Alexander, 9

Media consumption: 5 hours

Favorite media/technology: Tablet to watch YouTube & play FIFA

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

We use media to watch videos and play music; we also use it to learn things. My dad uses it to learn his crafts with wood and tools, my mom uses it to pray, and my sisters use it to watch movies and stuff. I use it to play games. We also use it to watch the world cup 2022 Qatar and other soccer/sports games and that keeps us entertained because if the team you like wins a game you go back to see the replay and it’s exciting to see your team qualify or win.

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

My friends use it to play games like Minecraft, Fortnite and Roblox. And they use it to watch videos like gaming videos, to play music, and they also use it to do school work cause sometimes our teacher asks us to go to Schoology and Clevver portal.

What do you use media for?

I use media for watching videos, playing FIFA, and learning how to do certain things like drawing, how to play instruments. I also use it for school, we do Amplify, Brainpop, ST Math, and sometimes our teacher lets us play Minecraft education.

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

My favorite thing is that you can go experience different things. You can play games online with your friends, you can learn and ask questions to Google or Siri. My least favorite thing is cyberbullying because if you post a video on YouTube and you get a lot of hate it can affect your life and feelings which will make you depressed, angry, and can lead you to try and commit suicide and hate.

What is one thing you want the people who create the media you like to watch/play/interact with to know?

To be more safe because once you really get to know it people just start hating on it. They should take responsibility of updating it because if you leave it like that people won’ t like it anymore and leave bad reviews. They should make media more safe because there could be cyberbullying, death threats, sexual things like “ooo imma come to your house and do this to you.” They should restrict comments on certain things like YouTube, Instagram, and Twitter because they could send hate comments.

What media do you interact with the most?

Games like FIFA, Animal crossing, Duolingo to learn French, and YouTube videos like gaming, unboxing, influencers: Faze Rug, Mr.Beast, Caylus.

Where do you get most of your information about what’s happening in the world (eg. news, internet, parents, etc.)?

From the TV news, notifications from Apple News, friends. Like last time they told me about the war in Ukraine and I didn’t know that. Oh and ads like on YouTube that if you click on it it shows you about what is happening in the world.

What media helps you stay busy/stay calm during challenging times?

Breathing videos in school, satisfying videos: slime, soap cutting, cute animals, and watching Lego videos. I watch coloring videos of people painting pastels landscapes and celebrities.

What lessons have you learned from the COVID-19 pandemic and other challenging times?

How to interact with technology like FaceTime with your friends so that you don't feel lonely and so that you can be social. How to not get sick by wearing a mask all the time, wash your hands for 23 seconds because of the virus because you don't want to get sick. People die, it affected lives, we don't talk about that.

Have you learned anything about how you use media and technology because of the COVID-19 pandemic and other challenging times?

Yeah we took Zoom classes, which were boring. How to build things, because you couldn't go out with the pandemic and quarantine, so you had to go outside for certain necessities. That you could go use technology to be entertained and not be bored. Using technology to experience things that we could no longer do like watching videos of people vlogging in the past, cooking shows that you had to test negative for to be on. It taught you that if you do not get wifi you go crazy as hell and if you don’t have wifi you die, you get bored. If you didn't have certain money for wifi then the kids parents would have to teach them about what they know when they went to school, if they even went.

Interviewed by: Angela Ramirez, UCLA student