After logging my digital consumption of the past week and plotting it in the above pie chart, nothing surprised me in the way the various categories were distributed, as I am fairly conscious of how I spend my time. Looking back on my log though, one thing I would change if I were to document my digital consumption again would be to have two pie charts; one exclusively for computer usage and the other exclusively for mobile usage such as cell phone and iPod. The reason behind this is that what this chart doesn’t adequately demonstrate is the relationship between these two categories; more static devices such as a computer/TV compared to mobile devices such as a cell phone/iPod. As Craig Watkins states in The Young and the Digital:
“We have evolved from a culture of instant gratification to one of constant gratification… the social- and mobile-media lifestyle represents a new cultural ethos and a profound shift in how we consume media- in smaller and steadier portions and on smaller and more mobile screens. (Watkins 160)”
There are several interesting things about this quote and how it relates to my digital consumption log. Watkins mentions our cultural transition from instant gratification to constant gratification, an idea that is directly related to and facilitated by the current trend of ‘going mobile’-whether it’s through a cell phone, gps, tablet (iPad), mp3 player, etc. Making these technologies mobile gives us information, entertainment, and communication at our fingertips whether we’re walking through campus on the way to class or hiking through the woods hunting elk. Thinking about this in relation to my pie chart made me realize how much time I spend on my cell phone, not only texting or talking but also surfing the internet, checking my email, playing games, listening to music, watching YouTube videos… the list goes on. Because I can do these things anywhere… sitting in class or on the toilet, I find that I am constantly filling my down time between activities with digital consumption… checking my facebook, playing a quick round of ‘Angry Birds’, texting a friend. Because these frequent acts of digital consumption come in small “bites”, usually a few minutes at a time, I didn’t attribute them to contributing much to my overall digital technology use. Only after taking a step back and looking at the bigger picture through documenting my digital consumption as a whole did it become more apparent how this idea of “constant gratification” comes into play. If I had initially broken my log into static and mobile, it would have clearly illustrated how much I utilize the mobile side of the spectrum. Studies have shown that “mobile devices are becoming increasingly more popular with children. Four of the top five electronic devices owned by children are mobile platforms.” The constant availability of digital consumption through mobile devices is essentially what enables the constant gratification that Watkins speaks of, and is not a development that should be overlooked when considering how mobile technology affects us both socially and mentally as we continue this trend of increased multitasking and consuming digital “bites”.
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