My Relationship with Media!

My relationship with media is very dependent on which sector is being discussed. I grew up wanting nothing to do with the media- I never wanted to get Instagram or Snapchat. As I grew older, I realized how much the media controls our lives and shapes who we are as a person. Not only does it put us out there to the world, but the media also shapes how we view ourselves. My mom, for her job, has always been required to keep a strong media presence. When I was younger, I remember scrolling through some youtube comments on my mom's page that made me want to distance myself from social media even more- some users said some interesting things about her. She has always said that it's just part of the job and you have to ignore these things- but how can you ignore the hateful and gross comments that people leave? The media shaped my view on several people that day, and it has continued to do so. The notion that we can distance ourselves from the media completely has always been false to me. The media is everywhere- somewhere, you are a statistic that an advertising company has analyzed, which goes in to the making of a product/ ad. There is no way to escape the media, and my relationship with the media has revolved around that. While I generally dislike it, there is no way to escape it. Personally, I believe that media objectifies everyone, no matter if you claim you are on it or not, and it profiles us. We become profiles online to anyone's disposal, whether you have a public or private account. As previously stated, we are a statistic somewhere. We are profiled into this statistic. I do think that the media has some positive qualities to it, though. The media has connected me with my family that lives on the other side of the country. Before I had access to social media, I couldn't easily contact any of my family (besides my parents and siblings) without texting them on Snapchat or Instagram. I am so grateful for that communication that social media has given me- I have gotten to know my family so much better because of it. Social media is a tricky subject for me because of that, while I do love it I also hate it. Social media is uncensored, which is good and bad. People can easily bully/ harass each other on social media, (e.g. my mom on youtube), but people can also be uplifted and connected on social media. I am truly torn in the context of social media. However, I don't love the media in general- things can be manipulated so easily. We all have a lot to work on to make the media more accessible, safer, and factual for all of us. To add on to the idea about self-image, there is a lot of qualities I associate with myself that I obtain from the media. I can relate to others, and find my place/group of people that I side with more on an issue, relating to the concept of communication. While the media can bring people together, it can also rip people apart. One post can be made and it can tear a whole friendship apart, start a conflict, or simply make others angry. There is a wide variation with how one post can be interpreted- and the media can be abstract in this sense. The divisiveness that the media contains is disappointing- every issue is one-sided and I dislike this about the media. You can buy a product or you don't, you can support something or outright oppose it. There is no room to explore different options within the media, and I think this deters from the purpose of education that some parts of the media has. I try to educate myself through others opinions, and I do my best to understand the media and the things that are being said and meet them with tolerance. Generally, though, I think the media has several advantages and disadvantages.