Fiona, 16

Media Consumption: 7 hours per day

Favorite Media/Technology: Instagram or Pinterest

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

We watch movies together, and on social media I’ll just send them stupid stuff just for fun. It's like, almost like communicating with them that way. So it's just basically saying, “hey look at this thing.”

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

It’s pretty much the same, sending stupid stuff. And, I think like, if you want to, you could strengthen the relationship that way. But also, sometimes like, it doesn't really work out as you think it would. And like, things just get weird. And you're like, it's like, just the same as normal talking. But there's like certain rules when you're texting that are like, you have to understand what to do. So it's kind of like a whole other form of culture.

What do you use media for?

I use it for basically everything, entertainment and school and stuff.

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

Oh, my favorite thing is probably like, looking at entertainment. And like, being able to share it with people who want to share it, too. And the least favorite thing is probably, like, just bad things on the internet that gets spread around. And like, I just really don't like that. Because like, there's just a whole bunch of negative things that it just spreads instantly. Like everyone knows it, then.

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

Well, I think people who create media have to be very careful about what they do and say. So I personally like a lot of them. And like, sometimes I'll be like, Oh, another rumor came out, or like, clearly this thing that this person did, it's crazy. Especially people who create content for younger people specifically, I think they should really watch out for like, what they do and be very cautious and mindful about things they do. Because I'll see things like weak like they said something really bad, or they did something really bad. And like it'll just change everything. And you're like, I do believe like, the children have been watching this person. They are actually really bad people. So I think they should like, try to be a good person if you want to like, have a platform.

What media do you interact with the most?

Other than movies, probably Instagram and Pinterest. And I do use it for school a lot. It's like very common for it to be in school. And then they make it — oh, I post all the assignments online, which I think is very good. Because if you're sick, or if you miss it a it's all online. So you can get caught up very easily on that. But other times, like the teachers are very bad with technology. So makes the class a lot more difficult and like, hard to understand.

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

I get it mostly from the Internet! Usually I just scroll past it and am, like wait what was that? And it’s usually a meme or something about something crazy that just happened. I also get lots of information from my parents, because they always look at the Internet too.

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

I’d say Instagram and video games, because they’re very distracting.

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

I’ve learned a lot of the times you have to just follow the rules and do what the government says otherwise it all gets out [of control]. Like in New Zealand they had the restrictions and they all went back to being normal really quickly because they followed directions and they knew what to do.

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

Yeah I definitely do think so. I've been using it a lot more, I think because when we're in the pandemic, we couldn't really go out and talk to people. So the friends that I was friends with in person, we kind of got closer because like we were all that we had, like we couldn't really go connect with other people. So you just like talk online a lot.

Interviewed by: Abbie Burrus, UCLA student, CSS intern