Jasmine - 16
Jasmine, 16
Media Consumption: 5-6 hours per day
Favorite Media: Instagram/Snapchat
How do you and your family interact with media/technology?
My family and I use media/technology mainly as a way to communicate as I am currently studying abroad. My mom always sends me some inspiring content to encourage me and uses technology as a tool to monitor my study progress. When I am unmotivated to study, she tries to encourage me through text messages.
How do you and your peers interact with media/technology?
We share the stories of our daily lives and try to stay in touch despite the distance between us. My roommates love to play video games and sometimes our host family would shout at them because they are being too loud. I also reach out to my friends when I am feeling troubled. I feel comfortable chatting with them about anything online because I do not need to worry about being awkward when not knowing how to give an appropriate response.
What do you use media for?
For me, I use it for communicating with my friends and keeping up with the information concerning the boyband I like. It is also a window for me to have a sneak-peak into others’ lives because I can use social media to have a sense of what it feels like to be another person by looking into their profiles and the content they post. As I am an introvert and can be a bit shy when it comes to meeting new friends, social media is a shelter for me. When I am sad, my online friends would comfort me and they’re not judgemental at all. Also, scrolling through social media and looking at the pictures of my favorite boyband brings joy to my life. So for me, not only it is a way to learn new pieces of information, but it is also my safe place.
What is your favorite/least favorite thing about media/technology?
Social media helps me to connect with my friends back home. It minimized the distance barrier. Also, when I want to learn something new, I can easily use the internet to find videos or blog posts to self-learn. I don’t need to rely on people when I have questions on different topics. The major detriment of social media is that people can say anything they want online since there are no consequences for online behaviors. Bullying, outrageous comments, or false news are some common phenomena. However, there are no effective ways to regulate the usage of the internet.
Interviewed by:
Kit Yee
UCLA 4th Year Student
Yael, 15
Yael, 15
Media Consumption: 3 hours a day
Favorite Media/Technology: TikTok
How do you and your family interact with media/technology?
I have a groupchat with my family where we send pictures and messages to each other. My mom and older brother follow me on Instagram, but only my older brother follows me on Snapchat. My dad does not have any social media. My parents also have an app that allows them to track my phone and my siblings’ phones, so they always have our locations 24/7.
How do you and your peers interact with media/technology?
My friends and I love sending each other TikTok videos. They are so funny to watch and they are very relatable. My friends and I also send each other daily Snapchat streaks. My longest streak is 240 days. My friends and I also have a group chat on Snapchat where we talk to each other all the time.
What do you use media for?
I use media to watch Youtube videos for entertainment, but also to watch cake tutorial videos. I watch these Youtube videos to learn how to decorate cakes, and then I make one myself, and then I post them on my Instagram. I also use the media to talk to my friends and stay in contact with them.
What is your favorite/least favorite thing about media/technology?
My favorite thing about the media is how I can stay connected with my friends and discover new things I like. My least favorite thing about the media is how everyone looks very picture perfect. All the famous female celebrities that I follow are skinny, wear nice clothes, have nice hair, and nice makeup. Even my friends use filters to make themselves look pretty so there is a lot of pressure to do the same.
INTERVIEWED BY:
TIFFANY KOHAN
UCLA 3RD YEAR STUDENT
Marbella, 15
Marbella, 15
Media Consumption: Daily ~6 hours a day
Favorite Technology and Media: iPhone and Snapchat
How do you and your family interact with media/technology?
My mom, younger brother, younger sister, and I are always on our iPhones. My younger siblings don’t have social media accounts yet, but my mom does, so she follows me on Instagram. Even though my mom and I are on Instagram a lot, we don’t interact over social media. Sometimes my mom and I will watch reality shows together on the TV, but I mostly watch Netflix shows on my iPhone when I’m alone in my room. My mom doesn’t enforce many limits when it comes to the amount of time we spend on our devices. Usually, each of us watch videos on our individual devices during mealtimes.
How do you and your peers interact with media/technology?
My friends and I use snapchat to communicate with each other outside of school. We really like snapchat, because it gives us the opportunity to interact often even if one of us has moved to a different school. Sometimes, when we get bored of snapchat, my friends and I will group facetime with each other, but we don’t do that very often.
What do you use media for?
I mostly use media to keep in touch with current friends, old friends, and distant relatives. I also use media, like Instagram, to stay updated on what is going on in the world. Sometimes when I don’t go on instagram for a day, I go to school the next day and don’t understand the inside jokes that my friends tell, because they are based on new viral memes. I also use media to find inspiration on places I want to travel in the future. Honestly, when I used to come across travel pictures I would get so jealous, because I couldn’t afford to travel to those places. But now, whenever I see someone traveling to a really beautiful place, I tell myself that someday I’ll make enough money to travel there too.
What’s your favorite/least favorite thing about media/technology?
My favorite thing about media is that it allows me to stay connected with friends and family when they’re far away. I have friends from elementary school that still comment on my Instagram pictures even though we haven’t talked in years. It’s nice to know that the connections I’ve made throughout my life won’t ever be completely lost, because of social media. My least favorite thing about media is that a lot of people use it to bully others, compare themselves to others, or rank people based on superficial things. Most of my friends and I have been bullied at least once over social media. I also see a lot of my friends comparing themselves to other people based on the amount of likes they get on a photo. When I was in middle school I thought getting a lot of likes was the most important thing in the world, but I can see now that likes don’t define who someone is as a person.
Interviewed by:
Salma Peña
UCLA 3rd Year Student
Arielle - 16
Arielle, 16
Media Consumption: ~9 hours (on weekday)
Favorite Media/Technology: Instagram and Tiktok
How do you and your family interact with media/technology?
My family and I interact with technology everyday whether it is together watching television or on our phones alone. My parents and I communicate through text messages when we are not together, but also at home when we need something from each other. My mother uses Facebook as her social media tool so she sends me news and videos on there, but she doesn’t really understand Instagram or Snapchat. My dad doesn’t use his phone much when he is home, but instead is watching TV all the time. They get mad at me sometimes when I use my phone at the dinner table but if the phone is in front of me it is hard not to resist. My generation seems to be attached to our phones, and my parents don’t fully understand that is why I am addicted to a device. It is basically our whole world on one device.
How do you and your peers interact with media/technology?
My peers and I interact with the media in many ways such as Instagram messages, iMessage, facetime, and Snapchat. We send each other pictures of food, animals, and ourselves and we like to send videos on Snapchat as well. We are constantly posting on Instagram and sending memes to one another throughout the day for laughs. When we are home, we facetime one another to talk instead of texting. When we are together, we go out to eat in order to post pictures of our food on social media. We also go out to take pictures with different clothing to get a photo that is “Instagram worthy”.
What do you use media for?
I use media to laugh with my friends, to make dance videos on Tik Tok and to communicate with one another via message/facetime. I also watch all my shows online now and tend to be drawn to my phone or computer during the day. I facetime my friends when I am bored and we just talk for hours while we do other things. It feels like we are hanging out, but we are not actually together. We send each other videos with filters that are funny or play games on Snapchat. We also make Tik Toks which is usually dance videos that we learn together and do at school or in public and post them.
What is your favorite/least favorite thing about media/technology?
My favorite thing about social media is that I can interact with my friends whenever and wherever I want to. Having these social connections at all times is so great and I truly enjoy it. I think my least favorite thing about social media is the popularity contest of the amount of likes and comments someone has on Instagram. It can bring me down if I don’t get the same recognition as my friends.
Interviewed by:
Sapir Yakovi
UCLA 3rd Year student
Jia - 12
Jia, 12
Media Consumption: Weekdays: 3-4 hours per day, Weekends: 2-3 hours per day
Favorite Media/Technology: YouTube and Instagram
How do you and your family interact with media/technology?
My mom and I both have phones and some social media. We watch TV together when we eat dinner, and sometimes we watch the shows I like, and I think she is also interested in them. What enjoy watching America’s Got Talent and High School Musical, and we also watch a lot of Marvel movies, like End Game and Iron Man. I will ask my mom about the shows if I don’t understand what’s happening. We don’t really use technology to interact, besides texting, or talking on Instagram. My mom will stop me if I spend too much time on digital media. I ask her most of the time for what games and social media I can get before I download them.
How do you and your peers interact with media/technology?
My peers and I interact with media through Facetiming and messaging. I don’t use FaceTime every day, but I like Messages. I use Messages every day after school. Some of my friends text during class, but I don’t. After school, my friends ask me about homework through text. I have a lot of apps within Messages, so that I can play games with my friends, send them something I like and interact with them a lot. Messages also has a lot of cool stickers that I could. Sometimes my friends and I watch movies and videos together, or one friend would send a video, then we will all watch and talk about it. I follow some of my friends on Instagram but I only follow and let people follow me if I know them. I like to post stories and pictures of what’s happening in my life.
What do you use media for?
I use media for interacting with friends, entertainment and school. I like to watch cartoon shows and animated shows on TV, and I sometimes use my phone to look up things for homework. I use YouTube for entertainment. I follow some bloggers, some DIY stuff, animators and drawers. David Dobrrik is my favorite one. He is really funny, and he is really nice to his friends. My friends and I watch animators, such as Jaidenaimations and Theood1sout. I also use devices a lot for school and during class to complete assignments and check my grades. What is your favorite/least favorite thing about media/technology? I like being able to keep in touch with people, message them and get help on my homework when I’m away. I also enjoy media and technology for entertainment such as listening to music, reading books, or watching videos. But, I don’t like how people are glued to their devices and don’t pay attention to what’s happening around them.
What is your favorite/least favorite thing about media/technology?
I like being able to keep in touch with people, message them and get help on my homework when I’m away. I also enjoy media and technology for entertainment such as listening to music, reading books, or watching videos. But, I don’t like how people are glued to their devices and don’t pay attention to what’s happening around them.
Interviewed by:
Amanda Ruan
UCLA 4th Year Student
Aiden - 5
Aiden, 5
Media Consumption: 1 Hour Per Day
Favorite Media / Technology: YouTube Videos
How do you and your family interact with media/technology?
Mommy and daddy watch TV! I love to watch Batboy on the iPad. When he plays with trains and toys on the video, I like to copy him.. I’m only allowed to watch videos and play for an hour a day. Philip, my oIder brother, usually helps me set up the iPad for new apps that I can play. Mommy always helps me with videos when we go to a restaurant and eat! I usually use my iPad after I come back from school because at night I have to do my homework. I wish I can play older games like Halo and Call of Duty.
How do you and your peers interact with media/technology?
My friends and I all watch the same Pokemon videos at school. When my neighbor comes over to my house, we sometimes play with apps together. A lot of times, I watch videos by myself and play alone. My other friends don’t play with trains. They mainly like to play with pokemon cards, but I don’t like that yet! I love collecting Thomas trains that I can put on my wooden tracks. I also watch videos with my cousins when they come over. My older brother and I don’t watch the same stuff. He gets to play with older toys and games.
What do you use media for?
I use media to watch Batboy play with toys! He sometimes plays with new toys that I ask daddy to buy me. Sometimes he buys it for me for my birthday or Christmas! When I see other kids play with their toys, I play with the toys that way too. I also watch movies like Pokemon and Spongebob on the iPad or television. Mommy always helps me when I go on Youtube or websites. She also helps me when I play with different apps. I always have to ask for permission before I can play a new game or video.
What is your favorite/least favorite thing about media/technology?
Sometimes, I don’t know how to play the games. I always get confused with the buttons or instructions. I always have to ask my brother to help! Mommy and daddy always have to help me play videos because I don’t know how to start it. I also don’t like the rules (Parental Controls) that my parents set up on my iPad. Mommy always wants to see what I am playing with. Also, I have to ask her whenever I want to play with it! It’s not fair, I want to play with the older games like Philip!
Interviewed by:
Cameron Tung
UCLA 3rd Year Student
Elias - 12
Elias, 12
Media Consumption: 2-4 hours per day during the week and 6-10 hours per day on weekends.
Favorite Media/Technology: PlayStation, Instagram, YouTube
How do you and your family interact with media/technology?
My family and I use media and technology all the time. My mom and dad have the same social media profiles as me so sometimes we tag each other in things. We all use our phones and computers for a lot of things. I play games with my little brother through our headsets, but we are always in different rooms since we each have our own PlayStation.
How do you and your peers interact with media/technology?
My friends and I play video games together —but from our own houses, through our headsets. We like to send each other videos and memes we find. We already talk at school, but we use our phones and video games to talk even more.
What do you use media for?
I go on my PlayStation everyday to play video games. I play games on my phone too. I also go on my phone to watch Youtube videos, and look at Instagram and Facebook.
What is your favorite/least favorite thing about media/technology?
My favorite thing is that you can talk to friends and just have fun. I like being able to come home after school and entertain myself for a while. My least favorite thing is getting scammed by other players on video games. Other people will trick you so that they can beat you and do better.
Interviewed By:
Khiara Bankston
UCLA 4th Year Student
Oliver - 4
Oliver, 4
Media consumption: 1.5 hours per day
Favorite Media: Nintendo Switch
How do you and your family interact with media/technology?
I like to play Switch with my mommy and daddy or by myself, but I like it more when mommy and daddy are there to play with me. I also watch YouTube. Some of my favorite shows are Blippi and Baby Bus. We also watch movies sometimes.
How do you and your peers interact with media/technology?
One time I went to my friend Jules’ house and we played Switch together. I don’t watch TV with my friends.
What do you use media for?
I like to play video games. My favorite games are Luigi’s Mansion 3 and Mario Odyssey. Sometimes I watch Blippi on YouTube and I learn from him.
What is your favorite/least favorite thing about media/technology?
My favorite thing is playing video games with my mommy and daddy. It’s so fun and we get to be together. I like everything, there’s nothing I don’t like.
Interviewed by:
Michael Collins
UCLA 3rd Year Student
Victoria - 18
Victoria, 18
Media Consumption: 49 Hours a week
Favorite Media/Technology: Snapchat/Instagram
How do you and your family interact with media/technology?
My family and I interact with media and technology by using it as a communication tool. We mainly use it to text or call each other when there are errands or something important to talk about.
How do you and your peers interact with media/technology?
My peers and I mainly interact with media and technology through the social aspects it provides. We use it to connect with other people and to stay connected with the world in general. It is also a form of communication that can keep us my friends and I in touch without having to meet each other in person.
What do you use media for?
I use media for my own personal enjoyment. On snapchat I like to take cute pictures with filters and send them to my friends. When I post a story on instagram, I feel like im bringing people along with my life without having to directly talk to them. I can vlog about my life for others to see and communicate with anyone that has a form of social media. I can also meet new people and talk to my friends that do not live near me.
What is your favorite/least favorite thing about media/technology?
My favorite thing about media and technology is the ability for me to gain inspiration from others. I follow a lot of home decor pages on instagram and when I’m feeling down, I can just go on it and see cute and aesthetic stuff and be inspired. My least favorite thing about media is the fact that I have become a more judgmental person. I constantly judge others for the pictures they post but I never used to be this judgmental in the past. Also, I do not like how others make assumptions about me through my pictures without even meeting me in person.
Interviewed By:
Brian Shin
UCLA 4th Year Student
Iris - 5
Iris, 5
Media Consumption: Is allowed no more than 2 hours a day
Favorite Media/Technology: My Talking Angela app game
How do you and your family interact with media/technology?
My mom lets me play on her phone and I like to play My Talking Angela the most. My mom calls my grandma a lot. I also like to watch movies with her like Moana and Frozen.
What do you use media for?
I like to play games on my mom’s phone and I like to get the points for my pet by playing the mini games, and coloring the eyes of my pet with blue shadow as much as I can. I mainly use media for fun!
What is your favorite/least favorite thing about media/technology?
I sometimes lose on the games so then I can’t get enough points for my pet. Sometimes I just prefer playing with my stuffed animals instead of my mom’s phone.
Interviewed by:
Nina Dinh
UCLA 4th Year Student
Nisha - 17
Nisha, 17
Media Consumption: Day: 7-9 hours, Week: 50-60 hours
Favorite Media/Technology: Netflix/iPhone
How do you and your family interact with media/technology?
My family and I will often interact with each other through text messages or FaceTime, either individually or via a group chat. I probably communicate with my sister the most through text and phone calls. We text and call each other periodically, whether it‘s to merely check in on each other, ask to borrow a shirt, or have the other accompany us while walking after dark. My sister and I interact with our cousins using Snapchat daily by sharing funny videos or updating each other on our lives. I’ve always liked this method of communication because even though our cousins live in the United States, we are able to constantly interact with them with ease.
How do you and your peers interact with media/technology?
My peers and I switch between text messaging, Instagram, Snapchat, and Houseparty. We have group chats with the same group on all four platforms, and use the one most convenient at the time. Because of this, we often have many group chats active simultaneously, which does make conversation confusing at times, but ultimately ensures that we are in contact with each other, despite distance. With Houseparty, we are able to maintain via video chat, which is convenient when some individuals have Androids and are unable to FaceTime.
What do you use media for?
Though my classes do occasionally necessitate media use, I use media mostly for entertainment. I enjoy “binge-watching” shows on Netflix, scrolling through Instagram, and listening to music during workouts. I also spend a significant amount of time interacting with my family and friends through media.
What is your favorite/least favorite thing about media/technology?
I recognize that my media use often distracts me and deters from my productivity: I often find myself watching a show or taking lengthy breaks to go on my phone while doing homework. However, I feel I would be unable to ever completely quit using technology, as I love that it allows me to connect with people thousands of miles away from me.
Interviewed by:
Priya Desai
UCLA 3rd Year Student
Vanessa, 18
Vanessa, 18
Media Consumption: around 3 to 5 hours a day
Favorite Media/Technology: Tiktok/iphone
How do you and your family interact with media/technology?
My family uses it as a main form of communication, as I live in another state. We text almost every day and I call/facetime my mom daily. We use Facebook to post pictures and keep in touch with distant relatives. My mom uses Facebook the most and my sister and I use it the least. We usually just upload pictures every four or so months of everything we have been doing and then don’t go on it for another four months. My family also enjoys using snapchat to send each other updates of what we are doing throughout the day. The best snapchats are the one’s my mom sends of our cat and dog at home.
How do you and your peers interact with media/technology?
I feel like my friends and I use media to keep each other in the loop. We use snapchat to talk to each other. We use instagram to share cute pictures with each other. We use twitter to send each other funny tweets. Media is our main form of communication with each other. I stay connected through their posts on media as it is an outlet to see what is going on in their lives. This gives me an opportunity to reach out and talk about what they shared online, which is an easy conversation starter.
What do you use media for?
I use media to entertain myself mostly. I try to keep my media use limited as it can consume a lot of my time if I’m not careful. I can spend hours on Tik Tok and not even realize where the time went. I also use some media to stay in touch with friends. I see pictures they post on Instagram and I see their snapchat stories. I also use YouTube videos to inspire me to try new foods and places to go and I watch product reviews before purchasing things to see what other people thought of it.
What is your favorite/least favorite thing about media/technology?
My favorite thing about media and technology is how easy and fast it is to find what I need. If my friends and I are arguing over something it is easy to turn to our phones for the answer on google. I also think media is a great outlet for individualized teaching in online course settings. The lecture content is more to the point when the professor can edit and look over their presentation before giving it to the students. I really like the online class that I am currently taking. My least favorite thing is how engulfed everyone is in it. I feel like it consumes a lot of people’s lives and their time. I think people think its way more important than it really is.
Interviewed by:
Emily Gordon
UCLA 4th Year Student
Noam - 14
Noam, 14
Media Consumption: 3:30 hours a day
Favorite Media/Technology: Instagram and Tik Tok
How do you and your family interact with media/technology?
My parents love watching good movies together and afterwards they like to talk about the movie we watched when we eat dinner. I like talking to them about the movies we watch together. They always make sure to highlight when a movie is trying to make an important point.
How do you and your peers interact with media/technology?
My friends and I like to play shooting games and sports games on the Xbox. I think that shooting games help me learn to have quick reaction times and sports games help me learn how to score better in real life. I find playing video games brings me closer to my friends. We also use social media like Instagram, Tik Tok, and Snapchat to communicate with each other.
What do you use media for?
I use media for watching TV, playing video games and using social media. I spend around 1.5 hours a day on social media during the week, and a little bit more on the weekends. I use my computer to do homework and my phone to stay in touch with friends. I also like to watch comedy TV shows and sitcoms.
What is your favorite/least favorite thing about media/technology?
My favorite thing about media is that it’s entertaining. Even though I love social media it can be really distracting… I can be doing homework and open up my phone for just a second and end up being on Instagram and Tik Tok for an hour and not finishing any of my homework assignments. I think that social media mostly has a positive impact on my life because I really enjoy it, but it gives me less time to do homework and ruins my free time. Sometimes, I find that when I am scrolling through social media, by self-confidence decreases because it makes everyone look like they are perfect and have perfect lives and it is hard not to compare myself to them.
Interviewed By:
Lior Flint
UCLA 3rd Year Student
Marie, 13
Marie, 13
Media Consumption: Daily, 4hrs according to iPhone
Favorite media/technology: personal iPhone, Snapchat, Tik Tok, Instagram
How do you and your family interact with media/technology?
My parents don’t really track my media that much, but sometimes they ask to see my Instagram. They don’t want me to post anything they think is too old for me. But for my phone in general, I do use it to talk to my parents a lot and since they work all day and sometimes get home late, I like that they can tell me when they are coming home. We also like to sit and watch Disney plus together as a family.
How do you and your peers interact with media/technology
I mainly use snapchat to talk to my friends. We like to send each other funny pictures and videos and have streaks that help us remember to talk everyday even if we don’t see each other. My best friend just moved up to high school and I am still in middle school, so I like that I can still stay close to her through media. We also use Tik Tok a lot to share dance videos because all my friends are dancers.
What do you use media for?
I use media as entertainment when I am bored. I mainly like to watch movies and tv and I also like talk to my friends when I can’t see them in person. I also use media to express myself when I post Tik Toks, because it lets me be creative and make fun dances and see dance videos from across the whole world.
What is your favorite/least favorite thing about media/technology?
My favorite part about social media is I can always talk to my friends—that is why Snapchat is my favorite app to use on my phone. My least favorite app to use is Instagram because there can be a lot of pressure to have a good “insta- aesthetic” and get a lot of likes so I don’t feel like I can post anything I want.
Interviewed by:
Jenna Rosen
UCLA 3rd Year Student
Iness - 14
Iness, 14
Media Consumption: 4 hours a day
Favourite Media/Technology: TikTok
How do you and your family interact with media/technology?
My family has a family group chat where we send each other pictures, videos, news, and more. My siblings and I follow each other on social media but my parents steer clear from social media accounts and get mad if we are on our phones too much. What they do use is the find friends app to track our location to make sure we are safe. Also, our favorite thing to do as a family is watch a movie together.
How do you and your peers interact with media/technology?
I facetime my friends a lot throughout the day and it feels just as real as hanging out in person. We also have a group chat for our friend group where we send each other funny memes or talk about more serious things such as giving relationship advice. My friends and I also love creating funny TikTok videos and will often make some when hanging out. I also have streaks with all my friends on snapchat and we take them very seriously.
What do you use media for?
I mostly use media to either talk to friends, do homework, or for entertainment. It helps keep me connected to my friends outside of school, gives me easy access to information I need when I’m confused, and allows me to watch things I like, relate to, or find funny.
What is your favorite/least favorite thing about media/technology?
My favorite thing about technology is that it allows me to stay connected with friends and keeps me entertained for hours because there are so many things to explore online. This leads me to my least favorite thing about technology which is that it can be very distracting when I have to focus on homework. Even though I know it is distracting me, it feels addicting because I constantly have the need to check my notifications.
Interviewed By:
Sona Hakobyan
UCLA 3rd Year Student
Chris - 15
Chris, 15
Media Consumption: Daily: 4 hours during week, 8 hours during weekends Weekly: 36-40 hours per week
Favorite Media/Technology: Youtube/iPhone Red Dead Redemption 2/ Xbox
How do you and your family interact with media/technology?
Generally, I use technology everyday on my own but my family and I do not interact very much on social media. Often times, we watch TV together as a family. My family and I do not play video games together either, I usually play against my friends online.
How do you and your peers interact with media/technology?
Sometimes I play online with my friends over Xbox live and mobile device videogames. On social media, I message and talk with my friends all the time. We like to share memes and other funny popular posts. I don’t post much on social media, but I do enjoy messaging my friends.
What do you use media for?
I use media for entertainment and learning new information. For example, I like to watch history videos on YouTube to learn new stuff. Video games are a stress reliever because I can escape into an imaginary world and it’s a distraction from everyday life. I also enjoy playing video games and going on social media because it increases my overall happiness.
What is your favorite/least favorite thing about media/technology?
My favorite thing about media and technology is that it allows for greater communication and creativity. A lot of games go into interesting concepts and landscapes that I would not otherwise be able to experience. My least favorite thing about media/technology is when my parents post things about me and everyone can see it.
Interviewed by:
Chase Keyler
UCLA 4th year student
Cathy - 7
Cathy, 7
Media Consumption: 30 minutes per day on weekends with mom; No exposure at boarding school from Mondays to Fridays
Favorite Media/Technology: iPad educational games that contain geographic or oceanic knowledge; Stories videos that teaches traditional culture or language
How do you and your family interact with media/technology?
My mom tries her best to spend time with me since I’m the youngest. She only lets me use my iPad or computer during the weekends for 30 minutes each time. My parents rarely watch TV at home, but my older brothers spend a lot of time playing video games and browsing social media.
How do you and your peers interact with media/technology?
We are not allowed to use technologies at boarding school because our teachers think it’s distracting. They use projectors for lectures sometimes. When I see interesting videos and stories online during the weekend, I also share those with my friends at school.
What do you use media for?
I usually use an iPad to watch educational videos and to play learning games that my parents bought me. The topic includes interactive games with geological knowledge (where is the tallest mountain in the world), fun facts of the ocean (how seahorses are born), English games and stories, and some stories of traditional Chinese culture.
What is your favorite/least favorite thing about media/technology?
My favorite part is how I can watch the funny stories and share them with my mom and friends! I feel I know a lot of fun facts or things in general and my friends always get interested in what I share with them. What I don’t like is that I want to talk to my older brother who’s studying in the U.S. more (a 21 yr-old UCLA junior), but he’s always busy with his phone.
INTERVIEWED BY:
Tina Lu
UCLA 3rd YEAR STUDENT
Smart Empathy: Why More is Not Always Better When it Comes to Using Tech to Increase Empathy
Smart Empathy:
Why More is Not Always Better When it Comes to Using Tech to Increase Empathy
In 2006, when then Senator Barack Obama proclaimed that “we have an empathy deficit” he believed that empathy was essential for promoting caring behaviors and societal well-being. And there is plenty of evidence to support this idea. Researchers have found that people who are more empathic are more likely to help strangers through volunteering or donating to charity and are also more likely to help the people they love in times of difficulty. However, some types of empathy can leave us distressed and overwhelmed by the suffering of others, so much so that we are left less able to help. How can we encourage the benefits, but not the potential harms of empathy?
As with many human traits, empathy is more complex than it first appears. One definition of empathy involves care and compassion for others. Compassion is focused on others peoples’ needs irrelevant of our own thoughts or feelings. Yet other definitions of empathy involve reflecting the other person in ourselves. This mirroring can be achieved by feeling echoes of other persons’ emotions or imagining another person’s situation from their perspective. The first type—feeling others’ emotions—is called emotion contagion and is not a problem when others are feeling positive but it easily becomes overwhelming when others are in severe distress. The second type - involving perspective-taking – is called cognitive empathy and can also be draining because it requires a lot of mental effort. So much effort in fact that research finds that people often actively avoid perspective-taking if given the choice. But effort in this case may pay off, since working harder can motivate increased care and compassion.
Not all empathy is created equal, and storytellers should think carefully about which they intend to evoke.
Consider, for example, seeing a story about a refugee child on the news. She is far from home and scared for her future. Some viewers may watch this story and use their head to reflect on how difficult being a refugee would be for a young child. As they sit and imagine how the girl feels and what she needs, these viewers are activating their perspective-taking skills. Research has found that this type of perspective-taking is likely to inspire warm feelings of compassion and motivate people to help. Many people choose to act when they learn of such suffering, for example, by calling their political representative or donating their time or money to charity. However, while seeing this story, other viewers may be overwhelmed because they viscerally feel the child’s fear and hopelessness. To avoid the pain of emotional contagion, people may change the channel or leave the room. Once they do so, that strong empathic feeling they had will fade almost as rapidly as it was elicited, leaving little motivation to help.
The transitory nature of this type of emotional empathy warrants a healthy dose of skepticism towards any claim of a quick-fix empathy solution, such as virtual reality (VR). However, there has been a proliferation of such attempts in the tech world since the viral 2015 TED talk in which entrepreneur Chris Milk claimed that VR was “the ultimate empathy machine.” Chris may have been speaking in hyperbole, but since then charities, governments, and non-profit organizations have invested heavily in telling stories of human suffering through immersive VR technology. For example placing people in refugee camps, homeless shelters or suffering from racial discrimination. The power of VR is assumed to lie in its ability to remove the burden of empathizing. VR automatically generates a rush of emotions without the user having to use their own imagination. However, because VR leaves so little to the imagination it is unlikely to lead to improvements in long-lasting perspective-taking skills. We recently confirmed this limitation by combining the results from 43 different research studies. We found that virtual reality only creates emotional empathy responses in viewers, but it does not improve perspective-taking.
That’s not to say that transitory emotions have no use for social good. Fundraising campaigns may find that VR or other highly emotional storytelling is more than sufficient for their purposes, assuming they can capitalize on the rush of emotion with a well-placed donation bucket or web-link. However, those interested in creating longer lasting improvements in empathy may want to consider telling stories in such a way that they challenge people to use their perspective-taking skills.
Here are some actionable insights storytellers and content creators can use to encourage perspective taking in their audiences:
Tell stories about people, places and events (both real and fictional) that are different from readers’ own experiences.
Create complex and well-rounded characters that do not always adhere to social stereotypes or literary tropes and who challenge the audience to adjust their perspective.
Give listeners an opportunity to read between the lines and pick up on subtle indicators of how people are thinking and feeling.
Allow viewers the space to build their own understanding of the situation by leaving some ambiguity.
Create enticing stories that encourage people to take the perspectives of others even though it is effortful.
Today we are bombarded with intense, graphic content that rapidly arouses our emotions automatically and does not require perspective-taking. Long gone are the days of imagining the suffering of people in a far-off land. That suffering is brought into our homes on our TV screens, and taken with us on our commute via our smartphones. Given this new world, we are much more likely to experience empathy with our hearts and not our heads, which can result in emotional burnout.
In order to create a more compassionate society overall, we don’t need to empathize more, we need to empathize smarter.
Alison Jane Martingano, M.A., M.Phil.
Teaching Fellow, The New School for Social Research
Sara Konrath, M.S., Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy
Visiting Professor, The New School for Social Research
Collaborator of the Center for Scholars & Storytellers
Brandon - 6
Brandon, 6
Media Consumption: One hour a day
Favorite Media/Technology: YouTube
How do you and your family interact with media/technology?
My Mom and Dad like to watch TV, but my favorite technology is my tablet because I can watch YouTube videos. I mostly watch ExtremeToys TV (where they have Nerf gun battles) but my parents don’t usually watch with me. I’m allowed to have my tablet at the dinner table when my parents are busy. The best times are when I play Nintendo with my Mom and Dad, it’s so much fun!
How do you and your peers interact with media/technology?
Most of my friends have tablets and watch the same YouTube videos as me. When we hang out, we watch the Nerf gun videos and then have our own Nerf gun battles. Our battles are awesome and I usually win, but my friends and I always have a fun time when we play with our Nerf guns. Sometimes my friends will bring over their tablets so we can watch our own videos, too.
What do you use media for?
I like to watch ExtremeToys TV and see their funny Nerf gun battles. I sometimes watch Minecraft videos or other funny stuff, but my favorite is definitely the Nerf gun battles. Then, when I play with my friends, cousins, or Dad, I battle just like they do on the videos! That’s the best part because my cousins and Dad are always surprised at how good I am at using the Nerf guns.
What is your favorite/least favorite thing about media/technology?
My favorite thing about my tablet is watching YouTube or playing Angry Birds. My mom plays Angry Birds too, so she helps when a level is really hard. My favorite videos on YouTube are ExtremeToys TV and Minecraft Ethan. My least favorite thing about technology is waiting to download new apps or charging my tablet. It gets boring waiting when I really want to watch YouTube or play new games!
Interviewed by:
Nathan Kirk
UCLA 2nd Year Student
Lily - 14
Lily, 14
Media Consumption: 6hrs/day on weekdays, 10hrs/day on the weekend
Favorite Media/Technology: Instagram
How do you and your family interact with media/technology?
My parents and I use media to interact with each other every day. Most nights, we watch TV together after dinner. I also text them occasionally during the day, but usually only when one of us has a question for the other. My parents don’t interact with me on social media because they don’t really use it. My mom just monitors my social media posts and comments to make sure everything is appropriate. Sometimes my parents get mad at me for being on my phone too much, but I don’t think I’m on it too much. Plus, my dad is always on his iPad while we watch TV at night, so it’s unfair that they get mad at me for always using devices when they do it too. We try not to use our phones during dinner because it’s usually the first time of day we’re all together and we like to talk about our days with each other.
How do you and your peers interact with media/technology?
My peers and I interact with media in a variety of ways, including text, social media, and Facetime. I’m constantly snapchatting all of my closest friends throughout the day. We do this every day so we have streaks—my highest streak right now is 1018 days in a row. We also enjoy sending each other funny posts on TikTok or Twitter. At night, I’ll facetime my friends who are in the same classes as me and we’ll do our homework together or talk about school. A lot of the time I hang out with my friends so we have something to post on social media. We go to cool places nearby to go on photoshoots to get cool pictures to post on Instagram.
What do you use media for?
I use media for a wide variety of purposes that range from entertainment to education. Most of my time spent using media is talking with my friends. At every point in the day, we’re either texting, facetiming, or snapchatting. One of my favorite things to do is Facetime my best friend after one of us goes shopping. We’ll give each other “hauls” of what we bought, just like influencers do on YouTube. I also use media to help me with school. I’ll use it to look up information that can help me with my homework, or to talk with friends about class assignments. During my free time, I’ll watch YouTube or Netflix to stay entertained, but I don’t get a lot of time to do this unless it’s the weekend.
What is your favorite/east favorite thing about media/technology?
My favorite thing about my phone is that I can talk to my friends all the time. I can always see what they’re doing and share what I’m doing with them so we never miss out on parts of each other’s lives. However, always knowing what my friends are doing also leads to my least favorite thing about media: getting FOMO. When I see a bunch of my friends hanging out and I can’t go, I get upset and always wish I could be with my friends instead of where I actually am.