Media Consumption & The Past Essay

1. When it comes to my media usage on an everyday basis, I would say that music and
entertainment are what I spent most of my time with besides schoolwork. When I look back in
time I understand where this all comes from. I grew up listening to all types of genres; I would
wake up listening to Pink Floyd and go to bed with Bob Marley on the background. Music has
always been part of my life and now it is automatic, I listen to music when I’m driving, at home,
during breaks…literally all the time. For the entertainment part, I would narrow down to film and
theater. I developed a passion for those two when I was 13 years old watching many films and it
has become part of my life; I try to watch a movie or TV show episode every day and go to see play
whenever it is possible.
Under music and entertainment, on my everyday basis, is social media. I have concluded
that Instagram is more appealing to out of all the other platforms because of its content since I
am very interested in photography and videos as an entertainment source. For that reason, I am
on Instagram every day for at least one-hour learning about different countries, people, the
environment, the entertainment industry and more through photos and cool videos. Finally, there
is News which I use mainly to understand what has been going on around the world and keep
updated on important information. I usually watch on TV or read the newspaper, but I have been
trying to use Google Home as another way to get information from. I wouldn’t consider
schoolwork as a media usage since I do a lot on writing. However, I do spend some time on the
internet doing research for a couple of my assignments and project throughout classes.
When thinking of how this influences my perception of what is significant and trendy in my
industry, Instagram posts and ads play a big part. It is in the name “Influencers”, they influence
people through their posts, outfit choices, beauty products, ads, travels…everything. What is
interesting to me is that, no matter what an artist or celebrity posts or advertises, there will always
be someone interested enough to buy the product or act more like them. According to Elkins, H.:
“Social media has been a major factor recently in driving product sales. That is in large part because
social media can provide curated glimpses into the daily lives of celebrities.”
The outlet I use the most each day or week is definitely music and entertainment through
apps like Spotify, Apple Music, and Netflix. Song lyrics and movie scenes strongly influence my
perception of the world and people. I often get the message of what is wrong, the way we treat
each other, to love more and be kind to one another. However, I don’t really see existing
stereotypes in those media platforms since I listen to all sorts of music and watch many different
movies. On the other hand, I understand that platforms like Spotify and Netflix are very effective
in advertising and reaching newer generations, which is essential for my industry. According to
Somespotify, “The average millennial that uses Spotify spends 143 minutes per day streaming
music on the platform. One of the reasons Spotify has been successful amongst millennials is
because of the social media elements that have been added to the platform. For example, you can
add friends on Spotify, create playlists, share playlists with friends, and follow other peoples’
playlists.”

2. Citations
Elkins, H. (2019, March 29). The Effect of Celebrities in Advertisements. Retrieved from
https://smallbusiness.chron.com/effect-celebrities-advertisements-56821.html.
Somespotify. (2018, May 6). Spotify Target Audience: Millenials. Retrieved from
https://somespotify.wordpress.com/2018/03/08/spotify-target-audience-millenials/.