Parsa, 16
Parsa, 16
Media Consumption: 8 hours/day
Favorite Media/Technology: Iphone/ Instagram
How do you and your family interact with media/technology?
My family doesn’t have much rules about when and how I can use social media- I think they are way more lenient now about this stuff rather than when I was young. My sister is older than me so I kind of followed her footsteps when it comes to creating an Instagram page and snapchat. My parents got me my phone when I was 11. I have the Iphone XR right now, but I want the Iphone 11. Sometimes, we watch TV and I go on my phone when we are all eating, but usually we do not eat together so it doesn’t matter.
How do you and your peers interact with media/technology?
My friends and I interact mainly over Instagram. We use it as a form of communication and a place to post memorable moments of our times together. I tend to care about how many followers I have because in my generation it is respectable to have a high amount of friends and the amount of followers a person has translated to how popular and how much influence the person has. We also enjoy texting and facetimeing each other. Sometimes, I help my friends with their homework via facetime or texting them the answers. I also use it to follow people’s everyday lives because I am afraid of missing out. Usually when there is big news, it appears on Instagram within a couple minutes. Me and my friends also use it to do our homework and check our grades or watch videos to help us understand complex concepts.
What do you use media for?
I use Instagram for entertainment and to socialize with people that I do not see every day. For example I use it to stay in touch with many of my friends from other neighboring schools. I often check Instagram at least 40 times because he messages a lot of people on the app. I use it to keep up with friends and family. I would say I mainly use media for communication, school, and entertainment. I watch Netflix on it, I check my grades on it, I share my location with my mother and sister so they are not worried about me, I use it to text and facetime my friends, I order items on Amazon and order food through Ubereats.
What is your favorite/least favorite thing about media/technology?
My least favourite thing is social media even though I use it every day. It has made me insecure because I see better looking people that are rich and have nicer bodies but I know that they are only showing the best of their life and not all of it. I always compare my life to their life and it isn’t fair because no one posts about their bad days. I think social media has shaped me to become someone who always wants to please others and it has forced me to do things that I would not normally do simply because it’s cool. It has made me participate in trends such as fashion or activities. I can see both negative and positive effects on me. It has made me insecure but it has made me more social and given me more social skills. Social media definitely keeps me up way later than usual and interferes with my focus on homework and other activities. I check my phone about 100 times per day and I usually am on it for about 8 hours a day. Due to spending so much time on my phone, my grades have been suffering as well as my sleep. I am often tired because I do not get good sleep at night because I am constantly awakened by the notifications of my phone. Some negative aspects of social media are lack of sleep and distractions that it causes and a decrease in my grade.