How My Use of the Media has Affected Me

Jordan Panasewicz
Media Literacy
Stacey Sotosky
Media Use/Effect Paper

The everlasting question among psychologists is that of nature or nurture. Whether a person acts how they do because of nature (genetics), or because of nurture (their surroundings). Although genetics can affect the behaviors of people, it is mostly ones surroundings such as their parents, peers, and the media, that affects the ways they act. The media has had very large effects on everyone, including myself. The effects the media has on people is different for everyone, even throughout their own life the ways people use and see the media is always changing.
Ever since I can remember my use of the media has constantly been changing, which is in return constantly changing me as a person. In Pre-school my use of the media was much different than it is now. Still not computer-literate, I relied mostly on watching TV after school. My brain turned to mush as I sat in front of the TV for hours watching “educational” children shows such as Thomas the Engine, Barney and Friends, Sesame Street, and my personal favorite: The Magic School Bus. My favorite time of the show was when the commercials came on. The flashiest new toys emphasized with loud crashing noises and bright colors caught my attention more than Big Bird singing the alphabet ever could. Every commercial was for an awesome toy car or a new game that looked awesome to me at the time. Every once in a while I would convince my mom for a trip to Toys-R-Us to pick up a couple of the newest toys. Of all the toys in the commercials and in the store I would pick my favorites, and a couple hours to a couple weeks later I would realize that the toy was a complete waste. This was a real lesson in life: you’re not always getting what you think you’re getting.
Through elementary school I started to become a smarter shopper, or so I thought. When Christmas would come around I would watch TV with a pencil and paper and write down a list of all the toys that looked good. I would then get on my parents computer, new with Windows ’98, and try to look up the toys and see how they really looked. I would spend hours of research and thought creating the perfect Christmas list for myself. Unfortunately, some of even the best looking toys came as a disappointment. I remember one toy car track I got for Christmas: my parents help me set it up (which took all to long for the ‘easy set up’ it had advertised for). I then cranked up the little plastic car, put it on the track consisting of 2 turns, a loop-de-loop, and a jump, and let the car rip. It cruised around the first turn, started up the loop-de-loop, and then shot off the track. “Aww too much speed,” I thought to myself, so I tried again cranking it a little less this time. It went around the first turn, barely made it around the loop-de-loop, and slowly came to a stop at the top of the jump. After about an hour of trying over and over I had only gotten the car to successfully complete the jump once. Frustrated and bored I never used the track again.
It was one of the first days of middle school that my current choice of music started to take shape. I was walking home from school about a block away from my house, and my neighbor (who was just entering high school) was walking home from the bus stop. I don’t exactly remember what happened but he stumbled across a cassette tape with the words ‘Nas Illmatic’ on it. At first he threw it at me because he thought it was junk. But after my curiousity led the tape to my boom box and listening through the whole cassette I showed my neighbor what he was missing out on. We were both instantly hooked. I had never heard of the artist or even much of the genre, but even as a 12 year old boy, this one tape I liked influenced the music I listen to through today, hip hop.
It wasn’t until high school that my use of media really started to change. Instead of paying close attention to the commercials, I would just Tivo through them. Instead of using the computer to research toys, I was using it to research history. In my junior year I created a myspace, which is actually how I first talked to the girlfriend I had throughout most of my senior year. I still continued to watch quite a few TV shows, but I also started to play a lot more video games. The video game that influenced me most was SSX Tricky. Although it was extremely unrealistic and didn’t have the best graphics, I loved the concept of snowboarding, and hated skiing at the time, so I wanted to switch to snowboarding. After starting to snowboard I loved it, and have improved my skills a lot. Last year my friend showed me a skiing movie, which made me want to switch back to skiing. I now do both, because of the media and the ways it influenced me.
In college, I have to provide for myself, and don’t have a TV, so I don’t watch many TV shows or movies, or see many commercials. When I am on my computer it is strictly to do homework or check up on my facebook. The media source that influences me the most is posters and pictures I see at the ski resorts. New technology or styles portrayed in attractive photographic ways make me want to buy new gear. The picture of the hamburger and French fries influences me to pay 16 dollars for lunch. Pictures of the sickest pro in waste deep powder make me want to go ski Whistler in Canada. All of these sources of the media have affected me in such different ways, and have helped to make me who I am today.





http://www.sesamestreet.org/home
http://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/s/ssxtricky/default.htm
http://www.defjam.com/site/artist_home.php?artist_id=608