BARBARA SCHINDELKA
Opinions Writer
Imagine the following happening to you: you stumble home after a long day of school or work and execute a perfect flop onto the couch. Thankfully, your roommate isn’t around and you have the place to yourself. You take this opportunity to spend some “quality” time with the TV or computer. After all, you deserve to veg out. Several hours later, you realize you’ve been immersed in Facebook, YouTube or the CSI Miami marathon and have nothing to show for your time other than a vague headache and three empty Coke cans.
Did you think about the media you chose to consume or was it automatic? Were you lured by a Siren’s call even when you had better things to do, or even other things you would rather have done?
Media forms are all around us — print, audio, video, mobile telecommunications, the interweb — at school, at home and almost everywhere in between. Most of us are bombarded with thousands of mediated messages a day and are not consciously aware of the influence they have on us.
Marshall McLuhan, communications theorist of “the medium is the message” fame, also said that “we shape our tools, and then our tools shape us.” Communication technologies profoundly influence and change us, individually and as a society. And yet most of us seldom give any more than a fleeting thought to the type or amount of media we consume and the effect it might have on us, for better or for worse.
For example, a recent large-scale study by University of Leeds psychologists has linked depression and addiction with excessive Internet use (like browsing, social networking or online gaming). The researchers were unable to determine whether the net use caused mental health issues or vice versa, but determined there was a clear link between the two.
Meanwhile, this same technology can help us further our education, find convenient solutions to challenges, improve relationships and increase our quality of life. The key is to make mindful, purposeful choices in our consumption of media and use of technology.
Be deconstructive. Ask yourself: Why am I choosing to take part in this? Will this improve me or my relationships? What influence does this media have on me? Will it make me laugh, want to cry? Leave me with a vague sense of dissatisfaction and inadequacy?
For example, some YouTube videos can make me laugh until I hyperventilate but the comments — well, Lev Grossman summed it up perfectly: “Some of the comments on YouTube make you weep for the future of humanity just for the spelling alone, never mind the obscenity and the naked hatred.”Â
I also try to avoid “disaster porn.” It’s not like watching people’s lives crumble around them on TV helps them any, unless it motivates the viewer to do something to help the situation.
However, when I choose to consume educational and informational media, I feel more curious, intellectually satisfied, happier and more empowered. Social networking tools have helped me feel more connected to family, friends and others in my scholarly discipline. It has opened me up to new resources, interests and ideas. I’ve found answers to questions, and access to more entertainment and information than I ever could have dreamed of. And yes, sometimes a good laugh is just what the doctor ordered (Flight of the Conchords, anyone?)
Media has a powerful effect on us. It is not inherently good or bad — it is merely a tool. And like all tools, it is their use that determines their value. Effective media use in your classroom can have a powerful effect on your learning. Well designed media stimulates our interest and imagination, and even helps aid memory and retention.
My own interest in the social sciences was first ignited when we watched a persuasive video in my first-year sociology class. Conversely, media overload, or poorly designed media, can impair your learning, memory and performance. For example, studies have found that multi-tasking — for example, Facebooking during class — has a very detrimental effect on one’s memory, effectiveness and efficiency. In other words, media can help make or break your success as a student.
Media: it’s everywhere, and it is yours for the experiencing, consuming, creating. Use it well, use it meaningfully and use it wisely.
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