Samuel, 16

Media Consumption: Instagram and TikTok. I recently deleted TikTok because I was wasting time and because it wasn’t useful and I would procrastinate other duties (like school and after school activities). I keep Instagram on my phone and average between thirty mins and an hour a day in usage.

Favorite Media/Technology: My favorite media is video games because with online video games I can connect with other people like people everywhere, even people who don’t live where I do. But, I only play during school breaks, like winter break. My favorite video games are Monster Hunter or Halo.

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

We don't. I use it to view others, I don’t post much. Just to see how people are doing and stuff. We interact with technology as a resource, not too much as to post to let other people see what we are doing. We do watch TV, movies, and order things off of Amazon on the computer. Sometimes I text my siblings to send them memes. Since my brother and sister are away in college I have to text or FaceTime them when I talk to them.

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

We don't really text much, we prefer to see each other in person. We only text to set up a date and time. Or if it's urgent like I forgot something at school, or a last minute ride.

What do you use media for?

Communicating with others and catching up with them to see how they are. Most of the time I use it when I am bored.

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

My favorite thing is that it allows me to communicate with others. My least favorite is that it is very addictive. Like on Instagram, it sends you notifications of who posted or dm’ed you.

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

I want them to know that they shouldn’t portray ideas on the youth that they are. Ideas like your body should be perfect, or a lot of political ideas that children shouldn’t be thinking of at the time. Children the ages of anywhere between from when they first get their phone to at least 16/17. They usually get their phone around 5yrs old or middle school. But by the time they complete high school they already have it. Political ideas are corrupting our youth into thinking that they should be agreeing with the media. People who share political ideas are advertisements that pop up or influencers like YouTubers. Influencers like instagram models, give people an image that they should look like that.

What media do you interact with the most?

I interact with Instagram the most.

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

Instagram reels or accounts. Especially like Visalia Stringer (the home town page). My mom and dad put the news on in the morning and on the weekend I get to listen to it.

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

Media doesn’t help me stay calm, it makes me anxious. There's a lot of negative stuff going on and even the positive stuff makes me anxious because I never know if it's real or if they are lying. Spotify does help me though, whenever I listen to it, it helps.

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

I learned to give myself opportunities and to not be so hard on yourself and on others. Since at that time, I didn’t have a phone and social media, I learned about taking care of myself. Like exercising regularly, drinking enough water, mentally taking care of myself, making sure I am eating healthy enough. I came to realize that if I could do something about something, I shouldn’t worry, and if I can’t do something about it I also shouldn’t worry. Just accepting the fact that things are out of my control has brought me a lot of peace.

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

I mostly learned how to use media due to the examples that my siblings have given me. I saw how they would post and I would do that, or how they kept Snapchat and how they kept up with their friends. So I did it too.

Interviewed by: Daniela Noricumbo, UCLA student