Social Uses/Implications of Technology and Media

My life is constantly being mediated by technology: by my cell phone, my iPod, the radio and the internet. For my Media Autobiography a couple weeks ago, I chose to focus on the Internet because I believe that it is the one form of technology that impacts my life the most. So, for this blog post, I believe it is only natural for me to write about my laptop, because it is the form of technology that mediates my behaviour and my environment the most. I think the best way to demonstrate this is to take you through a typical day in my life:

I wake up to the sound of my alarm going off. I don’t actually own an alarm clock, because the one I had broke about a year ago. So I set an alarm on my laptop each morning and that wakes me up by playing one of the songs in my iTunes library. I then check my e-mail – both my personal e-mail, then my Guelph-Humber e-mail – which is usually accompanied by a quick Facebook check to see if anything new has been posted. Then I have a shower and start getting ready for school. Of course, I need to know what I should wear, so I go back online to check the weather. Then I get dressed and have breakfast. I also use the internet to monitor my diet, so I have to go back online and log whatever food I just ate.

So now I am ready to go to school, and I always bring my laptop with me. I use it to take notes in class because it is so much faster and easier than trying to write by hand. Plus, between taking notes, I can work on some other homework – or I can check back in with Facebook to see if any updates have been made. Then I go home, and I am sure to log on to MSN to chat with my friends. Of course, I check my e-mail again and maybe do a little online browsing for clothes. I also use my laptop to do my homework, whether I am writing or researching a project. Then it’s off to work for the evening and I have to leave my laptop at home just in case it were to get lost or stolen. Perhaps, if no one’s around, I will go up to the office on my break and use the desktop computer to check my e-mail again.

Then, when I get home from work, I’ll finish up whatever I was doing earlier and set my alarm for the next morning. Then I’ll put my laptop into sleep mode, and I’ll retire for the night... only to pick it up again in the morning and start all over again.

I don’t know exactly how many times a day I use my laptop, or for how long I use it, but we can see that it’s definitely a big number. My life is constantly being mediated by my laptop, both at school and at home. Even when I’m busy serving customers at the grocery store that I work at, I am still thinking about getting online and checking my e-mail to see if I’ve received anything new.

I think that my laptop is constantly mediating my life and, therefore, is playing a big part in shaping my life. I feel like I constantly need to be able to get on the internet, or access the functions that are on my laptop. I feel like I can’t really take notes in class without it because I write too slowly. I can’t really plan my outfits without checking the weather online to see what would be appropriate to wear.