My Media Habits

I use many forms of media throughout the day, including printed text such as books and online articles, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, The New York Times app, CNN, Reddit and more recently, blogs. When I have free time (and energy), I read books for pleasure and for extracurricular activities. While school is in session I am usually only able to bring myself to read what is assigned for my various classes, which is a good amount by itself. I use Facebook mostly to communicate with friends and post photos, but I also use it to keep up with friends' blogs and other pages that I've "liked." I visit Twitter several times a week either on the Twitter app on my iPhone or on the website. I follow many of my friends, politicians, several comedians and satire accounts, sports analysts and athletes, as well as several news outlets and magazines. I use Instagram to post pictures sporadically; I mostly use it to follow friends and "earth porn" accounts. I spend many hours a week in the campus dining hall, and when not conversing with friends or eating, my eyes are glued to the television tuned to CNN. I'm not very partial to CNN; I would much rather watch some other news source that reports less on Justin Bieber and more on actually important and pertinent issues. I check my New York Times app throughout the day for updates on world news headlines. I spend far too much time using Reddit when I could be making better use of my time, but occasionally I find and read news articles or op eds that appear on various "subreddits." I had never blogged until I got to college, and even until this semester my use of blogs was rare; I blog exclusively in accordance with course requirements. This semester I am using two blogs: one for Media & Politics in the Middle East & North Africa, and another for History of Modern Europe. For my history course I post one blog post each week and comment on several other people’s posts.