Nice to meet you

I enjoyed your introductory posts, for those of you that did them. We've got an array of interests and specialities but it seems like most of you consume an array of mass media.

(And just a note, when we use the word "consume" or "consumption," we're not simply talking about the act of purchasing something, but about consumption in a larger sense. We mean the act of using something, the manner of receiving and interacting with media and other products. There doesn't even need to be an act of purchasing in order to consume many media texts.)

Some highlights from your posts:

• Andy identifies himself as a producer of media. He directs and edits a student TV show (Would love to know more about this!) and writes for The BC Observer.
• Chris ruminates on the future of 3-d movies. It's interesting how this retro-fad technology has made a new and improved comeback, but Chris questions whether it will stick around this time.

A number of you acknowledge how much TV you watch, or your dependence on other forms of media, while also questioning how much control you have over its presence in your life, or the messages you encounter. Others portray themselves as fairly casual media consumers, yet once you list everything you regularly consume, realize that the list is much longer than you thought it would be! This speaks to how media is woven into our everyday lives in such a way that we often don't notice it. It is like the air we breathe.

I love hearing about the experiences many of you have of other cultures, and difference in mass media from the U.S., and I hope we'll continue to hear about them. (Jen has lived in Egypt, Joakim in Denmark, Mi Seok from South Korea, among others.)

For those of you who have been in the U.S. your whole lives, it is also possible to notice how mass media's role changes depending on the social world you are inhabiting at a given time. A number of you note how mass media plays into college life- whether it means there is always a TV on somewhere in your dorm, or perhaps your media consumption shifts away from entertainment to more school-oriented purposes once you're on campus. Logan talks about having to go to the library if he wants to be able to get away from media bombardment and be able to focus. This is a good example of how we each have the opportunity to shape our own relationship to the media, and the tensions we often feel, not just with the messages themselves, but the sheer volume of them. It also shows how living on a campus like BC is its own, interesting microcosm of a social world. You're living in close quarters with a LOT of other people your age, you have a lot of media at your disposal 24/7. You also have many opportunities to be creative and productive. How is your experience of media while at school different from when you're away from school, in the "real world"? How is it influencing you?