Media Refelction

     I always knew media was a huge part of my life, but I never looked so far into it as I have now. My new awareness of media ploys has caused me to not only be tentative around things that seem too good to be true, but also to be able to categorize exactly what these messages are. Like I said in previous posts, I have always seen media messages, but usually I was never one to react to them. Now, I am able to see exactly why I don't respond to some media messages; because I am not the target psychographically or demographically. Mostly what these lessons did for me is draw lines to my younger brothers, who are media suckers that believe or play into large amounts of marketing and entertainment. For myself, I have noticed that the amount of media I consume is very high, but it usually doesn't make me go out and buy or do something. In an average day, I probably spend seven hours consuming media, my usual platforms being movies and television, social media, books, and the internet. I can't say that my own media consumption has had any changes in the past year, I simply consume more and more every day. The reason I haven't changed my media habits is because I don't see them as a problem since I am able to fit it all into my schedule, so if it ain't broke, don't fix it.
     However, it is important to be educated in media. If someone can't use the habits of a critical thinker when consuming, they can be susceptible to lots of messages that they can be mistaken about. These mistakes can cause someone to lose time, money, or other things. Therefore, an individual has to be able to distinguish the real meaning of a media message so they can react appropriately. My own ventures in media this year have caused me to more quickly and accurately notice when media might be trying to trick me. In total, media literacy is very important, and learning it this year will probably serve me very well in the future.
     This blog itself has been alright for me. Sometimes there are things I want to talk about but not necessarily write. Often it's hard to find something to write about that I am comfortable handing in for a grade. Thus being said, I still really liked the idea of media blogs and particularly enjoyed seeing what others thought about certain topics. I also liked that I had lots of creative space for most of the things I was allowed to write about. I enjoyed this project because it helped me increase my media literacy, discover new things, and be able to write about what I thought was interesting.