it is also really stressful. So when I finally had birthday American time too my parents wanted to face time again which was really nice because it made me feel they were not that far away than they actually are. I also spoke with some of my friend’s back home. On this day there is a huge balance from being stressed out to being happy because it actually is my birthday. My cellphone use at this day is immensely higher than on normal days. Sometimes I feel like I just want to put my phone to the site and just enjoy this special day but then I get more and more birthday wishes and I feel like I cannot do that. Besides that, I felt still extremely happy on that day and really connected.

Another situation where I was observing cell phone use is when I go with friends into a restaurant. Oftentimes when we wait for food we are talking but a lot of people are also in their phones checking stuff or just scrolling through Facebook. I think it is really disrespectful being in the phone when you are actually in a restaurant and meeting with friends. This should be a cellphone free time and the focus should be on having a good time and talking to each other. As soon as the food comes than you cannot really talk to each other anymore. I also observed which I think is a new trend is to photograph their own food. A lot of people are taking pictures of their food how cool it is or how good it looks and putting it on their snapchat story or uploading it on Instagram or Facebook. I do not really understand why people have to take pictures of their food to show everyone how nice it looks. This makes me feel extremely frustrated.

I still appreciate the media and technology in these days. Especially the internet is a huge source for me to use for homework or research. Moreover, I get my news through the internet. In my free time when I want to relax I can just open my laptop and watch Netflix. This use of technology does not stress me out and it makes me happy. I think media in this days plays a big role for me and the people around me. Since we never experienced a time where we not had access to technology it is hard for our generation to imagine a life without staying connected and not having a phone, laptop or IPad. It is impacting our behavior and interaction with others. Sometimes it makes us feel stressed out or frustrated but it can also let us feel happy and connected to people who are possibly far away. For myself I feel like having a phone makes a lot of things easier. Writing a message takes me maybe a minute. I would never regrade the technology we have in our time.