Ryan, 18

Media Consumption: Daily, for multiple hours a day

Favorite Media/Technology: Discord, Gaming Websites, Social Media, YouTube

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

We are pretty involved from a social media standpoint. My father watches a lot of television, Facebook, and other platforms. My sister is very into her Instagram persona and Snapchat. I personally use the computer a lot and play games with my friends. I use Instagram and social media so we all heavily use it on a daily basis to interact with people. We use iMessage and follow each other on Life360 and on social media.

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

Typically, we use a lot of messaging apps to get a hold of each other and organize stuff. We use messaging apps like Discord, Snapchat, or iMessage to contact and get in touch with each other or to talk to each other on a video or phone call to play games.

What do you use media for?

I like to use it to kill time, if I don’t have something to do, I will go on social media. I play games with friends, watch videos, and scroll through feeds, all just ways to kill time.

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

I like the speed at which you can contact other people or send a message or let other people know that you have done something. Almost like the speed of interaction. I don’t like the need to have some sort of presence or popularity based on what you post and how well you are able to post on social media and frame yourself.

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

As people got more intertwined with social media, the type of content has gotten more and more short-form which puts emphasis on shortening attention spans, but I think the best kind of videos that interest me is stuff that has rewatchability where it is an interesting concept played out in a well thought out manner. It isn’t meant to just be a quick video to get a view, but I want longer content that can keep me engaged but still has a concept that was interesting. I wish the content was interesting and not just looking to get a view. TikTok has incentivized creators to get pointless mind-numbing views but I would like the return of longer videos that look to grow because they are well made.

What media do you interact with the most?

I watch a lot of science people because I think their videos are interesting, I also watch hour-long Family Guy videos for background noise so even though I don’t watch TV in the normal sense I watch clips on YouTube. I also play games with my friends on Discord and hang out with them virtually.

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

I get most of my information from social media, different news sites, YouTube or my parents. I like doing my own research to form my own opinions on news topics.

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

I relax and use social media to kill time. I will also talk to my friends or play video games with them online. Sometimes we hang out outside of media too and go get lunch or ride our bikes around town for exercise and get out of the house.

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

I have learned how much friends and interactions with others matter to me. I know now how important hanging out with people and socializing is and I don’t want to ever take that for granted.

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

During the pandemic, the biggest change was the use of media in education with Zoom calls as classes. It also helped to be able to video call people who couldn’t go out. Even though that has died down, there are still residual effects from the way institutions change like using Canvas instead of school loop with more generalized usage. There are remnants of media use that are still influenced by the pandemic. I spent more time using media during it since there were fewer things to do so I could kill more time. Now, I think I am on it a little more but most of the effects have worn off. It is about the same.

Interviewed by: Peyton Carranza, UCLA student