Sydney Paulson's Media Blog

This week went by WAY too fast. Last week I was looking forward to a relaxing week to sleep in, workout, get ahead on homework, and watch some Christmas movies. Instead, I ended up working every day but Thanksgiving (I work at Madewell and well, retail this time of year keeps you busy). Working 6-9 hours a day and trying to fit in all of the Thanksgiving festivities didn't leave me with much free time. Along with that, I didn't have much time (or energy) to scroll on my phone or watch movies. I just checked my screen time and it is down 33% from last week which I thought was very interesting. This week I have three final papers to write on top of my regular homework, so to say I will be busy next week seems like an understatement. I'm tired just thinking about this upcoming week, and I'm honestly hoping I have time to scroll on Instagram and give myself a homework break.  

I have been busier than normal with school and work this week and haven't had a lot of time to engage with media. While I wish I had some free time to scroll on my phone, it has been a nice (forced) break from social media for me. Actually, break isn't the right word. I have still scrolled social media every day, I've just spent less time doing it than I typically do. My days have been packed full, so I have been scrolling on social media at night before I fall asleep. I know a lot of people go down a rabbit hole and end up scrolling for three hours in bed, but I honestly get tired and bored after 15-20 minutes. I am excited to have a break from school next week and have more free time, even though a lot of my "free" time will be spent working on final papers and projects :/ But I will have some extra time to watch a movie here and there and take a break from my normal schedule!

 My TikTok feed this week has been full of three things: political videos and memes, Taylor Swift (conspiracies, concert outfits, etc.), and workout ideas. I started to think about how random these three categories are, but I engage with all of them. I follow a couple different workout influencers, but I don't usually have as many workout videos as I have had this week. Today I decided to do one of the stair stepper workouts I saw on TikTok and let me tell you it was HARD. It was a really good opportunity for me to change up my regular workout routine and try something new. Like all things, I think media can be good in moderation. For example, it helps me stay connected with my sisters and my friends, gives me a needed break from homework, and helps me branch out and try new recipes, workouts, etc. It is important to regulate our media use so it does not take over our lives, but I do think the media has a lot of good qualities that should not be overlooked. 

 I'm writing this while watching the BYU Utah game and honestly, right now I'm thinking about how distracting media can be. It is easy to choose media (tv shows, movies, TikTok, etc) over our responsibilities. On an unrelated note, this week I watched The Intouchables for my international cinema paper due next week. While trying to find a movie to watch, I discovered how many international cinemas are rated R. It feels like majority of international movies are R, and I don't feel the same way about movies in the US. Maybe it was just what I searched or the movies I was looking at, but it was a very common theme I noticed. 

 I went to Taylor Swift last weekend, and this week was ROUGH trying to find motivation to get all of my homework and schoolwork done. I found myself taking a lot of breaks to scroll social media and text my friends. While these things are not inherently bad, they led me to push off two writing assignments until today, and they're due at midnight...lucky me. Next week I want to be more productive with my homework and get everything done by Friday afternoon so I can enjoy the weekend.