The Media Diary

9:15am - Woke up naturally via boyfriend's internal clock.

9:35am - Some minor exposures to static product advertising on food/bathroom/household products during shower and breakfast. Reading a fiction novel over breakfast (the old fashioned way, although the Kindle remains on my wishlist). No TV, no music.

10:00am - Desktop computer - I open Facebook/Hotmail/Blackboard/Skype.

10:00am - Emails are from Facebook notifications, Abercrombie and Fitch, Bath and Body Works and Forever 21. All coupons and advertisements. I have no emails that need responding (fairly normal for me!).

10:10am - I checkout Youtube videos from links on Facebook feed. One is a cute cat (this is the internet after all) the other is a UK documentary about prison conditions in the US. I watch about 10 minutes of the latter before it's too depressing to continue. I respond to some personal Facebook emails.

10:15am - Someone is joking about how their Facebook ads changed to wedding planners when they changed their status to engaged. I rarely even 'see' my Facebook ads but after checking I see they are for local businesses.

10:25am - Skype with old friends quickly about plans for next week. In the background, while waiting for replies, I check Basenotes.net. The forums are boring today but lots of articles and advertising for perfumes on the front page. I don't click through to read any articles, nothing looks appealing to me.

10:35am - In PDF format, I go through the readings for week 1. I close other programs to assist in focusing. I find readings impossible to multi-task during, one of the only internet habits that I do alone and to the exclusion of all distractions.

11:35am - Online gaming. Warcraft, lots of chatter from online friends within the game. I tab out frequently to refresh Facebook and check game information on www.wowwiki.com. I respond to a few Facebook messages while playing.

2:00pm - Head to Ikea in the car. We listen to XM radio - 80's music I don't recognize. There aren't any advertisements. There aren't any billboards on the highway but there's plenty of cars plastered with company information.

2:20pm - Lots of Ikea advertisements! The catalogue and informational computers are full of brand advertising. We don't buy anything but take down some notes. There is generic muzak playing in the store, no lyrics and I don't recognize it.

3:45pm - Head to boyfriend's birthday party. XM radio in the car again, still no ads, 90's music that I don't recognize. This route has lots of exposure to advertisements - weight loss posters, websites for selling used goods, printer cartridges and car dealerships.

4:00pm - Restaurant with friends. Lots of advertising here. Beer ads on the menu, on the wall, on the glasses, at the bar, on the staff t-shirts. Strongbow, Guinness, Miller and Rickard's. Lots of friends order beer, no surprises there. I'm the driver, though. There is music playing in the restaurant but I can't hear it well enough to recognize it. Someone tells me it's actually the radio but it's so noisy I can't make it out.

6:00pm - We return home, same roadside advertising but it's dark now so there's nothing else to see.

6:20pm - Turn on the TV to watch the UFC and Strikeforce fights. Tons of advertising while watching the fights, on the fighters shorts, in the ring - but we have PVR'd the event so we fast forward the actual television commercials. We don't watch any TV advertising anymore, we record and fast forward *everything* (with extremely few exceptions!).

10:30pm - I check my email and Facebook again. I upload some pictures of the evening and tag friends on Facebook. I go back to read the forums at Basenotes, as well as checking the forums at Penny Arcade and Something Awful. I don't post anything, just absorb some information. I watch another linked YouTube video, a video game review for a 360 game.

11:30pm - We watch a movie on the X-box using Netflix.

1:00am - Return to bed!

Summary of media usage:

Video games: several hours per day. Mainly social multi-player scenarios.

News: I paid almost no attention to the news. I'm pretty bad for that, if it's not in my email or someone posting it on Facebook I usually don't see the news at all.

Television: several hours per day for me, mainly commercial free but hardly free from advertising, as they have started to use product placement within shows to make up for PVR technology and increase exposure, I suppose.

Internet: I use the internet a lot, 10+ hours on some days. This was a low-usage day with short check-ins at regularly-used websites. I take more information than I post back to the internet. I use the internet for social interaction (Skype/Facebook) rather than the telephone.

Phone: You'll notice the lack of phone-interaction I have. I don't like talking on the phone and since I don't have a smartphone, nobody bothers to text or message me. I did not even look at my phone that day.

Music/Radio: Several hours of music exposure during the day, but none by personal choice. I am not very good with music, I don't notice it much and I don't know many songs well. I do enjoy listening to my favourite music but just didn't get around to it on a regular day.

Static print advertising: I am excellent at tuning out and ignoring this material, to extremes. However, when my attention is drawn to something (like through doing this assignment or through the mention on Facebook of their ads) I find plenty of exposure in my daily life.

Movies: I watch movies through Netflix (primarily on the XBox) and through a healthy DVD collection. Don't usually go to the cinema.