This paper examines one day of personal media consumption through the theoretical frameworks of Turow, Fenton, and McLuhan. The author documents constant media interaction across multiple forms—from email and social networks to radio and television—and analyzes how media consumption patterns both reflect and determine lifestyle choices. The paper argues that modern media consumption is far more intensive and passive than in previous eras, creating new vulnerabilities while also enabling complex information management. Key themes include audience manipulation by advertisers, self-selection through media-based networking, and the gap between how individuals perceive their media use and how media companies understand and exploit consumption patterns.
In a one-day diary of media consumption, it becomes evident that many interactions with the world occur via media. Most information is received through media forms, and even during relaxation, media drives the process. There is also considerable passive consumption of media in daily life. This paper analyzes personal media consumption through the lens of different media theories to understand how deeply embedded media has become in modern existence.
Turow argues that since the 1970s, media and advertisers have become exceptionally adept at understanding audiences, their consumption patterns, and how to exploit these patterns. Meanwhile, audiences have much less understanding of their own consumption habits. The one-day diary exercise revealed, for the first time, the constant nature of daily media exposure—often very passive. Media forms served as intermediary both between the self and friends and between the self and the world at large.
The journal was particularly insightful regarding passive media consumption. When listening to public radio, for instance, there was no control over what would be encountered, leading to unintended learning. The same occurred when watching a game with multiple screens in view, exposing the viewer to background programming like the Baseball documentaries by Ken Burns—programming that had not been sought out but was present through environmental circumstance.
Turow notes that media starts to dictate lifestyle. One's choice in media reflects and determines lifestyle; the two are difficult to separate. In the 24-hour observation period, media from both left-wing and right-wing sources were consumed, making it clear that exclusive consumption of one source would profoundly influence worldview. Many media forms are attempting to sell something—whether a product, an idea, or a lifestyle. Once a consumer becomes engaged with a given lifestyle, there is typically enough related culture to consume that one can easily become segregated into that lifestyle. For example, Rush Limbaugh rants could be heard all day, and sports content could be consumed 24 hours daily. Thus, it is easy for an entire lifestyle to be built around specific media products. This represents a significant change from Turow's description of how media used to be consumed and represents an attempt to polarize America by splitting people into easily-defined consumption groups.
Fenton describes how individuals are becoming networked through media, a pattern evident in the diary analysis. Direct communication channels—phone calls, texts, and emails—enable fairly direct interaction with friends. However, even these channels are typically tied to advertisers. Yahoo email, for instance, gathers information about users, making them a captive audience for marketing. Interactions with the broader world are governed even more strongly by networks. When a lifestyle is created, it opens doors to networking with other people in that community, but this itself is a form of self-selection that results in limited scope of interpersonal interaction. People can relate on the basis of shared media consumption rather than on who they actually are. This creates a strange dynamic wherein most interactions with the world are defined by media consumption.
For most of human history, such intense media interaction did not exist. McLuhan argued that fifty years before his writing, society was still adjusting to the electric age, continuing to view the world through a pre-electric lens even while consuming increasing amounts of media. Television was still relatively new. Today, his prediction continues to hold true. Although thinking may have adjusted to the television age, marketers have moved far beyond that. The daily interaction with media was near-constant, and when different media forms informed interactions with the world, it became clear that thinking in older paradigms cannot explain current reality. Understanding of media interactions has not kept pace with how media companies understand and exploit audience interactions. People are guided by marketers into silos where consumed media defines identity and interaction occurs primarily within these silos, yet media is still viewed in a generalized sense, as though individuals can simply choose to stop consuming at any time.
Reality tells a different story. When something was learned via email, a Google search followed to learn more. This represents a much higher level of media interaction than would have occurred even in McLuhan's era, much less in the pre-electricity age. Does this create vulnerability from complete dependence on media forms for interactions with the world? Turow certainly would argue this is the case. Yet, as Fenton points out, the speed of information exchange and ease of use compel media use. There may be gains—living faster and acquiring more knowledge from exposure to media. Passive consumption is particularly relevant, as facts and tidbits arrived simply by having media activated in one's presence. This invariably gives marketers more opportunity to shape consumption patterns, but it also allows management of a more complex world. Some gains are clear, such as communicating with distant family, but in other instances, high-level media consumption is more ambiguous.
"Media dependence raises questions about autonomy and vulnerability"
You’re 86% through this paper. Sign up to read the remaining 1 section.
Sign Up Now — Instant Access Already a member? Log inAlways verify citation format against your institution’s current style guide requirements.