Jason, 18
Media Consumption: a lot, probably more than 6 hours a day
Favorite Media/Technology: smartphone
How do you and your family interact with media/technology?
Generally, media makes up a very important part of my life, it allows me to be connected to people, no matter where they are. I’ve been able to hold friendships with people who moved across the world. My family uses media all the time such as WhatsApp as it allows us to interact with each other all over the world easily and quickly. Therefore it's really important to us.
How do you and your peers interact with media/technology?
Generally, Snapchat is a very common medium of conversation among peers, phone numbers are outdated and Snapchat allows you to interact with others without giving personal information.
What do you use media for?
A plethora of things. I use media to keep myself occupied, I can read about cool things on the Internet. Media is really cool.
What is your favorite/least favorite thing about media/technology?
My favorite thing is how expansive it is. you can play games, buy things from Amazon, and other cool features specific to phones. But I don't like that you are encapsulated by a phone’s limitations to normal interaction as they lead me to use my phone when I’m bored in a random place rather than find something to do such as talk to others or observe the environment.
What are your thoughts on media and privacy?
It's obvious that social media isn’t cheap to run and ads aren’t their only profit model, to be a user of social media you need to recognize that your data is being taken and sold.
What is one thing you want the people who create the media you like to watch/play/to interact with to know?
I wish they were more transparent with where our data is joining but I know that’s very unlikely to happen.
What media do you interact with the most?
In a general sense, Snapchat is for conversation as it's really easy to use and talk to people on.
Where do you get most of your information about what’s happening in the world (e.g., news, internet, parents, etc.)?
With various forms of websites, I like to stay informed and know what I’m talking about. I start by looking at news stories I see on Instagram or Snapchat then delve deeper by going to real news websites such as the New York Times to get the full picture.
What media helps you stay busy/stay calm during challenging times?
Anything that I can find, video games, shows, YouTube videos. A wide range of stuff.
What lessons have you learned from the COVID-19 pandemic and other challenging times?
We can be really complacent with our lives and accept the world due to media. If this pandemic happened 30 years ago I think people would have gone crazy as they wouldn’t have any way to interact with others. Social media and tech allowed us to interact with others in safe ways during the pandemic.
Have you learned anything about how you use media and technology because of the COVID-19 pandemic and other challenging times?
I became more reliant on media and I think many of us began relying on it as well and used it instead of a creative outlet. The pandemic kinda exposed how much of our lives are reliant on this technology.
Interviewed by: Joshua Mehrdad, UCLA student
Ani, 11
Media Consumption: My daily average on my phone is about 5 hours. My daily average on my iPad is about 3 hours.
Favorite Media/Technology: I like my iPad because I can play Roblox.
How do you and your family interact with media/technology?
We have Ring cameras all around the house and Apple tags. For the Apple tags, we use them in our cars, backpacks, and our bags, so in case they get lost we can track them on our phones. We also watch movies together on the TV.
How do you and your peers interact with media/technology?
We mostly use technology to message and call each other. We also play horror games on Roblox. Sometimes I use my iPad to draw as well.
What do you use media for?
I mostly use it play games and message my friends.
What is your favorite/least favorite thing about media/technology?
My favorite thing about media is all the people you can meet through games like Roblox. I think the bad thing is also all the people you can meet because sometimes people can be rude.
What is one thing you want the people who create the media you like to watch/play/interact with to know?
I think they should make apps more safe for kids. You can always report people but it usually takes a lot of reports to get someone banned. I think the moderators should read the reports and figure out what’s false and what isn’t and also to IP ban people. This would prevent them from making a new account at all.
What media do you interact with the most?
Probably Roblox where I can play games with my friends or message them. I also like Safari because it helps me with my homework sometimes.
Where do you get most of your information about what’s happening in the world (e.g., news, internet, parents, etc.)?
For me I would usually get it off the internet or I would get my information from my teachers or parents.
What media helps you stay busy/stay calm during challenging times?
Probably YouTube since I can watch videos and that’ll usually get my mind off things, but I don’t always go on media.
What lessons have you learned from the COVID-19 pandemic and other challenging times?
I mostly learned about media and social platforms during Covid-19. When we were quarantined I learned a lot about media safety too.
Have you learned anything about how you use media and technology because of the COVID-19 pandemic and other challenging times?
Yes, I’ve learned how to use media safely during quarantine and I’ve learned to be careful about what I say and do online. I also learned that sometimes, it's better to have class in person because it’s more interactive. This makes it easier to learn and it’s more fun.
Interviewed by: Lily Simitian, UCLA student
Erin, 17
Media Consumption: Average of 8 hours per day (between iPhone and laptop)
Favorite Media/Technology: iPhone
How often do you and your family interact with media/technology?
My parents use their phones most often for work and family communication. My sister and I use our laptops, often for school, and our phones for social media and communication with family and friends.
How do you and your peers interact with media/technology?
The only technology we are allowed to use at school is the laptops we are provided with. We get in trouble for using our phones. When away from school, we all have phones we use to connect via iMessage and FaceTime or social media apps like Snapchat, BeReal, and Instagram.
What do you use media for?
I use media primarily for communication and entertainment purposes.
What is your favorite/least favorite thing about technology/media?
My favorite thing about media/technology is that it allows me to stay in touch with family and friends that are out of state and country. My dad travels a lot for work, I have family that lives on the East Coast, and many of my longtime friends go to different schools than me; technology makes it easy to get in touch/stay in touch with everyone.
What is one thing you want the people who create the media you like to watch/play/interact with to know?
People who create entertainment media should recognize the importance of inclusivity. It would be nice to see more Southeast Asian American representation.
What media do you interact with the most?
I use Instagram and TikTok the most. On Instagram I post stories almost daily. My guilty pleasure media is TikTok. I'll pick up my phone for what feels like five minutes when in reality, I find myself scrolling on my for you page for hours. My sister and I always have fun sending each other videos and making our own.
Where do you get most of your information about what's happening in the world (e.g., news, internet, parents, etc.)?
My information mostly comes from my parents, friends, and sometimes teachers. Every once in a while, I will find political information on my Instagram or TikTok feeds.
What media helps you stay busy/stay calm during challenging times?
TikTok and Spotify help me stay busy and calm during challenging times. For example, I watch a lot of comedy videos on TikTok when I get overwhelmed with school because they are entertaining and provide a good distraction when needed. I also really enjoy listening to music and find it helpful at times. I have different playlists for my different moods and activities.
What lessons have you learned from the COVID-19 pandemic and other challenging times?
I have learned not to take being in the classroom for granted. Doing school on Zoom and being unable to see my friends during the pandemic was difficult.
Have you learned anything about how you use media and technology because of the COVID-19 pandemic and other challenging times?
I have learned to use social media in a more casual manner because of the pandemic. I used technology a lot during my downtime, and as I began having more fun with it, I became more comfortable with posting more authentically.
Interviewed by: Renee Rubanowitz, UCLA student
Emma, 10
Media Consumption: 3 hours a day
Favorite Media/Technology: Tik Tok
How do you and your family interact with media/technology?
My family and I watch movies together, share cool videos with each other, and listen to music together. We also have rules in our home for using technology which is no usage before brushing our teeth in the morning or after brushing them at night, no usage at the dining table, and no usage before all of our homework is done.
How do you and your peers interact with media/technology?
We make music videos together, watch TikToks together and learn the dances from them, send each other funny Snapchats with filters, and FaceTime to do our homework together.
What do you use media for?
I use media to interact with my friends when I am not with them, to listen to music and watch TikToks and TikTok dances, to send videos to my friends and family, to learn about new trends, and to work on homework with my friends.
What is your favorite/least favorite thing about media/technology?
My favorite thing about media/technology is that I can talk to my friends and my parents even when I am not with them. My least favorite thing about media/technology is that sometimes I feel like there are too many trends to follow and if I don’t follow them fast then I am not as cool as the people who do.
What is one thing you want the people who create the media you like to watch/play/to interact with to know?
I think that the people who create media like TikTok should make sure all of their information is correct when people post things because a lot of the time people post videos and pictures that are not true and it can confuse a lot of people.
What media do you interact with the most?
I probably use TikTok and Snapchat the most because I love watching videos and I also love sending funny Snapchats with filters to my friends.
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 about the world from my parents. I see a lot of information on TikTok but I always ask my parents to make sure that it is true because I know a lot of the time not everything is true.
What media helps you stay busy/stay calm during challenging times?
I like watching TV or movies to stay calm because it makes me laugh and forget that things are hard or challenging like COVID was when I couldn’t see any of my friends.
What lessons have you learned from the COVID-19 pandemic and other challenging times?
A lesson that I learned from the COVID-19 pandemic is that it is important to stay in touch with people especially when you can’t see them because sometimes people can feel like you don’t care about them. I felt like when my friends didn’t talk to me that we were not friends anymore so I think it is important.
Have you learned anything about how you use media and technology because of the COVID-19 pandemic and other challenging times?
I learned that when there is nothing else to do a lot of people use too much media and technology because they are bored. My brother Liam played video games for so many hours and my parents didn’t like it but he always said there was nothing else for him to do and he was bored.
Interviewed by: Maya Luzon, UCLA student
Angel, 17
Media Consumption: a few hours during weekends (phones not allowed in her boarding school)
Favorite Media/Technology: Weibo (a Chinese version of Instagram/Twitter) and Bilibili (a website like YouTube)
How do you and your family interact with media/technology?
I mainly use media for communication and entertainment. My mother doesn’t use digital media very much, but my father likes to surf the internet whenever he’s free. They regulate my time on media use because I have an approaching college entrance exam.
How do you and your peers interact with media/technology?
We often use social media to chat with each other and share our lives when we can’t meet in person. Many of us also make online friends through social media. There are also a lot of students spending much time on video games.
What do you use media for?
I like using social media to connect with others and read news. I can follow news of my idols on social media and interact with people in the same fandom. I also watch funny and interesting videos for entertainment. Sometimes I make posts to share memorable things in my life with others. I talk with friends or send posts in a private account to deal with negative emotions sometimes as well.
What is your favorite/least favorite thing about media/technology?
My favorite thing about media is that it lets me to be connected to others and follow things of my interest online.
What is one thing you want the people who create the media you like to watch/play/interact with to know?
I like it very much. It will be better if there can be less disturbing information such as distasteful ads.
What media do you interact with the most?
Weibo and Bilibili. (basically Chinese version of Instagram/Twitter and YouTube)
Where do you get most of your information about what’s happening in the world (e.g., news, internet, parents, etc.)?
Through the internet. I mainly read various kind of news on Weibo.
What media helps you stay busy/stay calm during challenging times?
Media that most people use for texting. I talk with my friends to stay calm during challenging times. They make me feel that I’m not alone.
What lessons have you learned from the COVID-19 pandemic and other challenging times?
There’s a lot of rumors on the internet during the pandemic. Lots of people were troubled by those disturbing information, because they didn’t know which source they should believe in. Media is a main way for us to know what’s happening out there.
Have you learned anything about how you use media and technology because of the COVID-19 pandemic and other challenging times?
The pandemic makes a lot of activities online, for example, we had online classes for a long time. Personally, I like staying home and having access to all digital devices. I was able to use media more, and I could chat with my friends whenever there’s some new changes regarding the pandemic and school policies. However, it may be more effective to have classes in person for learning. Though I don’t want to admit it, sometimes digital media is a distraction to our study.
Interviewed by: Anna Wang, UCLA student
Crisandra, 18
Media Consumption: I spend most of my time on my phone and laptop due to school and social media apps like Instagram, but this can really vary, I spend probably on average around 3-4 hours on my phone and probably 5+ hours watching lectures, doing work, etc. for school.
Favorite Media/Technology: I enjoy playing a number of games via my laptop, Nintendo Switch, and other consoles.
How do you and your family interact with media/technology?
My parents used to watch TV more often but now they watch more Youtube, they are media literate but sometimes miss the nuance of trends or memes that I expose them to. My dad particularly enjoys media that can be used in collective family time, for example he owns a karaoke machine. He likes to use it when we have guests over or on Friday nights or with the family. My mom likes to watch shows with me and owns a few streaming subscriptions and also has her own iPad for more portable streaming. I typically tend to use my laptop and phone. I'm a college student so my laptop is mostly used to do work or watch shows. I like watching anime as well as the standard Netflix, Hulu etc. and on my phone I will usually listen to music, go on Instagram, or read books on my phone.
How do you and your peers interact with media and technology?
My peers and I tend to use a lot of social media apps like Instagram and Tiktok. I probably spend less time on my phone than my friends, especially since I don’t have TikTok. My friends and I play games together, or I will play games on my console by myself (Nintendo Switch). Aside from games and social media a lot of people around me in college are using laptops to do work for school, which is pretty time consuming, and is what I would guess is the predominant interaction with technology that college students have.
What do you use media for?
I tend to use media to follow content on my hobbies, ie: video game live streamers like on Twitch, or following content from anime, or other video games. I also listen to a lot of music which helps keep my mind busy especially if I’m doing things like brushing my teeth or walking to class.
What is your favorite/least favorite thing about media/technology?
I like the game play aspect of media, I really wish I had more time for it, but I hate how addictive, specifically social media, but also other forms of media can be.
What is one thing you want the people who create media you like to watch/play/interact with to know?
I don’t really know. I like to watch live streamers and there are obviously the developers of video games that I really enjoy. I guess it would be nice to show them my appreciation for creating content that keeps me inspired and interested to continue playing those games.
What media do you interact with the most?
Definitely my phone and my laptop. I tend to scroll on Instagram but I’m trying to replace that with reading on my phone instead.
Where do you get most of your information about what’s happening in the world?
This is pretty bad because I tend to get news about what happens in the world from my friends or the social media apps that I’m on which I don’t think is good.
What media helps you stay busy/calm during challenging times?
Music definitely helps me.
What lessons have you learned from COVID-19 and other challenging times?
It’s important to have human interaction. COVID felt isolating especially because my parents love to have guests over which we obviously couldn’t do during the quarantine.
Have you learned anything about how you use media and technology because of the COVID-19 pandemic?
I don’t think so. My habits didn’t really change, other than an increased interest in live streaming which made me more receptive to watching recorded or online lectures for college. I used to prefer attending classes in person prior to COVID, but now I don’t really mind.
Interviewed by: Mimi Tsang, UCLA 4th Year
Cloe, 16
Media Consumption: 5-6 hours a day
Favorite Media/Technology: TikTok, Mobile Device
How do you and your family interact with media/technology?
When my brothers and I were younger, we used to all watch one or two episodes of TV together for the day. On Fridays, my whole family and I would come together to watch a movie at night. We were not on screens very often as children, but now that we’re older, we all watch TV on our own or use our own devices. We are on our screens a lot more than we used to be.
How do you and your peers interact with media/technology?
Most of my friends and I use media and technology to stay connected with one another. I think some of my friends use social media a lot more frequently, I have one friend who deleted her TikTok account because she felt as though she was on it too much. We use technology for different things. I use my laptop for school and to watch movies. Our phones are mostly to communicate and use social media.
What do you use media for?
I like to use media to see how other people live. Those are the types of videos I enjoy watching the most on TikTok and Instagram. On Instagram, I have two accounts, a personal account with a lot of followers and a dump account with only 30 followers. I can have fun with the second account and post pictures of whatever I want without maintaining a certain aesthetic. I know that only my close friends are seeing those pictures.
What is your favorite/least favorite thing about media/technology?
My least favorite thing about social media is the negative effects it can have on us. TikTok recently recommended a video to me about a girl who eats a 500 calorie a day raw vegan diet. She only eats fruit and vegetables. One of the next videos the app recommended to me was a girl talking about how she follows a 4,000 calorie a day carnivorous diet. I don’t think these videos are healthy and they can really mess people up.
What is one thing you want the people who create the media you like to watch/play/interact with to know?
I wish they would humanize social media apps more. Social media uses algorithms to intensify the content you see, it can drain you and leave you scrolling for more. I wish social media creators would regulate this. As for content creators, I think they should think about their audience and ask themselves how their videos can harm young girls.
What media do you interact with the most?
I use TikTok the most.
Where do you get most of your information about what’s happening in the world (e.g., news, internet, parents, etc.)?
I get a lot of news on social media and by watching/listening to the news with my parents, but I also keep up with the news for school and extracurricular activities.
What media helps you stay busy/stay calm during challenging times?
During the pandemic, I liked to watch a lot of movies to stay busy when we were out of school. Now, I like to listen to a lot of music. I have a long commute to and from school, so I usually put in headphones on the bus to relax and listen to Spotify.
What lessons have you learned from the COVID-19 pandemic and other challenging times?
One thing I learned was how to limit my phone use. When I was younger, my parents used to put screen time limits on our phones so that my brother and I wouldn’t be on them too much. But we’ve outgrown that, so I regulate it myself. I don’t have my phone out when I’m talking with my parents, eating dinner, or spending time with family. I think that’s important.
Have you learned anything about how you use media and technology because of the COVID-19 pandemic and other challenging times?
Before the pandemic, I used to get upset when I saw people hang out without me or do things without me. But now I don’t mind as much, I know that social media can be misleading.
Interviewed by: Kimia Azad, UCLA student
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
Gregory, 16
Media Consumption: I spend like 5 to 6 hours a day on media which counts listening to music, watching TikToks, and playing games.
Favorite Media/Technology: Social media wise I like TikTok, but I think music and social media are equally important to me for different reasons.
How do you and your family interact with media/technology?
My family has a group chat and we watch TV together, but we’re mostly pretty separate other than that.
How do you and your peers interact with media/technology?
I play video games with my friends and I’m in group chats with my friends. When we play video games we play Mario Kart and Super Smash Bros. My main character is Captain Falcon.
What do you use media for?
Entertainment. I also use media for education. I‘ve had classes where I’ve had to co-op (cooperate) with other people and we’ll use discord to collaborate.
What is your favorite/least favorite thing about media/technology?
My least favorite thing about social media is specifically with Twitter and other platforms. It's how hard it is to get a point across. It can be super divisive. For example on Twitter there’s a character limit so you have to shorten statements and the emotions you want to convey in your messages are often lost. My favorite thing is it's a super easy way to get entertainment whenever you want it.
What is one thing you want the people who create the media you like to watch/play/interact with to know?
I wish subscription services on social media were not a thing because that’s super weird. On Twitter you can have a blue checkmark subscription where you can buy a verification badge and Snapchat has a premium subscription as well.
What media do you interact with the most?
I use music the most or messaging apps like Discord. On Discord I have 2 accounts, one for school and one for gaming and chatting with friends.
Where do you get most of your information about what’s happening in the world (e.g., news, internet, parents, etc.)?
It’s a combination of the news, TV, Twitter, and TikTok. I watch the news on TV. I don’t really follow news accounts on Twitter or TikTok from my account, but it’s more about the trending tab and what my algorithm brings up.
What media helps you stay busy/stay calm during challenging times?
Usually music and TikTok.
What lessons have you learned from the COVID-19 pandemic and other challenging times?
I’ve learned to never take moments for granted when I’m outside and with friends. During the pandemic I never got to do any of that but now I can.
10. Have you learned anything about how you use media and technology because of the COVID-19 pandemic with other challenging times?
Before the pandemic I was never super into media, I only got TikTok and other platforms during the pandemic.
Interviewed by: Elizabeth Verzi, UCLA student
Chloe, 9
Media Consumption: 1-2 hours a day on my iPhone
Favorite Media/Technology: Using iPhone for YouTube and Roblox games
How do you and your family interact with media/technology?
My dad goes on his computer to play games and my mom likes to use her phone to look at Facebook. Sometimes my mom and I watch Netflix shows together like, Full House, but other than that I am not allowed to watch shows with inappropriate scenes like Wednesday Addams, because it has violence.
How do you and your peers interact with media/technology?
My friends and I love texting each other or playing Roblox games together, I am not allowed to have social media like Instagram even though some of my friends do use that. When I am bored I usually FaceTime one of my friends.
What do you use media for?
I mostly go on YouTube and watch reaction videos where people watch funny or cringey videos and react to them. I also like playing games on Roblox. Sometimes I play with snapchat filters on my mom’s phone because I am not allowed to have Snapchat on my phone.
What is your favorite/least favorite thing about media/technology?
My favorite thing about media is that I can talk to my friends outside of school or keep in touch with friends that don't live in the same area as me. I also love how I can be creative on apps where I make my own filters stickers, which I use on my pictures. I don't like how addicting using media can be at times. Sometimes I just want to keep staring at my phone and I don’t know how to stop. I am also scared of how much artificial intelligence is becoming used and if it can control people one day.
What is one thing you want the people who create the media you like to watch/play/interact with to know?
Some of the YouTubers I watch make really cringey videos and are really dramatic for views and attention. I want them to know that it's pretty embarrassing when they make videos like that and they should stop click-baiting people.
What media do you interact with the most?
I use YouTube or TikTok the most to watch different videos, but my mom does set a time limit for me or else I will keep scrolling and streaming.
Where do you get most of your information about what’s happening in the world (e.g., news, internet, parents, etc.)?
I don’t really keep up with the news, I just hear it from my parents when they talk about it to each other.
What media helps you stay busy/stay calm during challenging times?
I like watching shows on Netflix with my mom. We look forward to our watch parties together.
What lessons have you learned from the COVID-19 pandemic and other challenging times?
I have learned that sometimes there is information online that may not always be coming from a known source with evidence and it's not always good to trust everything you see or hear.
Have you learned anything about how you use media and technology because of the COVID-19 pandemic and other challenging times
I realized I actually used media more during COVID-19 than I do now because I was bored at home with no one to play with. Now, I like to play with my friends more and go to the park.
Interviewed by: Sara Gharibian, UCLA student
Ariana, 18
Media Consumption: about 5 hours a day
Favorite Media/Technology: TikTok, Netflix
How do you and your family interact with media/technology?
My parents and I watch TV together as a form of bonding. My mom is very involved with social media and is constantly “sharenting” about my life without my permission. I don’t care that she does it, it’s just that she chooses the most awful pictures of me and I honestly feel embarrassed.
How do you and your peers interact with media/technology?
On Sundays I host Milf Manor where we watch this TV show called MILF Manor. It’s the one time a week where my friends and I set a time to ensure we all see each other to catch up and hang out. BeReal is my favorite day-to-day app because I can see what my friends are currently doing at that moment.
What do you use media for?
I use it to distract myself from the concept of aging and facing reality as an “almost adult”. I like it as an outlet from the real world to entertain myself.
What is your favorite/least favorite thing about media/technology?
I think that certain forms of social media can bring people together. On TikTok, there’s always running jokes in the comments that make me laugh and it brightens up my day. It helps me feel more normal as a teenager because I’m not out of the loop with pop culture. My least favorite thing is how draining it can be. I feel like I shouldn’t use it as much as I do and I can be more productive with my time.
What is one thing you want the people who create the media you like to watch/play/interact with to know?
Something I want them to know is to reflect on their morality and what their social media has turned into versus what it was when they started. I can tell their content becomes different the more popular they get and strays away from their authenticity.
What media do you interact with the most?
Short form videos like TikToks.
Where do you get most of your information about what’s happening in the world (e.g., news, internet, parents, etc.)?
TikTok. I think it depends on what the subject is for me to trust the source. If it’s a natural disaster there’s not a lot of ways to distort that but when it’s pertaining more to celebrity news and pop culture, I wouldn't say it’s more reliable than the news.
What media helps you stay busy/stay calm during challenging times?
TikTok. If it’s to stay calm, I wouldn’t read the news or something because it will stress me out, TikTok is very mindless and helps distract me because there’s no thought behind it.
What lessons have you learned from the COVID-19 pandemic and other challenging times?
As bad as the situation was, I learned that once you hit rock bottom, things will get better. Even if the economy drops, it will always come back up, and the world supply of toilet paper will not disappear forever. I spent more time doing activities I never really focused on beforehand like painting, baking, and decorating my room. I started to pick photos for my wall, and decorations for my room and I started to tap more into my own specific interests and what I truly liked for myself. I learned more about myself during the pandemic and I definitely developed more of my personality.
Have you learned anything about how you use media and technology because of the COVID-19 pandemic and other challenging times?
The time I spent on social media expanded on my personality rather than influencing it. I realized the content and people I watched online helped me to understand that my interests and humor are niche but that there are people that understand me as well. I would say that’s a positive factor of the pandemic that I experienced and that my time spent on media during COVID helped me shape myself and personality to the person I am today. I should’ve focused on posting content because now these platforms are being used as an opportunity to make money and get famous. In terms of education, it taught me that education in person isn’t something I necessarily need. I can learn just as well on a computer and it really shows that all classes have the accessibility to be online. Technology allowed me to stay in touch with my friends and family during the pandemic.
Interviewed by: Lillie Yazdi, UCLA student
Lauren Taylor on “The Good Guys: How Character Strengths Drive Kids’ Entertainment Wins”
This interview with the first author of the Character Strengths Report highlights the findings of the study and further work that can stem from this research.
Every year, as our children grow and change, entertainment media takes on a larger role in their development. With children having more access than ever before to consume television, film, and other alternative media on a daily basis, it has become important to filter developmentally appropriate content from potentially harmful content. Media that teaches positive values and aids with growth and maturity not only has the power to change lives but can have remarkable effects on the entertainment industry itself.
The CSS report “The Good Guys: How Character Strengths Drive Kids’ Entertainment Wins” (Character Strengths Report) explores these concepts through Common Sense Media’s tagging system for content, which focuses on developmental appropriateness across age groups. The report, led by CSS Fellow Lauren Taylor, highlights how the presence or lack of character strengths in media relates to how kids and their parents perceive the content, and ultimately if the film succeeds. By comparing films lacking and presenting character strengths, results show that those displaying traits like teamwork and courage are more successful as measured by box office performance metrics.
Character Strengths Are Universal
Taylor and her team assessed the following character strengths in their research: communication, compassion, self-control, curiosity, empathy, gratitude, humility, integrity, perseverance, courage, and teamwork. The last two were most prevalent and the study reveals that the magnitude of their positive impact can be felt internationally, regardless of culture. Taylor says, “It shows the universality of emotions and that these skills are important no matter what and span across all human beings.”
What About Teen Audiences?
Not only does the report find that media representing character strengths and positive values correlate to higher box office success domestically and internationally, but it also highlights where change needs to happen. “We answered the goal of the project, but I’m also really excited about the fact that we identified where character strengths are lacking in film and that teens are being left behind compared to the child audience,” Taylor says. “I have a passion for teen audiences and helping them, especially with teen mental health problems, and I’m excited to continue to explore that with these findings.”
By looking at the frequency of certain strengths like courage and teamwork, but the infrequency of other equally valuable traits, Taylor discovered where media representation of character strengths needs to improve and why it's so important to do so. “Teenagers want more authentic content. They are rejecting storylines of what used to be popular, but the shift hasn’t been represented yet in film and television.” In an already flooded media landscape, there is a growing importance in listening to teens who speak up about what content is making them feel more accurately represented and understood and reflecting those comments in popular media.
This highlights one of the bigger issues the report uncovered: the communication gap between content creators and teen audiences. Media has issues with misrepresenting teens and their values, something that adds to the failing line of understanding between storytellers and consumers. “Teenagers don't respond to content they feel is trying to send them a message or that is shoved down their throat,” says Taylor. Instead of working through this barrier, “content creators begin to think teenagers don't want to know how to, for example, display humility and integrity and self-control. This means audience members and content creators need to talk more.”
An open line of communication will help better bridge the gap between studios and their audience and lead to the creation of work that is presented as authentic and genuine. Especially as technologies and the kids of this generation grow simultaneously, Taylor thinks these changes are worth the effort it will take to implement them. “There's a big shift between how I grew up and how kids grow up now so it’s important for researchers, content creators, and parents to realize media is not all good and it's not all bad.”
This nuanced approach to media – such as highlighting character strengths for the benefit of consumers and creators – is exactly what the Center for Scholars & Storytellers aims to accomplish. “It’s a tricky balance to strike and nobody is going to get it perfect,” Taylor says. “But understanding the negative consequences that media can have and combatting that with some of the positive uses of it can go a very long way.”
The Marginalized Group Inclusion Spaces Forgot to Include
My family comes from a small, persecuted, indigenous people from the Middle East. We have been refugees for a painfully long time. When my grandfather was a child, he was lined up with his family to see how many people a bullet could go through. His family thankfully got away and fled to the US. My other grandfather experienced segregation here. My father was regularly beaten up as a kid for his marginalized status.
I grew up in a middle-class home, but my parents still gave me the talk that almost every child in my tribe gets — either informally and/or once a year — when the elders share our national story. It goes like this: “In every generation our enemies rise up to destroy us.” I had nightmares throughout my childhood of when that day would come. This is not uncommon for people in my community.
My darker skin was called out throughout my childhood growing up in New Jersey, and I was verbally harassed for my marginalized status. My classmates noticed that I looked “ethnic,” and I was regularly asked what I “was” or if my mother ate too much chocolate when she was pregnant with me. My sisters and aunts have fairer features, but as far as we know, no one in our family ever married outside of our tribe. Systemic violence against our foremothers in past generations was common, but there is a lot of shame around this topic, so it is not often discussed.
In my teen years, I began to derive pride in our homeland and strength from the spiritual practices of our people, which I adopted. In the last year, both of my daughters were called slurs on the street because our traditional clothing gave them away. My community is the most attacked religious minority community in the US right now as well as the most attacked racial group per capita*. On TV and in movies, my tribe is portrayed through a colonialist lens. We are shown as having outdated values and practices that need fixing. Characters from my community only receive praise when someone is “courageous enough” to leave.
I am a Jew.
An Orthodox Jewish woman, to be precise.
Defining the Jewish Experience in Progressive Language
If the plight of Jews was seen in the aforementioned light, we would have been part of DEIA spaces from the very beginning. But Jews are rarely regarded like this. Even though our story of oppression — tracing the violent exile of the Jewish people from Israel by the Romans, including the murder of 1 million and the enslavement of the rest, blood libels, Crusades, expulsions, inquisitions, forced segregation behind ghetto walls, pogroms, and the Holocaust — is completely true. So is the systemic racism against Jews in the US that began with the limitation of voting rights and the ability to hold office in some states, quotas in Ivy League schools, Asiatic immigration restrictions, redlining, segregation in pools, hotels, and beaches, and gatekeeping in professional industries, like law and publishing and some country clubs, that persist to this day.
Instead, Jews are seen as European whites (thank you, Whoopi!), who magically sprouted of out Poland a couple hundred years ago. Too rich, too privileged, too powerful to be a protected class. All of these ideas are antisemitic tropes that are baked into progressive ideology. This needs to change.
Sephardic and Mizrachi Jews are considered brown, but as a Jew whose family was expelled to a land where they eat gefilte fish, I was led to believe that I am white, even though my lived experience has shown me that the world doesn’t view me this way. To be brown, and simultaneously gaslit that you are not brown, is very confusing.
I grew up as a proud Conservative Jew, the only Jewish girl for most of my years in public school, where I was told “Jews killed Jesus” and “Jewish people howl at the moon and pray to the devil.” A double murder/suicide of a classmate and her brother by their father when I was 8 years old pushed me into an existential crisis. After 7 years of off and on insomnia and minor panic attacks, I met an Orthodox Jewish teacher at an after-school Hebrew high. He was nothing like what traditional media had led me to believe he’d be like. He was kind and compassionate, a feminist and wise. I slowly grew in my observance, proudly retaining all of the wonderful parts of my secular identity, but adding wisdom and spirituality to my life. As an Orthodox Jew today, my family and I are identifiably Jewish on the street. I have been victim-shamed, told that we are the ones who choose to wear our yarmulkes and wigs and skirts. If we “only” looked more American and visited our kosher stores, yeshivas, and synagogues less frequently, we could be safe.
For Jews who are secular and white-passing, they are subjected to a purity test that other white-passing marginalized individuals are not. And richness negating marginalized status does not seem to apply to other groups such as Indian Americans, even though they are the wealthiest ethnic group in the US.
Success Does Not Negate Past Trauma and a Sense of Foreboding
Inter-generational trauma is a phenomenon that affects nearly all Jews, no matter how they look or what they practice. So is the foreboding most of us feel towards the future. Many of us have been feeling it more than ever, since Kanye made antisemitic rhetoric mainstream. Jewish baggage is never being able to fully unpack. And the one place we might have to flee to one day, to unpack in, is riddled with complicated politics, when so many of us simply want a place to exhale and to live in peace.
The “talk” that most Jewish parents give their children happens during the Passover seder. For some, it includes being told to always have your passport ready. With the most lethal attacks on Jews in American history occurring in the last five years and with Jews being the most targeted religious group, despite being only 2% of the population, more and more of us are wondering when we may need to dust off those passports.
Next week is Holocaust Remembrance Day, but frankly I’m sick of the Jewish people only being remembered as a group that was murdered often or a people too privileged to need protection. Instead, I want to be known and celebrated for the proud, vibrant, self-actualized Jewish life that I live, which bursts with meaning and joy. But since it’s Holocaust Remembrance Day, I’ll invoke the Nazis who used propaganda to turn the world against Jews. They are a reminder of how damaging media can be for a marginalized group and the responsibility the entertainment world has to prevent and counter-act this.
A History (And Present) of Harmful Media Portrayals
The vilification of Jews throughout Western media started much earlier than the Third Reich. In ancient Egypt, in the third century B.C.E., Jews were accused of being the Hykos people and spreading leprosy. Jews being seen as vectors of disease continued with them being blamed for spreading the Bubonic Plague, the Nazis accused Jews of being lice and spreading tuberculosis, and shockingly, this trope has appeared in modern day traditional media. Blood libels of Jews began in the Middle Ages, when Christians accused them of kidnapping Christian children to bake their blood into matzah. Depictions of Jews as bloodthirsty baby-killers has popped up in communities all over the world and continues to this day. Also in the Middle Ages, a mistranslation of the Old Testament led to Jews being depicted with horns. This trope recently appeared in a Netflix advertising campaign. The Book of Revelations describes the antichrist as having horns and a tail and clubbed feet. With Jews already having horns, this resulted in the portrayal of Jews as all out demons. Starting in the 12th century, Jews became hooked-nose in paintings. The two church councils in 1267 forced Jews to wear pointy hats. Those hats, coupled with the hook-nosed trope, led to Jews becoming the inspiration for witches.
Jon Stewart was right about the goblins in Harry Potter looking Jewish, not because anyone associated with the films is necessarily antisemitic, but rather because little men with big noses counting money is yet another trope that was born out of the Jew-hatred. Take 3 minutes to watch Funny or Die’s animated short on how greedy, big nosed Jews became cartoon villains. The practice of “stage Jew” began in the 1600’s, when non-Jewish actors would dress up in Jewish garb to mock and make fun of Jews. While Sarah Silverman popularized the term “Jewface” to mean non-Jewish actors regularly getting cast in Jewish parts — a topic worthy of discussion in its own right, especially when contemporary movies put large noses on gentile actors to play Jews (see Maestro) — it has an older and even more sinister origin.
Jewface was done in vaudeville-style minstrels, both in Eastern Europe and the US, starting in the 1800s. Sometimes it was secular Jews mocking their religious brethren. Other times, antisemitic regimes, like the Bolsheviks, manipulated secular Jews with the promise of self-preservation to throw religious Jews under the bus. (Tragically, the Bolsheviks ended up killing those Jews too.) Nazis also employed Jewface in their 1940 propaganda film “The Eternal Jew.” Jewface persists in Hollywood today, often perpetrated by fellow Jews (see our mini documentary “Hollywood’s Orthodox Jew Problem”), even though this practice is thankfully verboten for other marginalized communities.
On that note, let’s dig into the trope that Jews run Hollywood. Jews don’t run Hollywood, but they founded it because more prestigious industries shut them out due to antisemitism. The Hollywood founders hid their Jewishness, assimilated and relied on self-deprecation to survive. Sadly, many of today’s Jews in Hollywood seem to have internalized so much Jew hatred that the depictions we often see are caricatures who are not fully human and are often insufferable. Non-Jewish writers and producers are also guilty of embedding these tropes into storylines. A CSA member recently told me that Jewish actors usually play down their Jewishness, lest it negatively impact their career. In an age when every other marginalized group is proudly leading into their identity, when will the Jews be ready for this too??
Reshaping Jewish Identities in Hollywood
What if Jews on screen could be more often portrayed as endearing individuals, with shared struggles and shared joy? While the viewer may never get to know someone from this background in real life, the screen can be a conduit to building a relationship of admiration and respect. That’s why my organization launched the first and only Hollywood Bureau for Jews last year. No one had done it before, because no one was ready to lay this out like we are. And if you’re wondering why a small nonprofit that no one ever heard of had the chutzpah to take on Hollywood, there is nothing more Jewish than being a little guy, who doesn’t know his place. Or in my case, a little woman.
Fortunately, my inspiration to be courageous comes from looking at Jewish heroines from my tradition, like Queen Esther of Purim fame (movie idea, people!), instead of taking cues from the meek and voiceless Orthodox Jewish women Hollywood depicts.
Already, we are commissioning an in-depth character analysis and impact study with a leading academic entertainment group, to explore bias in media and the negative ways inaccurate depictions of Jews shape viewers’ opinions. We’re about to have a panel at Sundance on problematic Jewish representation in Hollywood (the first of its kind) and attended the Television Academy Inclusion Summit in November. We have met with all the major studios and are creating materials with the Think Tank for Inclusion and Equity (TTIE) to train showrunners. In time, we hope to place consultants and proud and knowledgeable Jewish writers into writers’ rooms so that we can prevent harmful tropes and silly caricatures of the secular nebbish Jew, the evil, extremist Hasid, or the only-white Jew. Characters like these increase judgement, derision and hate.
#Neveragain is feeling closer than ever, but meaningful changes in the entertainment industry could stem the tide. We will usher in a new generation of Jews who are ready to lean into our heritage and demand proud and authentic representation. Perhaps when we Jews see our heroes on the screen, we’ll be overcome with self-love, and then the world will follow.
*Annual rates of hate crimes against Jewish people and Black people in the US are nearly the same number despite the Black population being almost ten times larger.
Disclaimer: The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in this blog belong solely to the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Center for Scholars & Storytellers.
Authentic Diversity in Movies Wins at the Box Office and with Kids
New research reinforces the value of authentic representation in film.
This post originally appeared on Common Sense on May 31, 2022.
Turns out that having diverse representations in our movies—real, authentic portrayals of people from a variety of backgrounds—is good for kids and the filmmaking industry. Recent research shows that films with more diverse casts are out-earning movies with less diversity. More diverse representations are also good for kids' emotional development and well-being.
Here's what the latest research reveals about where we're making progress with diversity in film, where we are not, and how the film industry's actions when it comes to more diversity and high-quality representation in movies impacts kids and families.
Films with more diverse casts drive higher movie ticket sales and revenue
The recently released Hollywood Diversity Report 2022: Part I was the ninth in a series of studies conducted by the Division of Social Sciences at UCLA. The study showed positive progress on diverse representation in film. In 2020, representation of people of color in front of the camera was proportional to the population for the first time—and this held true in 2021 as well, at 38.9% among film leads and 43.1 % for total actors in films.
Plus, bringing more diverse casts to the screen translated to financial results. The same report revealed that in 2021, films with casts that were 21% to 30% people of color enjoyed the highest median global box office receipts, while films with casts that were less than 11% people of color were the lowest performers, continuing a trend seen in the past four years.
Today's audiences seek out nuanced, high-quality portrayals of diverse characters
Films that scored higher on a measure of "authentically inclusive representation" (AIR) did better at the box office and received more acclaim from critics and audience members. The AIR 2.0: Driving Box Office Performance Through Authentically Inclusive Storytelling report from the UCLA Center for Scholars and Storytellers, Creative Artists Agency, and the Full Story Initiative found that large-budget films in 2021 performed better when they had more authentic representation. For every point increase in a film's AIR score, box office earnings increased by $18.8 million. High AIR films also scored 6% higher on Rotten Tomatoes audience scores and 22% higher on critics' scores.
The AIR 2.0 report's evaluation considered several factors. First, it looked at whether people from diverse backgrounds were on screen and behind the scenes, and if diversity was present, whether characters and stories genuinely reflected the cultures being portrayed instead of relying on stereotypes. Researchers also examined to what extent a film's representation increased the complexity of a general audience's understanding of that cultural group.
The influence and preferences of diverse audiences are driving these findings. The Hollywood Diversity Report 2022 also found that people of color accounted for the majority of domestic ticket sales for six of the top 10 films in 2021. Households of color accounted for a disproportionate share of the households viewing each of the top 10 films released on streaming platforms. And Black households gave their highest ratings to streaming films with greater than 50% minority cast share while White households gave films that were 21-30% minority their highest ratings.
Families prefer more diverse representation in films. Our own report, The Inclusion Imperative: Why Media Representation Matters for Kids' Ethnic-Racial Development, revealed that all parents prefer more diversity in the programming their kids watch.
The trend toward greater diversity in films is healthy for kids
More authentic diversity in media is a positive trend for kids' racial development. Ethnic-racial development starts early. Patterns suggest that even babies receive, notice, and organize information relevant to ethnicity-race. Over time, the portrayals a kid sees in the media can inform their sense of identity and where they fit in the world.
Among young people of color, watching favorable and authentic depictions of their own ethnic-racial group can have a positive impact on self-perceptions and views about their ethnic-racial group. In contrast, studies examining how media use influences Black children and adolescents have found that exposure to stereotypical media representations was related to lower self-esteem, satisfaction with one's appearance, confidence in one's own ability, feelings about their ethnic-racial group, and academic performance.
According to our study, Asian, Black, and Hispanic/Latino parents are much more likely to feel that the representation of their own ethnic-racial group in media is stereotypical than White parents do.
What makes a high-quality portrayal? Research informs how we rate diverse representation in media. My colleague Li Lai, senior director of content at Common Sense Media, puts it like this: "When we rate diverse representation in a film or show, we are looking for three-dimensional, whole characters who are more than their racial identity, gender expression, or sexual orientation. Even positive traits can be perceived as stereotypes. It's more helpful for kids to see multidimensional characters."
More diversity in front of and behind the camera will lead to more authentically inclusive portrayals
Encouragingly, roughly four out of five lead actors in 2021 were people of color. The Hollywood Diversity Report 2022 states that Black actors were 15.5% of film leads in 2021, just above proportional level (13.4%). Multiracial lead actors were proportional as well, at 10.3%. Yet the numbers for Hispanic/Latino, Asian, Native American, and Middle Eastern and North African leads were still underrepresentative in 2021 compared to their percentage in the general population.
When it comes to those behind the camera, representation has been much slower to shift, as reflected by the fact that writers and directors are still predominantly White males. The same report shows that only 30.2% of film directors and 32.3% of film writers were people of color.
The question of who's in control behind the camera can affect how authentically the characters are drawn in the script, who lands the audition, and how sensitively the characters are presented in the screenplay.
More diversity across the board is the only way to ensure films are more realistic and equitable in their representation. Given that the payoff is there for kids and for the business, we expect to see more movement toward diversity and authentic representation in all arenas of movie development and production. We look to the entertainment industry to continue to track progress and work to accelerate this trend.
It's not only good for the bottom line, it's important for the healthy development of kids.
Michael Robb
Senior Director of Research, Common Sense Media
Benjamin, 13
Media Consumption: About 3 hours per day during the week, and about 6 hours per day on the weekends
Favorite Media/Technology: I really like YouTube and Discord, which I use on my iPhone
How do you and your family interact with media/technology?
My dad has the NextDoor app so that he can connect with our neighbors, but other than that my parents don’t use social media. My grandma has Facebook, though, and she posts pictures of me which are sometimes cute but other times I wish she would let me see the pictures first. My parents set rules for what I can access online–I’m not allowed on Instagram or Twitter. I don’t know why, but I just listen to my parents’ rules.
How do you and your peers interact with media/technology?
Sometimes when my best friend watches the same videos as me on YouTube we’ll talk about it but I mostly interact with my friends on Discord and Snapchat. On Discord, my friends and I have a group chat where we always talk about something different–one day we’ll talk about homework, the next day we’ll talk about funny meme pictures. I used to keep Snapchat streaks with my friends but I don’t really anymore. People my age keep Snapchat streaks to show off their popularity with their high “Snap Scores” because they care a lot about that.
What do you use media for?
I mostly use Snapchat and Discord to be social and connect with my friends. I use YouTube for entertainment and to watch comedic videos. I don’t really play as many games on my phone as I used to.
What is your favorite/least favorite thing about media/technology?
I like using YouTube because it has a positive environment. I also like how social media is a good way to connect with people and be able to talk to friends. I don’t like how apps like TikTok are toxic and negative. There’s a lot of cyberbullying on social media and people say a lot of things online that they wouldn’t say in person. Sometimes the hate comments on other people’s videos can make me feel bad about myself.
What is one thing you want the people who create the media you like to watch/play/interact with to know?
I get a lot of ads on YouTube, usually for Grammarly or different game apps. YouTube should know that I don’t pay attention to their ads, and I always skip them right away.
What media are you using more now because of the COVID-19 pandemic?
During remote learning, I watched a lot of YouTube–a lot more than before quarantine. I didn’t watch it during classes because I had to pay attention to those but I watched it while I was doing homework.
Where do you get most of your information to learn more about changes during the COVID-19 pandemic (e.g., news, internet, parents, etc.)?
My parents watch the news and then they tell me about things like changes to online learning or vaccine requirements.
What media has been helping you stay busy/stay calm during the COVID-19 pandemic?
Every day during quarantine I watched something different on YouTube. I was just trying to find something to fill in the blanks in my day because I wasn’t able to do a lot. I thought that since there was nothing to do I could watch someone else do something on YouTube.
What lessons have you learned from the COVID-19 pandemic?
It’s really important to keep in touch with friends online when you can’t see them in person.
Have you learned anything about how you use media and technology because of the COVID-19 pandemic?
I use a lot more media when I’m bored. It’s kind of a last resort for me. I use media to feel better and be entertained with funny YouTube videos. I also think social media is a really good way to connect with friends.
Interviewed by: Sophie Lawrence, UCLA 3rd Year student
Sarvin, 14
Media Consumption: 8 hours per day
Favorite Media/Technology: TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram
How do you and your family interact with media/technology?
We have a family group chat where we text and my dad sends me funny videos on Instagram. My mom also sends me pictures of her new artwork through text messages or Instagram.
How do you and your peers interact with media/technology?
We talk about our day on FaceTime, send pictures through Snapchat and keep each other updated throughout the day.
What do you use media for?
Socializing with friends and posting pictures of myself.
What is your favorite/least favorite thing about media/technology?
My least favorite thing about social media is having to see people be brought down by others for no reason. My favorite thing about social media is that it allows me to talk to my friends and express myself.
What is one thing you want the people who create the media you like to watch/play/interact with to know?
I want to have a precise screen recording of what people do when they visit my Instagram account. Also, I want to be the only one who has access to this information.
What media are you using more now because of the COVID-19 pandemic?
Literally everything. I use my phone more in general. I am also posting more often on Instagram and Snapchat.
Where do you get most of your information to learn more about changes during the COVID-19 pandemic (e.g., news, internet, parents, etc.)?
Instagram is where I get most of my information from. Everything goes around really fast there.
What media has been helping you stay busy/stay calm during the COVID-19 pandemic?
Netflix has been my best friend during the pandemic.
What lessons have you learned from the COVID-19 pandemic?
I’ve learned that I have to be more careful trusting people online and the information I share with others.
Have you learned anything about how you use media and technology because of the COVID-19 pandemic?
I started spending more time using media and technology during the pandemic and because of that now I know how to better manage my media use, meaning that I know what to post, what not to post, what to believe online, and what not to.
Interviewed by: Sepideh Torab, UCLA Student
Pedro, 12
Media Consumption: Hulu, everyday, YouTube 1x a week, Xbox every Weekend (8hours), YouTube on iPhone during car rides, 2 hours a week, Alexa listening to music every day, Laptop for school everyday, and Apple Watch for messaging, everyday.
Favorite Media/Technology: Xbox (Apex and Fortnite games), because you get to play with friends and it’s fun.
How do you and your family interact with media/technology?
We interact through texting. I text my family when something happens like, I text my mom when I’m coming home and we also watch movies and TV shows together.
How do you and your peers interact with media/technology?
We text each other about stuff that happens in school and funny things like memes. We chat and play [video games] together.
What do you use media for?
I use media for video games , soccer, questions I want to be answered, funny memes, roasts, crazy expensive things online that I like to look at, to see what video games are the best, I text my friends to see if they can play outside, to see what they are doing and if they want to play xbox, I see the weather
What is your favorite/least favorite thing about media/technology?
My favorite thing about media is the variety to it, the internet gives a lot of options and you can do a lot of things on it and at once too. My least favorite thing are the cyberbullies on the Internet, when I go to the YouTube video comments I see cyberbullies making mean comments.
What is one thing you want the people who create the media you like to watch/play/interact with to know?
Stop doing 3 minute sponsors in the beginning, announcing sponsors on YouTube and stop finding ways to place ads in the middle of videos, too many ads. Don’t do not necessary talking in video games, the people talk all about their lives. Do a reset for video games to reset it for season 1. Instead of updating the game they create a new version which cost like 100$.
What media are you using more now because of the COVID-19 pandemic?
It’s back to the same now, during quarantine it was different. I was watching a lot more YouTube during Zoom meetings, which I got in trouble for while doing online school during pandemic.
Where do you get most of your information to learn more about changes during the COVID-19 pandemic (e.g., news, internet, parents, etc.)?
My parents give me info about the COVID-19 pandemic.
What media has been helping you stay busy/stay calm during the COVID-19 pandemic?
Memes help me stay calm because they make me laugh, video games help me focus on something else.
What lessons have you learned from the COVID-19 pandemic?
Toilet paper is precious, and that people on the internet lie. My dad was watching the news and people were saying how the pandemic is government planned.
Have you learned anything about how you use media and technology because of the COVID-19 pandemic?
I use media a lot, because I resort to it when I’m bored, I like one genre of entertainment, which is comedy and action adventure, and on YouTube just comedy.
Interviewed by: Paloma Pfeiffer, UCLA Student
Greggy, 9
Media Consumption: 5 hours a day
Favorite Media/Technology: iPad to play Minecraft and Roblox
How do you and your family interact with media/technology?
I don’t really use technology with my family. The most we do together with technology is watch movies on our TV.
How do you and your peers interact with media/technology?
My friends and I go on Minecraft together and try to get onto the higher levels. We talk about the different things we had to do to get to those levels and how to get the most amount of points. We also send each other TikToks about things we think are funny.
What do you use media for?
I use it to play games with my friends and talk with them when we’re not at school.
What is your favorite/least favorite thing about media/technology?
My favorite is that I get to play Minecraft with my friends and my least favorite thing is that my mom always takes away the iPad if I haven’t finished my homework.
What is one thing you want the people who create the media you like to watch/play/to interact with to know?
They need to add different features to Minecraft because it’s starting to get a little boring. My friends and I are thinking about switching over to Fortnite.
What media are you using more now because of the COVID-19 pandemic?
I’m using my mom’s computer more. Before COVID, I didn’t use an actual computer that much, I only used iPads. I’m going on Google more to look up information for school, and not just playing games.
Where do you get most of your information to learn more about changes during the COVID-19 pandemic (e.g., news, internet, parents, etc.)?
I get most of my information from TikTok. On my For You Page (FYP), I get TikToks about mostly Minecraft or funny videos, but sometimes I’ll get news about COVID.
What media has been helping you stay busy/stay calm during the COVID-19 pandemic?
I’ve been on YouTube a lot watching my favorite gamers. Their channels are teaching me how to level up in Minecraft.
What lessons have you learned from the COVID-19 pandemic?
I haven’t learned much from the COVID pandemic, other than we can do almost everything at home. It’s nice that I get to see my friends at school, but I liked it when I could do my classwork through Zoom.
Have you learned anything about how you use media and technology because of the COVID-19 pandemic?
Not really. I just learned how to use different apps, such as Zoom. Nothing really changed with how I use my iPad.
Interviewed by: Kaitlyn Bigman, UCLA Student
M, 7
How do you and your family interact with media/technology?
My parents allow us to play video games and stuff like that on our own time…the rules about it are: You're not allowed to have it before dinner or before school and we have to finish all our homework and we aren’t allowed to watch anything scary or inappropriate. We’re also not allowed to take pictures of each other if we don’t like it. If we search up something scary or inappropriate we delete YouTube then reinstall it, then it’ll think it’s an entirely new person.
How do you and your peers interact with media/technology?
I believe my friends use more [technology] than me. My friend has [an Xbox] and he allows me to use it, and it’s really fun. We play street fighting games, and we go on missions to defeat people. When we play Super Smash Bros we choose our characters and fight with different moves. When we play Star Wars battlefront we choose the light or dark side and then get to use different people to destroy others.
What do you use media for?
I like to use technology cause it’s entertaining and because it’s really fun. I use the Promethean board in school for about three hours a day, and for two extra hours a day if I have a project for homework. On Wednesdays I have 30 minutes in my computer class, which is coding and stuff. I use technology for fun for about two hours per day, and I can’t count how many hours I use it for fun on the weekends. I also really like to read Harry Potter with regular books. I listen to music on my mom’s phone sometimes and FaceTime and text my brothers. I don’t use any social media. Sometimes I watch movies with my family. I have my own ChromeBook for school and I got my own iPad when I was 6 years old.
What is your favorite/least favorite thing about technology/media?
My favorite thing about technology is that I get to play video games with my friends and watch entertaining YouTube videos. It’s a good way to relax after school and homework. I like to watch people play video games [like Roblox and Minecraft] on YouTube more than I actually like to play them. I like to play on my friend’s Xbox because the Xbox is supposed to have better graphics than the PS5. I like to play street fighting games and we play Super Smash Bros…we also really like Star Wars Battlefront…there’s a Tony Hawk Skating game but that’s not on the Xbox.
What is one thing you want the people who create the media you like to watch/play/interact with to know?
I just like to watch and play video games, I don’t like the scary and inappropriate stuff. I like video games with better graphics!
What media are you using more now because of the COVID-19 pandemic?
I use texting, FaceTime, and video games more because of quarantine, because it’s hard to see my friends. I try to call my friends but it’s hard to do. I send my grandma pictures, like last year my brother got a new bike. When we make gingerbread houses I send her pictures of that.
Where do you get most of your information to learn more about changes during the COVID-19 pandemic (e.g., news, internet, parents, etc.)?
When we re-download YouTube and it thinks we’re a new person it shows us news about COVID, but I don’t usually look at it. I learn things about COVID from my parents and teachers.
What media has been helping you stay busy/stay calm during the COVID-19 pandemic?
I play video games and watch YouTube to stay busy during the pandemic.
What lessons have you learned from COVID-19?
I have learned that family and friends are important.
Have you learned anything about how you use media and technology because of the COVID-19 pandemic?
I have learned that I like to use technology to keep myself entertained when I’m bored, and also that it’s fun to talk to my friends that way.
Interviewed by: Hattie Bleeker, UCLA Student
Ani, 17
Media Consumption: Daily, about 5 hours
Favorite Media/Technology: Goodreads
How do you and your family interact with media/technology?
We usually watch TV together, like our favorite shows or movies, when my parents and sister are all home. We also have a family group chat where we text about stuff that happens during the day.
How do you and your peers interact with media/technology?
Well, I use Zoom every day for school, so we talk to each other that way a lot during class. We also use Discord to talk about our Youth & Government club and plan events.
What do you use media for?
I use it for entertainment and to find new books on Goodreads. I’ll use TikTok a lot to watch funny videos, and I’ll use Instagram and Discord to chat with my friends.
What is your favorite/least favorite thing about media and technology?
My favorite thing is that I can connect with my friends really often. I like how easy it is to talk to people. My least favorite thing is how I lose track of time, especially on TikTok. When I’m on TikTok, the time on my phone disappears, and it gets really easy to forget how long I’ve been on the app.
What is one thing you want the people who create the media you like to watch/play/interact with to know?
This one is really hard. Maybe I would tell them to stop making everything so addicting. All of these social media apps can be really addicting and take up most of my time in my day.
What media are you using more now because of the COVID-19 Pandemic?
Definitely Zoom, because all of my classes have been on Zoom for a long time now. I’ve been using Discord a lot too for my clubs, because that’s where we plan stuff.
Where do you get most of your information to learn more about changes during the COVID-19 Pandemic?
I get my news through infographics on Instagram and short videos on TikTok. People post a lot of those things and talk about current events, so it’s easy to keep up with everything that way.
What media has been helping you stay busy/calm during the COVID-19 Pandemic?
Goodreads has really helped me stay busy and calm. I love to read, and it’s really fun to go on Goodreads and check off books from my list and rate them, and also find new books to read that other people recommend.
What lessons have you learned from the COVID-19 Pandemic?
I guess I’ve learned to be patient. I can’t control everything, so I’ve learned to just do my best and see what happens.
Have you learned anything about how you use media and technology because of the COVID-19 Pandemic?
I’ve learned that I use technology way more than I used to. Almost everything is online now, so I’m constantly on my laptop or my phone joining a Zoom call or texting my friends. That’s how I connect with people now.
Interviewed by: Natalie Zadikian, UCLA Student