My media habits and opinions
As I write this, my computer sits lifeless at the foot of my bed because without an internet connection, I don’t care about its triple-core processor or terabyte of memory. In fact, I’m writing this post from my phone, which has been my only lifeline to the internet in the past week since I moved to Coppell.
Based on my description, you probably could guess I consume almost all my intentional media from the web. (I say intentional because I don’t control the countless billboards I see on my daily commute.) The few exceptions are books, both analog and digital, and my recent courtship with my car radio (and NPR).
I listen to music on the internet, I watch tv on the internet, and I learn on the internet. This means the content I see is usually sought after. I don’t surf the web, I hunt and peck the web.
All this information is tailored to me because I use the same browser over and over, I let pandora learn my preferences in music, and I don’t watch tv I don’t like. It may seem obvious, but these processes can sometimes become background noise. We don’t always realize that media vendors actually adapt their content to us much more effectively on the web. We don’t think about how this might make us more agreeable to their messages.
It reminds me of recommendations given by friends. The better they know us, the more likely we are to listen. Media works the same way, except we listen to the message because we relate or agree more than because we trust the source. Though trust plays a role, of course. Just food for thought.
