Analyzing and designing my model of media content creation and critical consumption

Media is a great tool to share, interconnect, relate, create, collaborate, reach anywhere.

It offers us a multitude of options to complement, develop, affirm or modify ourselves.

In the following section, we are not going to surf the net but browse inside ourselves, to find out who we are in the media.

Who I am in media: Rediscovering my profile

This morning, you woke up, you may have got up early to start your activities, routine s , duties, you have had breakfast and you may have had a shower and brushed your teeth.

Have you seen anything on TV, YouTube, listened to the radio, read any news, some texts, maybe an email, a post on social media. Have you created and shared some content? Have you “liked” someone else's posts?

Looking at it this way, it seems stressful and even exhausting, but it is not, as all the above is very much part of your daily routine. It might have been done in a different order and spent a different amount of time for each task and sometimes we will struggle to find the time even if we are in a hurry. Every moment in time is important and we use it as best as we can.  

And you? Have you followed a similar routine this morning?

Maybe the first thing you did this morning when you woke up, is to ask yourself something similar to:

How am I today? What is going on inside me now? 

As you reach for a deep personal connection, you become aware of your body, your emotions, what you believe and what you create.

Maybe, instead of looking at your reflection in a mirror, you have looked into yourself, giving yourself the necessary time of self-connection.

The connection with the outside world is automatic, instinctive, ritualistic and in many cases compulsory. However, the relationship with ourselves, though also automatic, instinctive, also ritualistic, is not socially and culturally obligatory at least at present.

It is important to know who I am, in essence, in relation to and in context when it comes to understanding what my profile is as a person and to have the "assurance" that my profile in the media is an extension of who I am .

Do you look at content in the media that you would not admit to? Even though others might not know, that's part of you.

Do you follow content in media you do not subscribe to, so as not be listed as an "official follower"? That's part of you.

Do you gossip about people's profiles who are not in your contacts / friend list, with the utmost care not to click or be noticed? That's part of you.

One thing is certain, our profile in the media, consciously or not, is part of who we are.

What are my needs, aims and roles?

All people have goals and needs, and we try to reach and fulfil them all the time. The way we try and what we do to reach them define who we are.

Furthermore, by analyzing what you really need, what defines you and your purpose in life, you will know if the media you consume really covers your own personal needs. You will know whether media are actually helping and supporting you to be who you really are and who you want to be (no matter what you decide, as long as it is your choice) or if, on the contrary, through the inertia in which we all live, especially at media consumption level, we become permeable receptors of any content. 

The key element here is that this should be "our choice", and it is important to be aware that our needs, objectives, and purposes - who we really are - can be diluted by a click, a like, a post, a tag , a plug-in and in so many cookies that create indigestion.

If we can understand clearly what our media needs -our real needs- are, we would be able to access content with the same vibe. And also be able to detect what type of reaction, responses, roles and positions we really want to have in media.

Source: Image by ElisaRiva on Pixabay  https://pixabay.com/es/users/elisariva-1348268/

What is my consumption?

The media contents we consume meets our demands, whatever they may be: situational (such as being able to entertain us on a journey) or structural (as part of my personal, professional goals ...).

On the other hand, our consumption of media contents creates and maintains the supply and demand model, communicative trends, strategies and ideologies.

As we know, our consumption of media affects our personal worldview but also the collective worldview about issues, facts, contexts, situations, etc at a dizzying speed. 

This will continue to occur as an interconnected process. The key question is:

Who decides my consumption, creation or reactions when it comes to media?

Sometimes we consume media intentionally by consciously responding to a specific objective. Other times we jump from one content to another, and we do not have enough time to verify the veracity of the contents or do not remember what our initial goals were or what we really need.

Meanwhile, all this information we -consciously or by inertia- consume such as images, ads, text, podcasts, tv shows, even music…, will modify our thought processes, our opinions, feelings, moods and even behavior, and ultimately even our decisions.

So, the question is whether conscious media consumption is either an impossibility or a very complex process.

Where are my limits?

As we know there is a lot of information available in different types of formats. Content can be created by anyone and through this content they can influence others.

This is a large-scale form of communication that still surprises people even though for young people (digital natives) it is a normalized part of their life. A large-scale analysis of this phenomenon would be more complex. But on a small scale you could say it depends on us.

Do you remember any media content which has in any way infringed upon the privacy, intimacy or integrity of any person, and even knowing this, you have accessed, consulted, shared, or created the content?

It is not about analyzing these questions in terms of good or bad, positive or negative. It's about choice. Choice means to be aware of who we are and who we want to be, without getting carried away by inertia or by curiosity or by the easy media offerings such as supposed anonymity. 

How is the media affecting or transforming me? 

The way we consume, access information, create content, form opinions and create trends has been influenced by media. The power of media is immense, as are the opportunities that are created through it.

Media can also transform us, bit by bit and at different times in our lives depending on  context, culture and geographical area.

By asking ourselves the questions below everyone can analyse how we have been transformed by our increased use and more widespread access to media. 

Do we relate to people in the same way as before? Do we establish or configure relationships in the same way?

Do we text rather than talk with friends and family?

Do we access information in media -like how-to-videos or websites in order to gain particular knowledge- which otherwise would have been inaccessible?

Do we have the same reading ability, or has it been adapted to a certain number of characters?

What aspects of your private life would you have shown to the general public or on social media 20 or 25 years ago?

Do we have more or fewer opportunities today? Do we have access to the same resources?

People who have grown with the expansion of media:

How would they react today if they had the same level of media development as 15-20 years ago?

How would their relationships and communication skills be?

How would they access information?

Would they win or lose opportunities? Would they have more or fewer personal resources?

Media permeates our life and it is impossible to avoid it. There are many future trends, theories and projections when considering the future development of media created interconnections and interrelations ... . And as always, many possible realistic versions ...

If you have a chance, watch Episode 1, “Nosedive” of season 3 of the "Black Mirror" Series produced by Netflix.

 
BLACK Mirror, Nosedive Cafe Scene  https://youtu.be/oLc2E4P87QE

If you cannot or don't have access to this series, you can view this 14-minute analysis. Alert: contains spoilers! 

BLACK Mirror, Nosedive Cafe Scene  https://youtu.be/oLc2E4P87QE  To enable subtitles in your language use the setting button!

You may have been able to identify yourself with the main character or other people in the video and/or found some similarity with your life.

This is a clear dystopia, but the question could be whether our consumption and creation of media content could lead, perhaps step by step, to a society like the one shown in the episode. Of course, media affects us, therefore one of the key things may be to know how it affects us and, in particular, how it is transforming each one of us.

Our contribution ...!

Image by ElisaRiva, Pixabay  https://pixabay.com/es/users/elisariva-1348268/

The main objective of this unit has been to address self-analysis of our profile in media.

This analysis can be done individually by each person or as part of a general activity or discussion. 

This can be  complicated for  people, due to the complexities of day-to-day life. The events that we face and the contexts within which we interact, make it difficult to avoid inertia, particularly when it comes to media, where momentum and "the facility to participate in something or consume content" are guaranteed.

To end the work in this unit, and considering all the analyses, reflections and conclusions that have been drawn so far, the following questions should be looked at:  

Who I am?

Who am I in the media?

Image by ElisaRiva on Pixabay  https://pixabay.com/es/users/elisariva-1348268/