Isabelle's Creighton Blog!

To Connect or to Disconnect?

Is it only me or does anyone else feel like they are missing something if they don’t have their phone in either their hand or in their pocket? I personally don’t believe this means anything bad and that it just means that cellphones are just a daily part of many people’s lives in today’s society. We use them for so many things, to check our e-mails, texts, social media, google, pictures, videos, games, alarms, calendars, the list can go on and on. The only issue with this for me is that I almost feel as though I am lost if I don’t have my phone with me.

The acronym FOMO which stands for (Fear Of Missing Out), is a great explanation of what I feel happens to me when I am constantly checking my social media and looking at peoples Snapchat or Instagram posts. I look at it so much that I see everything that I think I might be missing. What ends up happening is that I am so busy looking at everything I could or wish I was doing instead of actually being in the moment and doing those things. Then I’ll look back with regret and feel like I ended up wasting my time by looking at people making memories instead of creating my own.

A great example of me being connected when I should have disconnected from my phone for a bit is when I have been at a concert and I am so busy trying to take videos and pictures of them performing that I end up basically missing half the concert. Instead of being in the moment creating memories of a fun time at a concert, I end up with some crummy quality videos and blurry pics of the artist. I have noticed that more and more as I have gotten older and I try to stop myself when I realize I should be enjoying the concert in person. I mean after all that is what I paid for, right? I could look up a video of them singing on YouTube anytime I want.

I am not saying taking any videos or pictures on your phone for a memory is bad at all but what I am saying is that there can be a happy medium for all of this. It is okay to be on your phone and check social media and take pictures and videos but just in moderation. When I go to a concert now I take a few pictures for memories and a video or two but then I set my phone down and enjoy the experience. I look back at so many times that I could have been enjoying an experience and creating memories when instead I was a little too busy with paying attention to things happening on my screen.

So next time you’re on your phone or whatever device it may be, scrolling through a feed, stop and think am I missing out on making my own memories in life?

Class, Media, Me.

Hi you guys! My name is Isabelle de la Vega! I am from Omaha, Nebraska and go to Creighton University. I plan to double major in graphic design and advertising. I decided to take JRM215 because it will definitely help me build the basic knowledge that I will need to have for advertising.

I don’t have any experience with publishing media professionally but as a college student I do have many social media platforms that I use and post on. I use social media apps such as Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, Visco, and Facebook. Most of the news I see does come from these social media platforms. I don’t watch T.V. channels much anymore so I’m never really watching a news station. I do keep up to date on news though by reading many news articles on apps such as the News app on my phone or on other social media platforms.

I would say I, like many other people in today’s society, am on my phone quite a bit. I enjoy using it to keep up with events and news happening around the world, seeing or talking to friends and family, and lastly to post about the important events that happen in my life. I do prefer my phone to the computer a hundred and one percent. I feel like I always seem to have issues with computers and I am able to carry my phone with me anywhere and everywhere I go, making it very accessible compared to a laptop. I do not have much experience with programming at all. I do know the very basics about computers but that is the extent of my knowledge with computers. I am taking a computer science class and some graphic design classes that I am hoping will make me much more knowledgeable with programming and computers in general.

Media, as many of us know can be an amazing and exciting world but it can also be (pardon my French) a living a hell. Something that really bothers me in news media is how negative it is. I feel like every time I watch a news report it’s about something negative. I understand there is a lot of important things that might be sad and upsetting going on in the world but I also know there is plenty of good that can also be shared. Politics are another huge thing that is almost always negative anymore in news media. It makes me not want to check any media when all I see is people yelling at each other about politics. I think that the news media and journalist are really good at catching your attention. I know when I see a heading that even sounds a little bit interesting I will start to read the article. The problem with the heading being so eye catching they also seem to misleading once you start to read the article or see the news.

Some concerns that I have with the world being so immersed in media and technology is the affects it has on people’s outlook on life. Sometimes it’s hard for people to be able to tell the difference between the real world and “social media world views”. Many people in today’s society feel so much pressure to make their lives look amazing online when in reality it may not always be that way. I think this causes many people to develop unhealthy mental issues that might not otherwise be there if it weren’t for the media. While media can have some negative sides to it, it can also have many positives in my eyes. I am able to connect with anyone I want to connect with in matters of seconds and a few taps on my phone. I love being able to share exciting things that happen in my life or sharing stuff that I find important. Being in college means not seeing my family as much but with media I am able to update them with things that are happening in my life and I find that pretty amazing.

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