What Is Media?

I mean, in this day and age, I can see how media can get looped in with mass communication. I've taken this course before and after reading through the first chapter, I'm a little confused about exactly media/mass comm and what exactly their differences are. I thought they were the same thing, but apparently I was really very truly wrong. Which is okay. But now that I'm thinking about it and really trying to decide how I view media, I have to wonder what media truly is. What does it consist of? Why does it have to be different from mass communication? Aren't they using the same outlets to get to the public?

What's Your Poison?

It's the 21st century.Which means that in a few years, not having the internet will be a mortal sin, and people with flip phones will be the outcasts. So, I'm here to ask you, are you a media junkie? What type of media do you use the most? Why? There are so many ways for people to get in touch nowadays, it's hard to keep up. With things like Facebook, MySpace, Twitter (which I still dont' quite know what it is) you can talk to people in other towns, states, even countries like they were sitting right beside us. I experienced this when I got to video chat with a friend of mine who was living in Barcelona for 6 months. It's amazing how much we've accomplished in the last twenty years. Text messaging. It was amazing, but at the time not necessary. It was like, why would I type to someone I can just call? But now, in 2009 not having text messaging on your phone is unspeakable. Instant messaging. What is that? It blew me away the first time I heard about it. Now that it's available on phones, as well as e-mail, schedules, and all the jazz, even computers are becoming obsolete. The moment people can type a term paper on their blackberry's, Apple and Toshiba need to come up with something good or they are going to be in some serious trouble.

For me, text messaging is my weakness. I no longer feel the need to call people. It's not that I don't want to talk to people (well, most of the time) but sometimes it's just...easier. Literally, when it comes down to the time it makes no sense why text messaging is easier, but I don't know. Perhaps the jury is still out on that one. But, I mean, we live in the world of multi-tasking, and perhaps that may be what's wrong with the world. But, still, media rules our lives. There really is almost no way to avoid it. I mean, you'd have to be a Morman and believe technology is evil. Not that I'm dissing Mormons or anything. To each his own.

In the 21st century it's hard to pretend like these things don't exist. Whether you spend hours Facebooking or all day without calling a single person (but you've texted everyone in your contact list), media is ruling your life. Not that it's a bad thing. I mean, come on. I did write this blog.