Friday, October 1, 2010

What's in the Meatloaf, Mommy?

Life-long cannibal to pick apart the art of consumption

Picture this.
     You begin your day with an alarm clock radio, which blasts your brainwaves awake with drunken Ke$ha lyrics.
     You watch the Weather Channel while eating your cereal, then pick out a jacket because it's going to be cold; no, not that one, the newer one you bought on a whim through an Internet ad.
     You listen to your iPod while getting ready for school, then call the nearest cab company with your smart phone.
     You check Facebook while the cab driver listens to NPR.
     On campus, you manage your bills online before class.
     After classes, you eat lunch in the food court, noticing the music videos above you and their parallel sidebar advertisements. You text in a music video request.
     You go home and watch TV for a few hours, then your friend invites you to the theater to see a scary movie. You're bored of TV, so as your friend drives to your house, you watch YouTube videos and read Internet forums.
     A few forums suggest links to news articles, so you begin to read the news online.
     After the movie, you research the library database online and write a paper, using a works cited generator to easily create the bibliography page.
     You share your paper through multiple social networks with the click of the "Share" link.
     You end the day, perhaps dreaming of yourself walking down a lonely, dark corridor, sensing a murderous stranger's footsteps behind you as the soundtrack of your mind darkens in tone.
"Ipsos OTX Study: People Spend More Than Half Their Day Consuming Media"

     There's no denying it; we've turned the media into our five-layer food pyramid, most of us without a single thought of how it affects our moods, beliefs, prejudices, and personalities. This blog attempts to teach the art of consumption from the top of a broad, sloping hill--not only highlighting experts' theories, research, and studies but also providing examples, research, and content analyses of my own. You'll find these links in the top, left-hand corner.