Selina, 16
Media Consumption: 8-12 hours/day
Favorite Media/Technology: DouYin (Chinese version of TikTok)
How do you and your family interact with media/technology?
I live with both of my parents and my grandmother. My grandmother only watches TV and doesn’t own a phone. However, my parents and I spend a lot of time on media. We usually watch TV or a show on our computer while we are eating and we also spend a lot of time online before bed. My parents are very generous on me using media, they don’t really restrict the content and the time usage.
How do you and your peers interact with media/technology?
We like to share funny videos to each other, and the jokes of these videos are often brought up in our daily conversations as well. We also contact a lot after school on our phones as well. When we see somewhere fun and interesting, we’ll also share it to each other and go there during the weekends.
What do you use media for?
I use media mainly for communication and entertainment. I chat a lot with my classmates after school and I also keep in contact with my middle school friends through chatting softwares. I also like to play games and watch random videos for leisure.
What is your favorite/least favorite thing about media/technology?
My favorite thing about media is that I can find other people satisfying my needs in things that I can’t do. For example, I absolutely love dogs and always dreamed of getting a dog. However, my mother is deadly allergic so I can’t get a dog. Thus, watching other people owning a dog and playing with their dogs through videos online really satisfy me. I also watch some “mukbang” videos where people eat junk food to satisfy me as well.
What is one thing you want the people who create the media you like to watch/play/interact with to know?
I want people that are dog owners and create cute videos of dog to know that I really enjoy your content. However, please also take good care of your dog off camera as well. I’ve seen news on a few pet owners abusing their pet to create a good scene simply for camera.]
What media do you interact with the most?
I interact with DouYin (Chinese version of TikTok) the most for entertainment, and I use WeChat the most for communication.
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 this information from my parents and the Internet. DouYin sometimes feed me videos of breaking or interesting news. In addition, my parents and I sometimes discuss what’s going on in the world as well.
What media helps you stay busy/stay calm during challenging times?
I play a game called XiaoXiaoLe (Chinese version of Candy Crush), it really helps me to stay calm during challenging times as the game is very simple and I don’t have to think much about it. It is kind of like an escape mechanism.
What lessons have you learned from the COVID-19 pandemic and other challenging times?
I learned that online education doesn’t work at all especially for younger kids like those in elementary school and middle school. It’s so hard to have motivation to finish your work and watch through all the lectures without a classroom environment. I am super happy that I get to return to school and meet friends.
Have you learned anything about how you use media and technology because of the COVID-19 pandemic and other challenging times?
My media consumption has definitely boosted significantly during COVID-19. I used to only spend 2 hours per day on my phones after school, but during COVID-19, I spend up to 12 hours each day for both learning and leisure. I learned that media consumption is indeed entertaining but also horrible after a certain point. To a certain point, I was just aimlessly scrolling through my phone because I had nothing else to do.
Interviewed by: Yuting Wang, UCLA student