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You Are What You Eat - Emily’s Media Diet

Practicing good nutrition keeps your mind sharp, your body fit, and your life long. The same could be said for consuming media. The average American spends up to nine hours a day glued to some kind of screen, scrolling through some kind of media. They say, “You are what you eat.” But it turns out you are also what you watch, read, and listen to. The information we consume through radio, TV, books, and the internet can have a significant impact on our health. Perhaps we ought to be paying closer attention to our media-consumption habits.

I’d say my media consumption is a little more unique than the average American. I grew up in a big Irish Catholic family. Both my parents were born in Ireland and came to America in their teenage years. I am one of seven children. Having come to America for more opportunities, my parents always prioritized education. All seven of us attended private catholic school and were members of various different clubs and sports. However, our house only had one TV and my siblings and I did not get cellphones or laptops until we were at least sixteen. I used to have to use a payphone to call my mom and ask her to pick me up from practice. Our friends would have to call our house phone to reach us. Imagine friends of all seven of us calling our house day in and day out! I can still hear the faint ringing in my ears right now. Needless to say, I lived in a time warp.

Because I grew up sharing one TV with eight people, my media diet at the time lied in the hands of whomever had control of the remote – and that was rarely, if ever, me. Trying to pick a channel everyone agreed upon was always a challenge so we often settled on watching the news. I certainly learned a lot starting at a very young age but it was never my idea of entertainment. We did not have Netflix or Hulu either so, when my siblings and I finally got our hands on the remote, we’d cross our fingers that TV schedulers or On Demand would give us our fix.

How far I’ve come.

I only got my first cellphone at sixteen and my first laptop at eighteen so I was really late to the social media game. Up to this point, a majority of my socialization relied on phone calls and in-person interactions. I’ve now had a cellphone and laptop for about 3-5 years and I can honestly say I preferred life without them sometimes. I have certainly gotten sucked into the electronic life but not to the extent of what researchers call “the average American.”

My day begins quite typically. After silencing my alarm, I spend five minutes scrolling through social media and checking my email before dragging myself out of bed to begin my daily routine. Once I leave my apartment, headphones go in and the world goes out. Listening to my favorite tunes on my way to class relaxes my mind and puts me in a good mood to start the day. However, once class begins for the day, I rarely check my phone or social media. My parents have always poured so much into my education and I try to minimize anything that could compromise it. I also went to a catholic private school where phones were banned from class. Perhaps I still do it out of fear…

On the rare occasions when I am checking social media, you’ll find me on Snapchat. It was the first app I ever downloaded and I have been addicted since. Having grown up without electronics, my socialization relied mostly on face-to-face exchanges. That’s why I love this form of communication. Sending pictures and videos back and forth gives me the feeling that I am closer in proximity to that person than I actually am. It’s funny to think I had been in my friends’ snapchats for two years before I had a snapchat of my own.

Netflix has also been on the rise in my media consumption. My family has had an account for a while now but I could never find anything that really sparked my interest on it. On regular TV, I usually tune in to TLC and MTV for some reality TV. I wish all seasons of Catfish were on Netflix! I had always heard good things about “Friends” but never saw an episode until this semester. And, alas, I’m hooked. I watch it whenever I’m in the mood or have free time. It’s become my go-to show (as you can tell from the picture above).  

If I am what I watch, read, and listen to, I’d say I’m in fairly good shape. My media consumption is low but I prefer it that way. I never understood why my parents forbid us from having electronics at a young age but, now that I have them, I understand. I may not always be in touch with everything that is happening all around the world at every point in time but I am very in touch with what is happening around me. From gathering around a single TV with my six siblings to watch ABC Family’s 25 Days of Christmas to calling my Nana at our scheduled time every Friday at 3, I learned to value people. Media will be there but these people and these moments won’t.