Final Reflection

    Throughout this unit we have been focusing very closely on a number of things involving Media. And using these blogs has really helped me focus on each aspect of what we have been learning or trying to focus on. One of these things is realizing how much media we consume everyday and what we can do to change our bad habits involving it. Another is how our perception of media has changed now that we are aware of how it effects us. Also on how we benefit from Media literacy and how these blogs helped us to focus on each one of these aspects.
    When I first started writing I wrote on how much media I see and how it effects me. Up until writing that first blog entry I never really understood just how much media I took in. Everyday I would be on my phone in between periods and right after school. I would take breaks during homework and be immediately drawn towards my phone. I also came home and watched a ton of TV before starting my homework. I realized I spent hours on media everyday and it was rarely ever productive. Because of that I try and have my phone away from me most of the time at school with the exception of lunch time. And realizing that it was distracting me from my homework, a lot of the time I turn it off when I start. I have also stopped watching TV during the week and only watch it on the weekends. I will admit I still spend a lot of time using media during the week, but after realizing just how much, I have been able to improve and find different ways to cut back on it.
    My perception of media has also changed drastically. I realize just how little I need it. I still rely on my phone to do things like call friends for homework help but I never really saw that my need to be on Instagram was so dumb. Also not watching TV during the week has also had no effect on me. I thought I would miss it but it has actually given me more time to do homework and I was always stressed about all the work I had to do and I could barely focus on the show I was watching at that moment. Overall I have realized that I really don't need things like social media as much as I thought I did.
     Although media can seem like something useless that distracts us from homework it can be a very good thing. For one this is a form of media and just by typing my thoughts out on here it has helped me to realize all these thing about media. And we use it for many other things and class and for ways to learn. I wrote my entire term paper for history this semester using only sources from the internet. And I use Duolingo (an online website to learn Spanish) in my Spanish class to help me go over what I've been learning and to speed up the learning process. Also for people like my parents they have been able to reconnect with people from their past who they thought they would never hear from again. So it helps for people to connect especially if you live far fro each other. We are also able to become educated about the world around us through things like the news. So even though there are bad things when it comes to media, it can also be very useful and educational.
    All in all these blogs have been a huge help. They have opened up my mind to all the different aspects of media. And have helped me to learn that social media isn't the most important thing in the world. Because of these I have gained a whole new perspective.