How I Consume Media Vs. How I Used to When I Was a Little Punk

*This week’s blog post is an assignment for my Public Relations class. Enjoy!

I watch far too much TV. I haven’t watched TV in months.

Both of these statements are true. How? Because Netflix. That’s how. The media, and how I consume it, has changed so drastically since I was a shaggy-haired virgin, I don’t know where to start!

But let’s explore the topic and see where it takes us… ‘cause this thing has to be posted by 5 o’clock.

The Internets — Back in my day, we called it “the web!”

It’s changed everything. The fact that you’re reading my blog means that you already know this. But remember back to when it was slow, bland, and hard to use?

My first reaction to the Internet was, “Who cares? It’s just a lot of reading. I do enough of that at school!” Early websites looked awful. The text was small and hard to read with patterned backgrounds and poor quality photos — if there were photos at all.

Eventually, that turned into, “Hey Mom! Get off the phone! I want to use the Internet!” Slowly, as I got into my teens, content on the Internet took a big leap forward. Suddenly, I could listen to any song for free, watch any movie for free, and discover all sorts of things a young impressionable mind should never ever see. So thank you, Internet, for giving me Linkin Park’s Hybrid Theory in exchange for my innocence.

Social Media — Back in my day, Facebook was called the phonebook!

I don’t know my own girlfriend’s number and I’ve been dating her for well over a year. I thought about this the other day when my phone died. Can I look her up in the phonebook? Of course not.

Remember the days when you would talk on the phone with your significant other instead of getting vague text messages and wondering what kind of emotions are behind them? It was a simpler time, no doubt.

But now we get to keep in touch with hundreds of people (if you’re so inclined) and share our thoughts, feelings, and drunken photos at the click of a button! Sexting is a thing now! Your mom isn’t going to pick up the phone and hear your conversation anymore! You’ll never lose touch with anyone unless you want to… or if they don’t have Facebook.

And it’s so much more than that. You can personalize your newsfeed, follow celebrities, broadcast yourself (like I’m doing right now). It’s thebomb.com as my girlfriend would say.

Movies & Television — Back in my day, Netflix sent you DVDs in the mail!

Remember those? When was the last time you put a DVD in a DVD player? When was the last time you used a VHS? Remember having to rewind them (if you were kind) before returning them to Blockbuster? I remember the extra-thick copy of Titanic and how far I had to fast-forward to get to the… ahhh… good parts.

Fast forward to last year and I remember getting my laptop. I was so surprised by the fact that there’s no CD drive. I was like, “Hey! How am I going to play my DVDs or rip my CDs!?” And then I remembered that it was 2014.

If it isn’t on Netflix, it’s on Popcorn Time (so good!), and if it isn’t there, someone out there is hosting it illegally. I guarantee it.

Is it a good thing? It’s convenient — not to mention cheap. It’s easier to find an audience for your content but much harder to get paid to produce it.

So there you have it. Media!

... In 5 years, we’ll all be playing videogames on Twitch and asking our fans for donations.