How I consume media

The wonderful story of Matthew Robson who became an overnight sensation when he penned How Teenagers Consume Media during his work experience at Morgan Stanley has inspired me to evaluate what media I consume and How I Consume Media.

Here are some bullet points, however I would like to write a fuller account of my media consumption at a later date.

Computers
• The vast majority of people I know own a laptop and these were purchased by parents when their children started university.
• I use mine daily, I would struggle to live without it!
• I do not fully utilise my laptop – mine is typically used for the internet, Microsoft Word and iTunes
• Some people have apple macs, although they remain the preserve of the self-proclaimed ‘creatives’ and ‘alternatives’ types.

TV
• I subscribe to Virgin and I mostly watch the BBC, Channel 4, sport, news and the Dave channel.
• iPlayer has transformed my viewing habits, I frequently do not watch the original broadcast, but know that I can catch up using iplayer.

BBC
• I’m happy to pay the TV license fee.
• The cost involved is relatively cheap when you consider the high quality service it provides.

Mobile
• My iphone is something else I could not live without.
• I previously stayed loyal to Nokia, but iphones have redefined mobiles.
• The iphone allows me to check my emails, listen to music, find my way around, browse the internet and the thousands of applications mean I can personalise my iphone in a way that other phones cannot.

MP3
• I have an ipod shuffle which I use for the gym and I use my iphone when travelling to work. I also owned one of the earlier ipod models.
• Most of my friends have owned an ipod of some description.
• Other friends have purchased other mp3, but on the whole have regretted not getting an ipod.

Books
• Despite my extensive internet usage, my reading habits remain unaffected and I always have a book on the go.
• I buy almost exclusively second hand books from amazon.

Radio
• I rarely listen to the radio as I have my itunes which I listen to.
• As a none-driver, I don’t have a car radio and this is where many of my peers listen to the radio or in the office at work.

Newspapers
• I don’t regularly read a hard copy newspaper, but I read the Times, Guardian and BBC websites as soon as I get into work and the Telegraph on my iPhone. In addition, I get email alerts from the Sun.
• Good quality news is available online for free and the actual idea of going to a news agent and buying a newspaper is alien to me.
• At work it is easy to listen or watch news as opposed to reading it.

Magazines
• I subscribe to the Economist and PR Week.
• I am willing to pay for detailed analysis or industry specific news, not generic everyday news that is widely reported for free.

Gaming
• I own an old PS2, I don’t game as such.
• The wii has transformed gaming amongst my peers. Nintendo have cracked it, by reducing the quality of graphics, but increasing game play and making it a game everyone can play, they have got rid of the geekiness element often associated with gaming.
• We now have a situation where many non-typical gamers, in particular women own consoles.

Internet
• Quite simply, I use the internet for everything, or at least it is the first point of call for everything e.g. banking, some shopping, job hunting, house hunting, holidays.
• I use it for simple everyday questions e.g. what time does the local supermarket shut?
• I use the Google search engine daily and my internet browser is Mozilla Firefox.

Social networking sites
• I used to be a massive user of Facebook, however most of my social networking time is spent on Twitter now.
• Although, I log on to Facebook daily, I rarely update my status.
• However, it is a great tool for keeping in touch with friends and generally my friends and I organise most of our social events using Facebook. One of the main benefits is that you do not need to remember people’s emails, just their name and what they look like!
• I use Twitter as a place to network, job hunt and promote my blog. I follow Chief Execs and local business leaders and get to know them and have found out about jobs this way.
• Linked In is the professional Facebook. It is a great site and I use it for networking, however I spend more time on Twitter and Facebook.
• I closed my Myspace and Bebo accounts years ago as they were for younger people.

Directories
• Google and Wikipedia are the first port of call for everything.
• Google in turn leads to company website and negative stories of the organisation.
• I have started to #hashtag organisations on Twitter.

Music
• I still buy the occasional CD from a shop or from itunes.
• My housemates and I have shared each others itunes using music rescue.

What is hot
• User generated content
• Free content
• Cool viral marketing ads

What is not
• Using Twitter to spam
• Slow broadband