My Relationship with Media

As a part of Generation Z, I've spent my life consuming more media than any previous generation. It's difficult for me to even describe my relationship with media, because at this point we just kind of live in media. So to describe my relationship with media, I'll start with the type of media that I spend the most time with: television. I consume a massive amount of television. I typically don't go a day without watching at least an episode of something. When I don't have time to watch TV, I make time. I don't just watch TV to pass the time or relax; it's a genuinely important thing in my life. Most of my time is spent rewatching my favorite shows on Netflix, like 30 Rock, Arrested Development, or It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. Sunday nights are usually reserved for HBO, but the shows vary depending on the season. For a while it was Big Little Lies then Crashing, now it's transitioning to Silicon Valley then Veep then Last Week Tonight. I'm writing this, for instance, on Sunday afternoon, so I can finish it before the season premiere of Silicon Valley. I also watch five or six shows on actual TV, including most of the late night shows, specifically excluding Fallon. I'm not concerned about how much TV I consume, because I genuinely consider most of the shows I watch art. The next most time-consuming type of media I consume is podcasts. I listen to a ton of podcasts. Some of them are short (under two hours), like Anna Farris is Unqualified, Beautiful Stories from Anonymous People, or the new Rookie podcast. Some of them are very long, like Gilmore Guys, who regularly record podcasts over three hours long. Their longest episode was about the series finale of Gilmore Girls, and it was over six hours long. Podcasts don't take up as much time as TV because I can listen to them anywhere. I listen to podcasts more often than music, but I still listen to music pretty often. I don't own any music, I use Spotify for everything. I don't play any video games, and I don't really listen to the radio unless my carpool has it on. Even then, I usually have my own podcast or music playing in my headphones. Social media is also very prevalent in my life. I use Instagram and Snapchat every day. I don't have Twitter because I know I would literally never put my phone down if I added another thing to the mix. Overall, I think I have a relatively average relationship with media for a person in my generation.