In today’s world, we are surrounded by an overwhelming amount of media content—news, entertainment, social media, and advertisements—constantly vying for our attention. As part of this assignment, I tracked my media consumption over a 24-hour period to gain a better understanding of my habits and see how they align with my learning about media literacy. What I discovered was eye-opening: I spend far more time with media than I realize, and the sources I rely on vary in credibility.
Morning: Setting the Tone for the Day (6:00 AM – 12:00 PM)
Generally, I make a conscious effort not to scroll on my phone first thing in the morning. I usually do a five minute breathing exercise or meditation and then I try to journal or plan my day in my planner. This has been something new that I’ve implemented after the new year so the first 30 minutes of my day I did not touch my phone. I even make an effort to leave my phone away from my bed and I have an alarm clock next to my bed so that the first thing I do when I wake up is make my bed and do my skin care routine and then I can check my phone.
At about 630 I checked some of my messages and emails related to work which took about 15 minutes and while I got ready for the gym, I listened to a podcast. This is a podcast I like to listen to on Spotify and it’s a self-help/mindset podcast. By 7 AM I am out the door and headed to my car to go to the gym at that time. I use my phone to play music in my headphones while I work out.
By 8 AM I sat down ready to have some breakfast and that is typically the time where I scroll through TikTok or Instagram for a little while. By 9:30. I was out the door and headed to work where I don’t get to use my phone until things slow down towards the afternoon
Afternoon: Engaging and Entertaining (12:00 PM – 6:00 PM)
At 12 o’clock in the afternoon, I took a break where I ate my lunch and scrolled through TikTok and Instagram again this is typically what I use my phone for when I do find myself on social media. It’s usually either one of those two platforms. I also checked the news to get more information about the inauguration since it will be happening near me because I live in DC. The news platform I used was BBC News
For the rest of the afternoon, I was still at work so mainly I was just checking emails or Slack messages from my coworkers and managers. As the day died down a bit I had more opportunities to check my phone in which I was looking at Twitter updates and some Instagram posts.
Evening: Relaxing and Reflecting (6:00 PM – 12:00 AM)
By evening, I definitely got the chance to relax a little bit more. I spent some time with my roommate and made dinner and then we both sat next to each other in total silence scrolling through some TikTok videos and then I also spent some time sitting on the phone with my mom catching up and seeing how she’s doing. After that me and my roommate decided to watch some YouTube videos together in the living room. Lastly, before bed, I did a little bit of shopping online at Zara.
Reflection:
As I look back on my 24 hour media usage, I noticed that a few key patterns have emerged. First, it is very clear to me that I have the tendency to scroll aimlessly on my phone often when I am bored, eating, or have any type of free time I tend to pick up my phone and scroll on Instagram or TikTok. I also enjoy using my phone and scrolling through social media platforms as it means to relax and wind down as my day ends.
One of the biggest things that came to a surprise to me was the amount of time that I spend on the social media platforms. I know that I do check it regularly, but I didn’t realize how often I grab my phone almost out of habit and scroll in between tasks at work or just when I have nothing else going on.
In terms of content, I noticed that majority of what I consume is just entertainment related or things that caused me to want to spend more money such as clothing hauls or reviews done by influencers on products that I probably don’t need. Hence how I ended up having a shopping spree before bed.
On the positive side, I found that I still make an effort to maintain a stable routine in the morning by not checking my phone before I do things for myself to set my day up for success. I also do still value spending time doing things like cooking with my roommate and enjoying a nice dinner without scrolling on TikTok.
Overall, I will say that this media diary exercise has definitely made me realize just how dependent I am on digital content throughout my day. There’s definitely a need to be more mindful of how much time I spend on social media and less credible platforms. Moving forward I want to intentionally seek out more balance media sources that aren’t going to include just scrolling mindlessly. Along with this, I think it’s important to spend some more time exploring different perspectives rather than sticking to the same sources or algorithms.
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