Dennis - 18
Dennis, Age 18
Media Consumption: 5-6 hours
Favorite Media/Technology: Phone
How do you and your family interact with media/technology?
My mom uses her phone a lot, probably more than I do actually. My parents don’t really check to see what I’m doing other than to tell me to stop playing games so much. Growing up I guess I had a lot of independence with what I do online and I mostly just played a lot of video games, but I also just occupied my time with sports, school clubs, piano, singing and tutoring classes.
How do you and your peers interact with media/technology?
I talk to my friends a lot online when we are playing video games because it’s just like hanging out with them, talking to them and doing an activity with them but in virtual space. We talk about school and what’s going on in our everyday lives.
What do you use media for?
In terms of social media, I mostly just use Reddit and YouTube. I also play video games like League of Legends, Civilization 5, and Minecraft and hang out with my friends online. I talk to my friends a lot over messenger too.
I don’t really use Twitter or Snapchat that often because I feel like while it is easy to trade Instagram handles and Snapchat usernames when you are meeting someone new, it seems more impersonal and is more difficult to create connections and build friendships over retweets and mass snaps.
What is your favorite/least favorite thing about media/technology?
One thing I really like about technology is that I am able to maintain relationships and connections easily without having to physically be with people all the time.
I think a bad part about the media is that prominent influencers like Jake Paul and RiceGum can promote sexualized content and glamorize the idea of having a lot of attractive women. On the same token, there are also YouTubers like PewDiePie that can positively influence kids.