Dennis - 18

Media Consumption: About 3.5 hours a day

Favorite Media/Technology: Youtube

How do you and your family interact with media/technology?

My family and I interact by texting in a group message and calling each other. We do not interact with each other on social media. We do the majority of our interactions through face-to-face contact, so we primarily reserve interactions via media/technology for times when we absolutely need to. For instance, I may need to contact my mother to pick me up at a certain location. My dad, brother, and I do share some interesting news stories sometimes, though.

How do you and your peers interact with media/technology?

My friends and I interact with each other through social media apps like Snapchat and Instagram. I’d say we do the majority of our communications through media and technology. We really like sharing our interesting occurrences via the Snapchat story (and Instagram story) function, where we essentially post a photo or video that stays up for a full day. We can see who has viewed that post, and our friends can reply to each other’s stories. We all find this to be very entertaining, and an efficient way to stay connected. I will also frequently text my friends, and share funny stories and pictures in group chats.

What do you use media for?

I use media for entertainment and school necessities. When I want to enjoy myself, I will watch various food and travel shows on Youtube and Netflix. I also like to use social media to stay connected with my friends and stay up to date on what is happening. However, media is not strictly for leisure, as I also use social media to stay connected with peers for group assignments, and to get prospective internship opportunities. For instance, using Google, I will see that there is a certain internship opportunity and a college nearby, and then I will then email the coordinator to see if they will be interested in me.

What is your favorite/least favorite thing about media/technology?

I do not like that people excessively rely on it. For instance, I will be out with my friends to eat and while we are waiting, we will all be on our phones checking social media instead of talking with each other. I do it sometimes too, it’s almost like a reflex. I think people are so used to checking their notifications and news feeds, that they do have to do it to comfort themselves. Social media is obviously very important and serves many useful functions, but it can be detrimental if you are spending too much time on it. I have read some research that face-to-face communication has a myriad of psychological benefits, so it may be better for us to try and hold off on checking our phones when we are out with friends or family.

Interviewed by: Eric Choi, UCLA 4th Year Student

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Gael - 11