Media Life

I believe that it is important to view yourself within the world of media today because it today’s world technology and ways portray yourself in the media are constantly growing. In other words in today’s world we are constantly updating our lives thru the internet and connecting with online versions of one another. We can post pictures, videos, messages and much more to show our existence within the media. Therefore I feel that due to these reasons the main idea in viewing ourselves from the media perspective helps us not only protect privacy but to also show how important media life is actually is in our lives and that with out it many things in this world would be different. For example, our lives would be much more private and the people we meet thru social networking sites. We would be lost without the media in our lives thats why it is important to know yourself in the media because to some you may be completely different form of your media self.

I think that viewing yourself in media life today is especially important for three main reasons, cities are developing, media is consuming all aspects of life, and everyone around you is using media. Everywhere you go now a days a new city with new technology is popping up, many cities think if they resemble New York City then, they will seem more appealing to tourists. Whether its using a smart phone, tweeting, or on Facebook media is everywhere I think its essential that we accept who we are through these types of communications. Finally not only do we constantly use media, but its all around us, everyone you know is using it, whether its just making a simple cell phone call, or sending an email. The plain and simple truth is that I think its essential to view yourself as one with media today, for the plain reason that it’s developing and engulfing our everyday lives, there really is no exit strategy for avoiding media.

This class is about examining whether we effect or media effects us. As we evolve, so does our technology. We have examined things such as whether we have lost social skills through the creation of modern media, whether media will take control of US, whether we can function without media in a world like ours, whether we are safe after the creation of modern media, and things of that nature. This is a really interesting class that forces us to rethink what we already take for granted.

This class forces you to constantly ask yourself “what is media?” It makes you step outside of traditional thinking and ideas to analyze every aspect of media: what is media? How does it affect your life? Could you/would you want to escape media?
Everyone knows that media is a huge part of their life, but I think that the point of this class is not necessarily to learn something new but look at things you already see and know in your everyday life in a different way. I think it is very interesting to analyze media in your everyday life that we are so accustomed to that we normally just overlook.

We have to look at the world as though it is through media, so much of what we take in today is through media. And if we hear it from somewhere else chances are they heard through a media source. Not that media is a bad thing, but if we all accept whatever media tells us, than we are like zombies in that regard, all marching the same way without asking why. People look at us through media so it is only natural to look at them the world the way it views us. So much of our view of people, or even the world is altered not by what we see in person, but what we are led to believe. That could be through their facebook profile or some other source, but our reality is no longer determined by what we believe but by what we are led to believe. I didn’t realize before taking this class how influential media was to me, I saw it as something that added to my reality but never realized how much it has overtaken my reality.

I believe that it is vital to consider your life in media, because media is constantly expanding throughout our daily lives. I have learned that there is truly no way to escape media and it will always be a factor in the ways in which we conduct ourselves. I also learned that each generation is becoming more media literate. Meaning our younger siblings will be more technologically advanced than we were at the same age. The point of T101 in my eyes is to come to the realization that media is life and there is nothing to do about it but learn to adapt.

DeJuan Foster
dejfoste@indiana.edu

From this class i have discovered that we are becoming more and more interactive through our media. The concept of “together alone” is the current state of being in almost every situation. We use are media to exist, with the theory being that if you don’t show up in the first 10 hits of a google search, you don’t exist. We share every detail about our lives on the internet as a desperate attempt to show the world we exist. Everything we share is stored in a living archive that will live on beyond our physical lives. Media life is a combination of these concepts that describe the present and future of our lives with media. It is rapidly changing and we are finding ourselves more connected to each other, but we have never been so alone in doing so before.

In this class I have learned that everything you do involves the media. Many people don’t even realize that the media is exposed to them at all times. Media follows you and you follow the media. This class has taught me how much media effects the lives of people and how it is almost impossible for people to live without it. Without websites such as Facebook, and Twitter people in the world today would be lost. I’ve also learned how much media has evolved over the years and the impacts it has on people. Media always changes and as it changes it becomes more and more important in the world today.

Media life has taught me to always remain introspective. It’s one thing to understand media from a broad scope, but it takes much more effort to realize and understand that you, much like everyone you know, are contributing to the massive media collaborative whether you approve of it or not. It is always expanding and affects us just as much as we affect it.

The whole point is to realize what’s going on around us and to notice the changes. What i’ve taken from Media Life is that i’m not more consciously aware of the media around me. I can see how attached people are becoming to their media and i can see how it’s affecting society as a whole. We’re becoming less social and relying on media to keep in contact.

Even before I started taking T101, I was always interested in media. Now that I have learned more about it through the lecture’s and discussions, I have had a chance to develop my own thoughts and opinions on media. The point of looking at ourselves and the world through the perspective of media is to broaden our horizon and view everything differently. This is exemplified by how our technology has advanced with media such as cellphones, laptops, etc. Media is almost impossible to eliminate, therefore we are always surrounded by it. It has become universal. What people should realize is that living in a media life is not a bad thing; it is something that has changed our ways of doing things and the means of communication. One way or another, media has impacted our world. Whether someone appreciates media or not, it is something that will always have some kind of impact.

The point of T101 is to imagine what it is like when you immerse yourself in your technology. The class goes into detail about the relationships you develop and how you develop them; whether the relationships are with your technology or with other people that you connect with through your technology. It also describes why we do surround ourselves with media and how our media instincts/technologies have changed over time. Additionally, the issue of “realness” comes into play quite often.

I think the reason we need to look at ourselves as living in media is because thats what we really are doing. As years pass, more and more media develop. Our generation is engrossed in media more than any other, and I am sure future generations will be even more in touch with media in their daily lives. We can’t help ourselves, we are addicted to media. It is a part of our everyday lives and most of us can’t imagine living without it. We need to be able to understand this life we have that is so much a part of media. We need to understand how we interact with it, how we are portrayed in it, and how it controls us. Media will always be expanding, and so our understanding of it needs to as well. We can’t escape it. This class allows us to look deeper into our lives with media, more than I thought I ever would. It presented many questions and allowed me to think about so many more aspects of the effects of media than I thought possible.

Molly Harbor
mharbor@indiana.edu

T101, in my opinion, was a lesson on being aware of media’s ever present and evolving state. It is inescapable and more than important. Our media is essential to progression in society. If everyone has access to the same media, we could have a better chance of understanding each other because we have something in common. With our media, we are able to connect and become more of a global community than ever before. It is important to embrace the use of media to remain a relevant, informed members of society and this global community. If one decided to ignore the fact that media is an all-encompassing part of our lives, that person would not reap the benefits of media. He or she could try to abandon media’s influence in life, but I doubt that it would matter.

Go ahead, pretend you don’t care for media. You probably won’t get that event invite that only got sent out on Facebook and your social life will spiral downward into oblivion.

Bridget Johnson
baj4@iusb.edu

Entering this class, I thought I knew everything that I needed to know about media and how it affects my life daily. I knew media was a big factor in my life, but I didn’t realize how much my life revolved around media until the lectures became more in depth. Media controls every aspect of my life, and I had no clue as to exactly how much it controls. We live in a society today in which media is everything to us. Media is growing at unbelievable rates, and we buy into every technology that is offered to us in order to boost our sense of pride and show off to the people around us. We are so caught up in our media, and without taking this class, I would not have realized all of the aspects of living of media. The world in which we live in has evolved so much, and is more technology-oriented than ever. Many people try to fight this reality, and say that media is evil. It is important to look at the world we live in from the perspective of living in media because it makes you think about what reality really is. Is reality sitting in front of a computer screen, listening to music, and texting your friends? A lot of people would disagree and say that reality is much more than a new iPhone 4, but is it?

Kari Morgan
Karimorg@indiana.edu

As the world and technology are constantly changing, it is important to become aware of the effects that it has on our lives. We all live in media. I believe this course is the foundation to understanding how media in our life is portable and networkable. With a better understanding of our role in media life and having the capability to recognize the various ways it is used in our everyday life is key. This class allows you to comprehend that there really is no life without media because it is ALWAYS surrounding us. With the knowledge I have gained from this course, I have become more aware of my media surroundings, the true impact that it has on my life, and the limitless impact is has on the world.

When I signed up for this class I figured it was going to be an easy blow off class. It’s about media. Everyone uses media daily. What else is there to learn? However, as I began to attend this class I learned that I was mistaken. This class helps you gain a better understanding of the new media filled world. We love our media so much that we do not even realize that we are searching through our phones or listening to music anymore. It becomes a natural thing that we carry around everywhere like its our keys. We are constantly on some form of media of every second of every day. Anything we do now, we are creating a different reality of ourselves. If we are sitting with a group of friends we are acting like one person, however, whenever your iPhone goes off, you are suddenly in a different world. This class helps us go in deeper and understand where our media has been and what is about to become of it.

I think that the point of looking at yourself and the world we live in from the perspective of living in media is to show how much we rely on it. As we go throughout our day, almost every waking second were plugged into some sort of media. This frightens me a little, but i know that without the use of media the world as a whole will not be able to grow. through the use of media we are able to observe people in their natural habitat. People think of innovative ideas because of this, and the world becomes better off.

Media Life is a class that exposes the complications of living in a society so rich in media. Overall I enjoyed this class. It kinda opened me up to the different aspects of media use that the average media user doesn’t see. I did feel that some of the themes were reoccurring and many of the ideas were redundant, especially after the midterm. However, if you get the chance, I would totally recommend the class.
-Tyler Leeth

Personally, I think the point of looking at yourself and the world we live in from the perspective of living in media is that media is now a necessary part of our daily life, and it contributes to every aspect of the society. Although the fact that we are watched and watching all the time through multiple media makes us feel uncomfortable, we can not get away from it. We all act like zombies and always “together alone” in the media world. Indeed, media helps us to see everyone everything from everywhere at anytime. It truly connects the big world as a whole, however, the reality in our mind is reshaped by media. In a word, mediatization becomes the trend of the whole world, and we are media. Therefore, as we are more aware of the existence of social media, we can live in media and use media to benefit our life positively.

Media has somehow become inseparable and intimate part of my life, at the same time, it has become so imperceptible. However, this class pushes me to ponder on questions regarding to how media influences us, our life, our mind. Media Life grasps the broad idea from many perspectives. Media is not just a general term for computer, iPhone, Xbox, etc. It is more than that, it almost seems like we are evolving around media. I love this class, it makes me recognized how powerful media has become.

The most important lesson I learned over the course of the semester is just how much we are all connected. Media is first and foremost a way of SHARING information. Television, print and the internet have always been used for the purpose of connecting with others. We share knowledge, art and culture by whatever means we can because we want others to have the same information we do. More than anything, this demonstrates the connection between every member of the human race. We truly are all working together towards something, even if (like zombies) we don’t know what that something is. Yes, it’s important to question everything we see, but it’s just as important to have an open mind. Please do question everything you see and hear, but if it turns out to be valid then embrace it. We, as the human race, are one entity working towards something and we will find out what that something is together.

As I think of my past, I feel as if we all start off similarly to the Amish, where we see the world as it is in front of us. We can only see as far as our eyes can see in the distance. Gradually we become more receptive to different technologies, and our horizons broaden to see the world in its entirety. Though we may see the world in its entirety, we face a biased view, we may see what we want to see or we may see what others want us to see. Over the last 21 years, I have gradually immersed myself with newer technologies. I am now only a pocket device away from some form of connection to the outside world via media. I am sure I am unable to return to the state where I can function normally, without some form of technology occupying my interests and curiosity. This class has instilled into me just how much media has shaped who I am, my interests, my curiosity, and my future job career interests.

I believe the point of looking at myself and the world we live in from the perspective of living in media is a very important aspect. If a friend were to ask me what this course entails, I would simply reply that it teaches you awareness. Awareness of the fact that we do take media for granted, awareness that we are unfortunately zombies, and that a majority of the time we are together alone without recognition. In addition, it brought me to a state of awareness that media life is inevitable and forever evolving. It’s almost as if there is no true escape. We discussed hypothetical situations such as: Is media taking over our lives? or, Will we ever try to escape from this undertow? Moreover, Has media more or less made our connections with people stronger or has it completely discouraged our efforts towards “in-person” relationships? These questions will always remain in the back of our heads. Sadly, before this class, I took media so much more for granted than I do after the completion of this course. In fact, I believe T101 made me a better person, overall. By viewing the world from a media life perspective, it makes us realize how and what we are in the eyes of other people (and vice versa); a concept we often overlook. Although I am a Biology major, the choice to take T101 benefited me without a doubt and I truly am pleased with how this course was taught so personably and effectively. Well done Mark.
Nicholette Smock
nsmock@indiana.edu

The point of viewing ourselves through media is as simple as asking the question of why does someone who performs music look at themselves as a musician, why does someone who plays sports consider themselves an athlete etc, it’s because that’s who they are. Every single one of us is a consumer of media. We have have consumed media during this class as part of this class, and for the most part, none of us were surprised by anything that shown in this class, because we all take part in creating/consuming media. This class has given me a complete revolution in the way I have thought of media, and I could not be more pleased with what I have learned in this class.

Travis Jauregui
tjauregu@indiana.edu

I learned in media life that there is no loving or hating media. It has become to influential in our lives and we have become so dependent on it, that we are one. If you come it loving media, you will end up finding many faults and negative things with it as well as the positives. If you come in hating media, you will hind many pros and positive things, as well as the negative things. You study how media has truly become an everyday part of your life, and the course allows you to decide all topics for yourself.

I think an important element of T101 correlates with concepts that are taught in all media and telecommunication classes. It helps drive home the importance of understanding media convergence and how media and technology can virtually run your life if you are unaware of your surroundings. A large part of media is our ability to understand the role it plays in our lives. I learned about media literacy in T205 with Mark Bell, but didn’t really understand it until parts of T101 drove home the fact that we have to understand media to be knowledgeable consumers, informed users and be able to combat its addicting nature. T101 helped me realize that media literally surrounds us, and the best “escape” of sorts may actually be the ability to control our consumption and open our minds to the vastness that is media. While this is not escaping in the traditional sense, it is escaping in that it allows us to avoid the craze and hectic trends and consume what we want when we want, while remaining in full control.

This class has taught me that media is everywhere, there is no escape. It has made me realize that we live our lives through media. We communicate through it, but more now than ever we publish ourselves. It has put us under the delusion that everyone is important and therefore, we make constant updates as to what we are doing in our daily lives. Through media we have created multiple versions of ourselves, multiple ways that we want people to view us through social networking and simply acting out in different ways in different settings. We are media. This course has opened my eyes to make me realize this.

The whole point behind living in the world of media, is really no different then living in the real world, or what we consider as real. It has its rules, its taboos and will point out every time the mass majority notices you have done something wrong. So as human beings, we all have the choice to do whatever it is we please following whatever social norms if any as we interact with one another through media. As for me, the point of me living in media life is to do just that. Live. Explore unknown places and read about things you normally wouldnt, its at your fingertips so why not?

I agree with what Mark said on the first day of class, that this class doesn’t really teach anything. But what I can say for sure is that this class has opened my eyes to the reality that I knew existed but never appreciated or fully understood. This world is so absorbed in media that it has become an addiction, a soul sucking mechanism that causes us to depend on our computers, phones, internet, and other creations that fuel us. We are driven by our desire to be more connected, more informed, and essentially all knowing. No one can escape this or the clutches of media, everything that you do is captured and documented some way or another and stored for ever. The only escape we have is death, and even in that we escape it but our history will live on for forever, our videos can be watched, our voices heard, our words read. We are immortal in media and cannot escape that fact. T101 has been an extremely interesting to me and I am so glad that I can say that about a class I took just to fill gen ed requirements, well done Mark!

With the process of globalization of international trade, more and more people realize that good and smart use of information and information technology can be the most effective ways to gain a more competitive advantage ahead of time. The appearance of a global economy, transformation of industrial economies, transformation of the corporations, and the emergence of digital firm make information systems essential in business today. we are becoming aware of the media effect .media and our life effect each other.We must understand what is media.T101 class help us know what is media . media and our life relationship .it is very important. Our life cannot leave the media.Media is very popular in the world now.T101 class tell us media although without entity, but it has been around and influence our lives. media is everywhere

The point of looking at ourselves and the world through media is that media is part of everything we do and there is no way to escape it. We are constantly exposed to media of we know it or not and if we like it or not. In today’s world everything we do is documented through media and there is no way to escape it. People are turning into zombies by just following each other and acting the same because of media. People are forever “together (and) alone” in media. People are changing as media advances and becomes more and more dominating in our lives. We couldn’t go back to the age of no media even if we wanted too.

I’m going to be honest, I’ve avoided writing this because I was afraid to sound stupid. And I wanted Mark to post this on Twitter. So, instead I was posting inane things on Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr. It’s all about image, right? It’s all about what you appear to be, with how you present it. And you can’t present anything without media, because no one will see it. It may sound bad, but it’s true.
Think about it. How many times have you checked a newspaper versus checked Facebook for news? Media is used for anything and everything. Now it’s starting to be used to literally run houses and fast food restaurants, among other things.
What did I learn in T101 Media Life? I learned life is media, it’s possible to be a zombie and not even like brains, and that there is a way to use Twitter as a studying tool. I learned everything should be questioned. I learned that technology is more dangerous than I ever imagined it to be. I learned that I will never die, no matter how long I’ve been in the ground.
There is quite a lot of stuff I learned in T101, but even more I’ve learned to question. T101 hasn’t actually taught me anything; it’s showed me to question everything, and therefore come up with my own ideas and opinions about life as, in, and around media. Mark has planted an Inception-type seed in my head. I can’t stop thinking about what everything actually might mean, or what it was actually made for. My life has seriously changed from taking this class. There is no way I can possibly return to the way I was perceiving media, or in other words life, before. Thank you.

The point of looking at yourself and the world we live in through media is that it helps you make sense of our own reality. Media allow you to survey everybody else while they survey you at the same time and this helps you figure out what is going on in our lives socially because humans are social animals. It gives you unparalleled accesses to information that can be utilized to help our society form new opinions, ask questions, and progress because not only are humans social, they are also ambitiously curious. Most importantly, media today is so intertwined with our society today that it has become a living archive; it lets you see the world we live in as a reality that we can fuck with and it is a medium for you to have an impact on the world.

The point of questioning what reality is to understand your life. Media plays a role in that because is can alter a infinite amount of realities because you shape your media. We as a society shape the media around us which alters reality. Which to me its never been about what reality is real, and what isn’t. Its about which reality you accept as the real one. Once you can accept, and understand why this reality is real then you can truly appreciate life and the media that shapes it. Its has never been about what reality is real, only what reality you accept and are satisfied with.

What is the point of looking at yourself and the world we live in from the perspective of living in media? : We live in a world that relies on media to properly function. The pros and cons of living in media have been expressed this whole semester, but something in particular is REALITY TELEVISION. The show Jersey Shore expresses eight individuals who live this bitter sweet life style, which is highly scripted and unrealistic. It’s unrealistic to believe someone can live a life with drinking and partying every day and still have time to do the things that a person needs to survive. We watch these shows and get the idea that something shown via media, on a digital screen, can be considered reality. Mark states reality is your perception of the truth, but the real question is does media give you false ideas on what reality should be or thought out to be. Whatever the answer may be, it’s important to look at yourself and the world through media to get a raw understanding of what may be real and what’s not. Some believe media isn’t real but whether that’s true or not it helps some individuals find themselves, interact with friends, and get closer to the world around them.
I personally live through some of my social websites. I look at myself as a better person than I see myself in the real world, and my social websites even help me interact with a wider variety of people, who I may have never even met in a life without media. My connection inside media draws me closer to the world and allows me to be places I couldn’t be in real life. Living in media makes my life easier. “Now that I have it I don’t know what I’d do without it (Jimi Hendrix).”

After taking this class I have become more aware that the world I live in is not the only one that exists. The other world is the one made out of my social media. I have not been aware of it until taking this class. The interesting thing about it is that the version of me that lives in this world is not necessarily the same person in the “reality” I live in. Not only has this class made me aware of this alternate world, it has taught me how it works as well. This includes things like the shiny hamburger syndrome where people create this image of themselves that does not reflect who they really are. In the end I learned that these two worlds are starting to intertwine more and more as new technology comes about and there are positive and negative effects of this….

Media has become essential in almost every aspect today. Whether to chat with loved ones overseas, order pizza via internet or phone, or to update your FaceBook profile page, media is involved. I love my media because I couldn’t run my life as efficiently without it. I am a Telecommunications major, leaning towards the media field, so I personally need media for almost everything in my day-to-day. Many can subsist without the use of media (i.e. the Amish) but though they do not realize it, they are missing out on a lot. We are now defined as the Media Age so to not use it would be rather silly.

What is the purpose of looking at ourselves and the world we live in through the eyes of media? There are multiple reasons one could list on this blog. I will say what I believe is the most important reason. Media today produces an image of what they believe life is supposed to be like. We as free individuals need to study, examine, and understand the flaws of this argument. Or we will lose and never get back what make us unique individuals. We have to understand the media portrayal of life because if we begin to live that portrayal we are truly lost. The initial reason I took this class was to get easy credits. This class taught me that I have to take pride in being an individual.

T101 has taught me so much about media in my life. Coming from a small town where media use was not a big deal at all, T101 has shown me that no matter where I live or what I do, media consumes me. Media Life really opened my eyes to how much technology I use and how it really defines me. Through my Facebook and Twitter I share everything about myself, and if I don’t then it’s because I don’t want people to see the real me. Media Life has shown me that no matter what I can’t escape media. It is growing so much that I should just enjoy the simple life that comes with it.

This class taught me a lot of my media usage. I didn’t realize how much that I really use media until I took this class. After taking the course I realize that without media, I wouldn’t be connected with the world as much as I am with my media. We literally use media in every aspect of our lives. Whether it is using our cells phones to send a text, skyping our families back home, or even using media without really realizing that we are doing so. In this class, I learned that the way we act with our media (what we post on our Facebook, Myspace, Twitter etc.) can really define the way people look at us. It can change how you look at yourself as well. The main reason I took this class was to get general education credit. However, in doing so, I didn’t realize that I would come out of the class with a whole new perspective of how I use my media and how much media effects my life.

First, I want to thank T101 class for letting me realize how important the media affect our everyday life and how lucky we are using media device communicate with family and friend who is far away from us! In my understanding, media is us and we are media! Media allow us to connect other people while other people will response us at the same time and this helps us to maintain the relationship and what is going on in our lives socially. Moreover, T101 class made me recognize how careful when people have to be aware of what they post about themselves on websites like Facebook or Twitter. Most people define a person who is social or not because he has physically been to many party, but the truth is some people who went to party and took pictures not because they want to remember the party or friends, they just want to post on Facebook to letting people know they were there. It is kind of narcissism. The thing that I found most useful and most dislike is that everything we can be found in media and those record will stay forever!

To me, Media Life is about how Media affects our society and everyday life. Media is everywhere at all times, we can not escape it. It has a huge impact on our lives and it is through our media that we know we actually exist. We are all zombie slaves to our media, we follow whatever instructions they give us with no questions or regards for ourselves. We are constantly being watched by media, it follows us everywhere. Our media makes us question our reality, it makes us question the world around us. Media Life has shown us all how important our media is to us, because it’s how we connect with others around us. Media Life is the study of how our media affects the world around us. It’s shaped our very way of life in ways that we can and cannot even comprehend.

Our generation is the first to experience the way media has changed and is changing our lives. No matter where we go, media will be there. We as humans are completely dependent on media – whether it be our laptops, cellphones, or televisions. Although society has been completely overtaken by media, our world is now more connected than ever. Not only are humans connected more than ever amongst each other, but humans individually are now more connected with their personal past do to the way new media archives our lives. As we continue into the future, media will continue to become a greater part of our lives whether we would like it to or not.

The point of why we should relate to the perspective of living in media is so that we have a full understanding of the evolution of our society today. Only a few years ago, it was not important to be socially involved and engaged with our media devices. Now, our society has become media and daily lives have become so dependent on it. For example, nowadays the way of texting has become a way to converse with other significant men/women so that it has become some sort of game or art. If someone sends a text to someone, one would hope to get a response so quickly or else he/she would assume there is something wrong. I think even our media has so rapidly become mended to our daily lives, we forget how to appreciate the technologies around us, and even the daily relationships we encounter everyday.

I believe this class has done more than just made me more aware of media in our daily lives but it has helped me develop my own opinion about the entire aspect of media. media effects everything around us and we can either choose to fight it or adapt to live with it. In this course we learn how we interact with media such as being alone together and we also cover many far-fetched ideas involving media as well. It helped me develop a sense of all perspectives dealing with media. I did become more aware of my personal use of media and how it effects my daily life. The evolution of media, i felt, would be a way of describing this class. Not only has media evolved physically but it has evolved much more emotionally. Before the media movement no one relied on our media and it didn’t have a big impact on our lives. That is much different today. Today we don’t go a day without media and we have become very attached emotionally. Overall my favorite part of this class is that I have become more educated in the world of media, which is become a very large part of our human lives. This class has been very informing and I enjoyed it very much.

I believe the point of T101 media life is not only just to look at ourselves in a way that has never been done before, but also to gain knowledge on how media is such an important role in persuasion on who you should be and what you should act like. It also allows for students to see the variety of media circulating throughout the world, some very foreign and uncomfortable to view, and some very generic and cookie cutter.

“Media is the air, and we are teaching you how to breathe.” I think this quote from our guest lecturer Mark Bell summed up Media Life class best. Never before had I thought about just how intertwined all of our lives are with media. It is inescapable but it is not necessarily something to fear. We are encouraged to analyze the role media plays in our lives and think of applicable ways to use media to improve our lives and the lives of others. We have tremendous power in this, and this class helps everyone who takes it the chance to see a glimpse of this power and what they can do with it.

The point of media life is to figure out why we wake up in the morning. It’s why we have homework. It’s why we are who we are. Media defines us. Media is our source of information, communication, entertainment. and anything and everything in between.Media is our escape, our reality, media is our life.

Until I took this class, I was never aware of how much of my life really revolves around the media. I am constantly engulfed in my media devices, and the way I live my life is drastically different form the lifestyle when my parents were my age. I walk around campus plugged in to music, and in an awkward situation or to waste time, I find myself constantly turning to my cell phone to occupy my time. In my room, my roommate and I are constantly “together alone”– we can sit for hours in the same room and not say a word because we are interacting with our media.
Because I have chosen the profession of Theatre, I use the media to produce the best version of myself possible. I am constantly monitoring my Facebook, uploading videos to Youtube, and will eventually have to compose a website of myself. I do not believe the media portrays a different “Allison;” however, there is definitely a shinier version of me that I allow the media world to see.
I now believe I have the power to change opinions and raise awareness through the media. I am an intern for the Broadway Dreams Foundation, and I have become extremely active in promoting on their Facebook page and sending e-mails.
Society’s relationship with the media is only going to continue to grow, and if people are not aware of their constant interaction with media, our person relationship with one another in person and relationship to the world we live is going to change in great measures.

T101 Media Life has shown me many directions our society is growing in. From this course I’ve learned that media is a tool everyone can choose to use to their advantage. Branding ourselves in the mediated world today is necessary otherwise you will virtually become nonexistent. Although that does not seem imperative to everyone, I see how crucial media technology is becoming within our corporate and government worlds as well. If anything, this class has raised my awareness about the way technology is being used pan optically. The larger the intelligence gap becomes between society and large corporations, the more power and opportunity they have for insight into our personal mediated lives. This is scary!

I feel as though Media today has become an absolute necessity to our generation. Now, education, communication, and ways of living are all tied within some sort of media. Although there are many different ways to look at media such as through The Truman Show, the Panopticon, and/or the Matrix we as a people take from it what we choose to accept. Some think we are being watched by “the man” and some think that we control everything so much that essentially we are “the man.” Being involved in the media can have a positive as well as a negative effect on your life. However, it is all based on what you feed into the lifestyle of such. Either you base your life completely on it or you rely on it when it’s needed. We are the media and we are zombies just like Mark said. Nobody is looking into the future. What happens when this technology dies out? Will it even die out? Or will it become more extravagant to the point where we no longer need officials to justify the unknown. Then, what happens to educators and their jobs? My only concern is what will happen 40 years from now in terms of our media and how we use it. It could possibly become destructive but then again that goes back to media affects you how you want it too. This class opened up my eyes to many different aspects and why we are so attracted to our media.

Media can be a very scary concept to accept into our everyday lives. Media, however, is something we all have accepted as part of our human being and use on a daily basis. My perspective on media life is very optimistic coming out of this class. Before, I thought that media was just one of the many ways that the government and big corporations utilize to track our every move and reap the profits. Although this is partly true, we have still accepted it. Modern technology and media is simply the next phase of humanity that the current generation was lucky enough to live through.

Throughout this course of T101, I’ve learned that is everywhere, even in places I never knew. Being constantly watched under the watchful eye of media makes me careful about how i portray myself online. We are the media so there is no real way to escape it. For the Truman show attendance exercise, I said that the only way to escape is to run like hell, but there is no running away from media. Someone is always around with a camera or media device where they can capture any moment and make it into media history. Everyone is affected by the media world, even if you don’t know it. Because almost every one around you is interacting in the media world, you pretty much have no other choice but to be involved in media. We are all media superstars, and it is up to us to define how we are portrayed online, because we ARE media!

What I have taken away from this class is that we are media. We can never truly escape media. Everywhere we go we are being “tracked” – whether it is our information being saved on websites or Facebook making it public where we are posting from, we cannot hide. The Truman Show is a good example of never being able to escape media and always being watched. Although we may not be be in Truman’s exact situation, it is a good metaphor for how we are unable to escape. Media used to rely on us, but as time has gone on we have relied more and more on media, and now it controls our lives.

I think it is very important to look at yourself in media and your relationship with media for a number of reasons. Having done so in T101, I have realized a lot of things about myself. I was never really aware of how much media controlled my life until I took this class. Every moment of my day it seems I am engulfed in some sort of media whether it be TV, Xbox Live, or conversing with people online. I realized, while looking at my life through media, that there was something controlling my life. But realizing that the thing controlling my life, media, was something I enjoyed greatly was strange to admit to myself. This class showed me how much I depend on something without knowing it. That is why I truly enjoyed this class. It opened all of our eyes to a drug that we all are addicted to, and there is really no cure for it. The most amazing thing about this drug is that we (I) don’t want to be cured of this addiction.
I think that the point of T101 is to open everyone’s eyes to what our culture has become. We are a media-centric people who are in constant “media contact” with one another. The class has shown that people in our society react to this media culture in different ways. One reaction is embracing media and allowing it to become us while others have rejected it and tried to live without it. It is becoming harder and harder to deny that we are obsessed and dependent on media and pretty soon we will all be controlled by it.

T101 is more than just noting all the media surrounding us that we live in. In dives into questions of reality and validity. It questions deep topics in our lives such as if our relationships are real and how we remain in media even after we die. T101 for me opened my eyes to the world that I thought was relatively black and white. T101 created many higher levels of thinking for me and made me curious about my existence in media, and if I even exist without media. T101 is about analyzing your own self in media, and what we take away from this course should be uniquely ours.
-Allison Hacker, akhacker@indiana.edu

T101 is life. This idea that a media life is any different from a normal life is quickly fading away. The Media are everywhere is a media law. It is the way of life in todays society. There is almost no option to be medialess anymore, and this class represents the expansion of life beyond discussion. The expression of life through the internet, through television, even through simple career is all that is. Media is both an escape and a focus. Media is becoming everything. I use media as a tool. I use media as a path. Media is what is guiding my life, and it allows me to take my life and double its capacity. This class has opened my eyes to the true reality, far beyond what i have been believing was truly reality. It makes me question life and all its compnents, but in a good way. A new attitude has been approached to Twitter, to the iPhone, touch screeen nano-technology. It makes me appreciate the facetime and the panopticon. Medialife is life!

T101 has made me a conscious consumer. Scratch that. T101 has made me a conscious perceiver. I know that sounds terribly shaky right now. Let me explain.

As this course has run its, well, course, I’ve gleaned as much as I could from it. We’ve traversed media life, living archives, media cities, and even the nature (as much as Deuze is reluctant to get into ‘heady french philosophers’) of reality itself.

It’s been a long road. And I’ll be honest. At the beginning of this class the lessons were incremental. Is reality influence by media or is media influence by reality? Brand yourself, or you will be branded. Lesson (reluctantly) two. There are many, many digital shadows of yourself. Lesson (anxiously) three.

But as the class pushed forward, these epiphanies started to grow greater and greater. Media has become so intertwined with humanity, that (sans books), we are essentially androids. We are a click away from the infinitude of human knowledge. We can communicate with nearly anybody in the world in seconds. What once took months to send by postal services. (R.I.P.), we are able to tap, buttonless, to any number of our friends. We are, to a large degree, what many cultures would consider godlike.

The awe that our machines should invoke. This is what I’ve taken away from T101. Is it overwhelming? Personally, I say yes. Can you escape it? Technically, I say yes. But, (and this is a rather large but) Socially, I say no. You are severely stunting yourself.

We are people. But we have tools. We are humans plus some. We are androids. We can’t escape.

Or maybe we can. I guess it depends on who’s looking.

Throughout this class I have learned that media is intertwined in everything we do in our everyday lives. We no longer have a choice about whether or not we want to live in media we are media. I have found through this class that what we should do is embrace the media it has become a part of us. We are Truman and instead of trying to pretend as if we can ignore media, or delete ourselves from the media world lets jump fully in. Like I have learned throughout the entire course if you don’t brand yourself Google will. Brand yourself! There are so many ways to be in the media and most of us have multiple online profiles, be the shiny hamburger or whatever you want, that’s the real beauty of living life in the media. We can interact and make connections in ways people never would have imagined why would we want to ignore that! Like Mark said at the last lecture lets all be Rockstars! So get involved with media we live in it there’s no changing living in the media so control that first page on Google and embrace the media.

T101 has been a very eye opening course. Coming into this class I felt as if I had a pretty good grasp on my life within media. But as the semester progressed I was exposed to how much media really controls our society. This class not only teaches how many forms of media exist in our society but also allows us to explore the many ways in which it can impact it. The course is about examining and developing ideas on the good things that media can bring forth and also the potential it has for bad. Media is everywhere around us and is always watching us. This is a simple and seemingly obvious fact that I do not think I would have ever acknowledged if it were not for this class. Media Life is a course that has given me an understanding of media that I view as an advantage that I plan to use to its full potential. Thanks to this course I will now realize when media is evolving, how it is doing so, and what it means to our society. T101 is a learning experience that exposes us to a world that is right in front of us; it is the most applicable learning experience I have ever gone through.

-Johnny Brewers

I believe it’s important to view ourselves in the world of media because media is our world now. There’s no escaping the significance of the media surrounding us constantly through our days, so not looking at our live’s through it would be missing such a significant part of ourselves. Now, our jobs, relationships, and knowledge are heavily influenced by our computer or cell phone screens, so acknowledging ourselves in those mediums is the only logical thing to do. Whether you accept or revolt against the media age that is upon us, knowing who you are in that field is only going to help us.

Upon completion of T101, I have come to realize the effect and importance of media on my life. Media has influenced all academic, social and professional aspects of our lives. Professionally, media links us to potential employers and increases our professional network capabilities. Socially, it provides us with the ability to interact with others and maintain relationships. Academically media gives us the opportunity for a greater access to knowledge and countess resources. The discussion lecture that influenced me most was the topic of surveillance and the realization that cameras are around us at all times, documenting our every move from our physical presence to our data transactions on line.

This class is anything but ordinary to me. You walk into a lecture of maybe 400 people and the topic of the lecture is media; how it plays into your life etc. The lecture begins and about 400 kids have their laptop open checking their facebook and twitters. This class is like a huge oxymoron. You go to learn about media and are phased out by media the entire time. But that is not what I took away from this class. Mark made it very clear this year that we are all f***ing zombies, among other things. This class challenges you to think about media in different ways. How media affects your life and how it plays such a huge role in the culture we live in. Everyone in our culture and generation have become so media-centric and are always craving the next best thing in technology. We are constantly surrounded by people but live together alone with our media. I have struggled constantly with the question of, is this really an addiction to our media or do we really just live through our media? This class has not only challenged me to think about media in every aspect it plays a role in but how it plays into and influences my own life. It constantly takes ideas from movies and develops them into concepts that portray how we use media. We ourselves are constantly evolving through our media and our media is evolving through us (it makes sense to me). This course challenges you to think more then any other class I have taken. No longer can I log on to my Facebook without thinking about this class; how every move I make on there is being watched by everyone else. If there is one message that is clear because of this class it is that we care more about technology more then anything else.

cbearish@indiana.edu

A lot of people warn us, as young, naive individuals, that we need to be careful with our media. We sometimes forget that it never goes away and what we say is, for the most part, set in stone. It will always be on the internet even after we delete it or, more extreme, when we die. Even President Obama warned us to be careful what we put on our Facebook. Throughout this course, the main thing I’ve learned is that social media is “real” but “fake” at the same time. People put their best foot forward when they are tweeting or posting something on someone’s wall. They are not their “true self”, they are instead acting they way they want people to view them. Their pictures reflect this. People will do outrageous things in order to have their picture taken. They seem to live their life for Facebook rather than for their own fun. In some aspects, it seems that if a party or a get together is not documented by photos or tweeted about, it did not exist. And in addition, the people who attended did not have fun and/or will not remember the night in the future. Older people, who haven’t grown up with social media, do not understand our addiction and need for social media. They are skeptical that it will “ruin” us or influence us in a negative way. But in reality, our Facebook, which is not “real”, connects us better to reality. The moral of the story: what is “fake”, makes our life more real.

I would say that T-101 has been a big eye opener. I had no idea how huge of a part media played in our lives. I knew I was very dependent on media, but after this class I would declare it as an addiction. I also have come to realize how I need to be more careful with what I put on the internet, because like we lerned in class, it never goes away! After doing the google research paper, I saw that a lot clearer. I loved the zombie lecture, I thought it was really clever how that theme was brought into the mix. Mark has done a great job keeping us interested and always having something compelling to say. I have learned more than I could even imagine about media. I didn’t even know what omnoptic panoptic and other types of surveillance were and how much they were used until I was introduced to them in this class. I have enjoyed my time in T-101 and will defintely take much of what I learned with me.

The perspective of “living in media”. It’s something that most people will define under their own, unique terms. When I think of living in media, I think of how much of my time and attention is devoted to all things media. Even though I was already aware of the fact that I spent a lot of time “in” media, this course has taught me that people are living in media now more than ever. I think in one class Mark said that the average person consumes 12 hours of media per day. That’s unbelievable, or at least I thought it was. I’m taking another class, J110, that required me to log all of my media usage for a week. I was at about 11 hours per day. From the moment I wake up until I lay my head down at night, I rely on media for information and entertainment. I don’t think this is a bad thing at all. Media makes my life easier and more enjoyable without a doubt.

The evolution of new media in connection with our everyday lives will continue to be a crucial if not essential tool in how we relate to anything and everything. T101 has shown me how media itself is becoming a reality within a reality in which we simultaneously use it to form our own interpretation combined from the two. As we continue to use media, its transition into our lives will be a thing of the past and instead be a important element of our identities in the future and beyond.

media makes us the people we are today. It is has the ability to improve or cause havoc of our true identities of each other and ourselves. For these reasons we explore media life in T101. We look at media from its weak start to its now dominance in today’s era. The questions we are asked in T101 answer how we need media, how we live with it, how we don’t even realize we use it as much as we do, and how we cannot live without it.

I live in a world bombarded by media. I stroll by a digital billboard, unconsciously processing it; all the while I am simultaneously texting on my phone and listening to my iPod. I arrive in my dorm and turn on my computer and television. Media multitasking has become second nature to me; it has become a habitual part of my day. Changing my image on Facebook is just as important to me as reading an English assignment. It is essential that my online image is what I want to be. It is also essential that I turn in top quality assignments to my professors. Both are completely different needs of mine; yet they are fundamental parts of who I am. Prior to my experience in t101, I took media for granted. However, this was the class that facilitated me questioning how media really does affect me. Is my life like Truman in the Truman Show? Or is my reality really not real? Who knows? What I am confident of is that media will continue to have a phenomenal impact on my life, your life, and future generations.

We need to look at ourselves in a media world because that is simply what our world has evolved to. There has always been the newest type of technology out, whether it’s the first spear with an iron spearhead or the new iPhone, the world is constantly evolving into the way we as a global community shape it. Every generation has a new type of technology that evolves the world as well as brings us closer together. From the radio to the television, from the first video game pong to virtual reality, each generation has to reflect on who they are, what they’re doing, and where they are going. Our media is the fire of today, it changed the world as we know it and we have no where to go but forward, using this fire to light the way into an even brighter future.

I don’t think this class has necessarily taught me anything in particular… just opened my eyes. I mean, a very general description of what we learn in class is that media is a huge part of our lives… But don’t we all already know that? However, after just the first couple classes I started focusing on it more and more, just how much media we use and where and so on. If I walk around campus sometimes I’ll random start paying attention to how many people are either texting or listening to their iPod, something very average, but crazy all the same. We just spend so much time with our media that we don’t realize is what it really points out to me. Sure, we all know we spend too much time on facebook or something, but this points out just HOW MUCH time we spend doing that. So really did I learn anything from the class? No, not really. Did I take anything away from the class? That’s a definite yes. Would I recommend it? Yes. Am I glad I took it? Yes.

We live through the media everyday. We further define ourselves through the media. Some people are a little more truthful then others when doing so. Media means everything to our generation, and it’s everywhere! Media affects not only individuals but a society as a whole. There are many positive and negatives concerning our ability to control media. Media is who we are, its how we see each other. It’s how we gather information, communicate, and entertain ourselves. Media continues to grow. Soon there will be no limit to where our media could go. People will have to travel farther farther to find an area where there is no cellular signal or WiFi. But that scary thing is by that time it might be to late. All the exits could be closed.

Media Life has opened my eyes to what is really behind our computer screens. There is a world filled with millions of people, constantly documenting what goes on in their lives every single day. The most important thing that I have learned this semester is that we are all together alone. We create profiles on the internet and alter them to fit the status quo, because someone is always watching and our lives are out there for everyone and anyone to see. We are all media zombies, in which we cannot escape from this virtual world that we live in. We need to start being individuals and think for ourselves before our “computers and cell phones and tablets” start thinking for us so we can be special in our own way and not to just fit in. Attention is addicting therefor social media is addicting to us; we are always socially bonding and socially grooming ourselves. Media is a part of everything that we do, everywhere, all of the time; there is really no full escape.

It is important to look at our lives and the world we live in from the perspective of living in media because media is the mecca of modern day reality. Many of us are ignorantly surviving a media revolution. Our generation has no choice, the generation above us can’t fathom the significance of relying on media, and the generation below us are born into it. This could be a possible explanation for the confusion between generations, and why face-to-face communication is not only endangered, but why there are no motives to make changes and adjust for the betterment of society. Kids know things that took parents decades to learn or experience. So for the older generations, it is essential to look at life from the perspective of living in media or else their relevance to the lives of the youth will continue to decrease. -John-Michael Polley-

After going through this course, I have learned a lot about such things as how people present themselves online, how we consume media, how we are watched by media, and how we are all zombies. The point of all of this is to gain a better understanding of what media is exactly, how it effects us, and how we use it in our everyday lives. This allows us to navigate through media consciously and see how it is evolving.

After the near completion of this class, i have realized that the main point of T101 Media Life is to make us fully aware of all of the media we are surrounded by constantly, how it affects us, and how it affects and changes reality. Not only has media shaped our society, but it has changed it in its entirety. This class depicts to students that whether we like it or not, media is life, media is the reality, and media is the future. Students learn the forms of media, how they affect our way of life and thinking, and the potential good/bad that it could do for us. From history to future, media- through its many forms -is both essential and consuming.

As we learn more and more about the constant and inescapable immersion of our lives in media, it becomes clear that we cannot simply think about whether or not media is affecting us, but how it affects us and what the hell we can do with that kind of influence and potential.

Through this class I have been viewing myself and the world from a media perspective and it has truly opened my eyes as to how integrated we are with our media. I have always looked a media as something we consume but never realized how big a part we actually play in the creation and influence of it. I now see how connected we truly are and how everything from a simple google search to “liking” a page can drastically change our media life and what results we get. Along with this, T101 has shown me that media is so much more than the shiny compact artifacts we use to interact with it. It is has been around way before facebook and twitter became the global phenomena’s that they are today and will continue even if facebook and twitter don’t because it is so much more than these 2 media sites.

We are media… Everything we interact with in our everyday lives is media, from computers to cell phones to newspapers. This is how we promote our existence is through these types of media. As I look at myself and the media around me that’s advancing everyday it’s only implementing its self deeper and deeper into our society. There is no turning back only moving forward for better or for worse media is here to stay. I look at media differently after taking t101 at least internet related media it seems as though the internet is used as a scam to collect all of your data aka sucking the life out of the REAL you and keeping you there until you realize the factual happenings due to the internet

Looking at life through the lens that is media is almost impossible to avoid. Media surrounds and becomes us. From our cellphones to our Facebook profiles, we all are incorporated in the media world. Being able to look at life from a new perspective allows one to become Media Literate. This course was the first step of many on the path to media literacy. Being able to view certain aspects of my life from new angles allows me to take in and understand more about my life in an ever changing world. Media is and will always be apart of me.

T101 was a class that told us who our media really are. This course not only made it impossible for us not to see ourselves differently through media, but also made distinguishing between life and media life nearly impossible. We were posed with questions about how to get out of a media life, but came to the conclusion that no matter where we are in the world or what we are doing, media will likely affect us in some way: some major, other minor. Coming to this conclusion is an explanation for the course as a whole, because the conclusion of T101 was acceptance that, yes, there is a singularity between our lives and our media. T101 challenged us to come up with savvy examples of the way media can change our lives, whether it be for better or worse. The course challenged a lot of our previous beliefs about media because we were told the ways in that media can seem evil, and then given reasons to be optimistic. While at times this class is like a whirlwind of examples and abstract information, we were able to learn what is at the core of Media Life.

I feel like I have learned so much from T-101 this semester. Going into this class, I felt there really wasn’t that much to learn that I didn’t already know in today’s media. I felt like I was with the times, but was I ever wrong. I never realized how much of my day involves living in media. I am constantly on my Iphone and laptop. I am always on Facebook and now my new Twitter account, thanks to this class. I get all my news from the internet and twitter. I never knew how dependent I became of my media. I seriously don’t think I could do a whole day without going on to my phone or the internet. It’s like it’s apart of me and I wouldn’t want a divorce from media. Mark has talked about how media will always be with us and we can never escape it, I totally agree with his statement. Even when we die, the we are still involved in media. If we had a Facebook account and died, our Facebook account just doesn’t go away. There’s a website Mark said online that when you die it sends out your will. That is mind blowing to me. I always felt like Truman, even before entering this class. I have always had that thought in the back of my head to what is really real? There’s not a thing you can do to find out either in my opinion. Even TV is fake now. Reality TV has taken over the media. People question how real and how scripted these shows really are. People express themselves through media and I think that is amazing. I loved my time in this class and I hope I answered the question clear enough.

After taking T101 it really made me realize how media is in everything I do. It made me realize that when I am by myself that I am really with a lot of people through Facebook and all other media sources. This class has really made me think twice about putting inappropriate comments on Facebook or Twitter because it is out there for everyone to see and you can never take what you say back. This class was very interesting and I now know how much control media has over my life and the world.

T101 Media Life has allowed me to think outside the box when it comes to media, it’s not only a way to communicate with each other but it’s inescapable and a way of life. After taking this course I have become more aware of how much use media, I actually caught myself typing a paper, texting, and using my iPad all at once the other day. I never really noticed these things or thought about how different my life would be if I didn’t have all these forms of communication. It’s not that media is defining us, but we are defining media. Media gives US complete control so it could never define us. Media acts as a tool to enhance and preserve our social lives while were alive and also when we’ve passed. So media is here to stay , Forever.

When I ask myself the question: what is the point of looking at yourself and the world we live in from the perspective of living in media? I truly think the main point is to make me as a person more aware to my surroundings. For instance, as we have talked about in class, the Internet has made me realize that the presence of my life (kasey glueck) will never leave this world for the soul reason of media. For example, an assignment in T101 was to go on the Internet and Google yourself and when I did so I came to realize that my name was on so many websites. With my name being on so many websites I didn’t only find recent things about myself but I found information about myself from when I was younger which helped me realize that my existence in this world will never leave. Besides that in t101 it was brought to my attention that my existence will also never leave because I am always followed by something if it is cameras in a store, my credit hard swipes, and even the recordings on the phone when you call places. It is now clear to me that it is very important to look back at myself through media since media is currently keeping the existence of Kasey and will continue to keep my existence through everything it has previously recorded through my actions I have taken. As the class went on I slowly stalked myself the best I could possibly do and have taken down certain information that I really do not want others knowing. I have become aware to cameras on me in stores and try to cover myself. I have taken down certain information about myself on my Facebook. This class altogether has opened my eyes to so many new ways of media and how almost everyone’s life is lived through media.

Kasey Glueck
Kcglueck@umail.iu.edu

Everyday we do nothing but contribute more and more to media. It surrounds our daily lives and without it, we, as a society would crumble. We use it to communicate, get directions, look up pizza place numbers, and even use it to find our soul mates i.e. online dating. This is a lot of media dedication…..But should everyone be aware of how much we use it? It wasn’t until after taking T101 that I realized just how much media we use AND how much media uses us! Mark stated several times throughout the semester that we are “along together” this is what will stick with me far after completing this class. We all hangout in the same area but get lost in our own “media worlds”. All we assume about media is using our cell phones and surfing the web. Not true, we use it to get work done, have fun, and are constantly being watched through surveillance. It is anywhere and everywhere.. Taking this class has made me realize how intense media really is and how hard it is to escape it. Will we ever be able to truly have our own “exit strategy” or will we always be giving in to a media world? I believe there is no true answer to that, just what we make of our own media and how we let it effect us. Gaining knowledge of this subject through T101 has better prepared me in dealing with my media correctly and hopefully using it in some moderation. Hopefully more students will take T101 in the future to further their knowledge too..until then it will remain a constant battle between media and real life.
Cheers to a great semester, -Thomas Englert

The main point of T101 is that reality and media are indistinguishable. Media and “real” life are fused together and will never be entirely separated into two different worlds. Reality is actually just the life we live when we use media. As shown in The Truman Show, there is no exit from this lifestyle. The media are inescapable.This is neither good or bad, but media are always accelerating at an extremely fast pace that drives the rise of the creative class. The key to economic growth lies in the advances of media. In the “war against the machines,” we are not dominated by the machines, but fuse with them to become media. Since media are secret-exposing machines, we know that we are the media that makes us live on even after we die. The point of looking at ourselves in the perspective of media life makes us more aware of who we are, which is the a mixture of reality and media.

Alison Agnew
akagnew@indiana.edu

In my opinion, the reason i feel it is important to look at the world we live in through a media perspective is because of one thing; Evolution. Whether it is biological or technological, evolution happens constantly. Animals change to adapt to their biological environment, and technology changes to adapt to social environment. Whatever media is in demand will prosper, and media especially today is in very high demand. Even though it has been around for decades, it continues to shape our society because it is such a dramatic part of our everyday lives changing, and shaping the way we live.

The course T101 Media Life opens your eyes to show you not only how much and often media is being used throughout the day, but also how often you use media yourself everyday. It shows you the ways to use all the different media to your advantage and help you become more apart of society as technology evolves. You realize that media is very powerful and actually controls our everyday lives, and some people who go without media through their day may seem lost. As media has evolved over the years so has our social life in which revolves around media. It was alright to not be fully involved in social media/life, but now you must be involved in media or else you will miss out on many things in life, and it’s almost impossible not to be involved. Media now has evolved to become inescapable and you can often catch yourself using multi-media many times throughout the day. Media will never stop advancing and moving forward which is a main aspect to our economic growth. Media and technology are apart of our everyday lives, and allows us to never really be alone because we are all actually connected through media. We have all become dependent on our media and that will never change.

Luke Lesniewski

The point of looking at ourselves and the world we live in from the perspective of living in media is because that is the way our world is now and is evolving. An example of our world evolving into even more media oriented reality is the (soon to be) extinction of print media. Think about it, pretty soon there will no longer be paper news papers, everything will be digital. Media is everywhere, even when we don’t intentionally look for it. We can’t really fully escape it, but it’s not a bad thing (at least not yet, I’m waiting for the robots to take over any day now ). Media is key because it gives us control and allows us to network with other people together and/or alone.

Media have become self-sustaining–media exist and evolve even when we’re not engaging with them;moreover, media changes itself. Books, TV, radio, films are all inanimate. They’re fixed, finished; every time you watch a movie it will be the same movie, except for what bring with you to the viewing. Inanimate media don’t really exist when we aren’t engaged with them.
Media are more interactive, more ‘intelligent.’ Media is more and more complex, and we spend more and more of our time with various media, so our relationship with media is increasingly complicated and uncertain. We don’t know what media can or will be, or how it will interact with us and we with it: no one has ever before had the potential that we do, not just to interact with media, and to create media, but also to make parts of ourselves and parts of our lives into media.
Since the landscape of electronic media is so changeable (it’s increasingly easy for us to change, and it changes on its own, while we’re not looking), it’s even more difficult to find our bearings;and since media and media technology will only get more complex, it’s essential to consider what one does and is in the evolving media world/life. Unless we have some understanding of how we exist, in that world, we’re likely to get lost, or left behind. And if we fail to consider what we give to and take from technology/media and how we adapt as media evolve, we risk missing out on a significant evolution of our species.

The single most important thing I learned in this class is the idea that “we are media.” Not that it is a difficult concept, but I had never thought of media that way previously. I especially like Mark’s point about whether we imitate media or media imitate us. One of the most interesting topic’s of the semester, in my opinion, deals with the minds of the media users (pretty much everyone). Because a lot of what we do online is seen by other users, we become narcissistic- really just obsessed with what people are going to think of whatever it is we are displaying for them to see. Since taking this class, it is so obvious to me when I see it happening on the social networks that I use. Before this semester, I never realized how much we need media, or how much it needs us.

Media life is the class to shock me. It let me know, and how the world is full of media and information to find themselves. Many people think that the Internet is the true self of their own, such as facebook, we may be affected by eye, we may not be popular, we may share the video, we may share photos, we may organize resistance activities, we may make many fucking friends. . . But I know it’s not really us, it is only in the media we have.I often think that if this day there are no phones, no computers, no TV, no media, then what happens in our lives. You will become very boring, you will become tough. I think the start will. Because we suddenly lost contact with the outside world, our lives suddenly become smaller circle. But we would think after living is easy, because we do not need to worry about dinner, when suddenly the phone rings. We do not need to worry about with friends when there is movement did not return messages.
We never stop looking over the computer,looking over the cellphone, looking over the TV… We don’t konw what will we get from them, however wo just do it, and never stop. Really like a zombie. Maybe we should stop,maybe the world should stop to look outside, not only through the windows.

Durning the time i was in this course we dicscovered that media is taking over and is a aspect of are everyday lifes. There is no possible way to escape this. We should endure the knowledge of media and except the fact that medias taking over this generation.

Basically i learned how i can handle the media world. precautins to take, how to handle myself, the risks of things i do. But also how to enjoy my use of media how evolve with my media and how I can help to guide myself toward worse off media futures.

Media life is about a very broad amount of topics. T101 teaches us that media is a growing phenomenon in our society and that we cannot live without our media for various reasons some being that we are social animals or that we value our media almost as another life form. The class shows us the power of our media and how we can use it to act like “Gods” and create an impact on the world. The class teaches us that through our media we can become whoever we want to be. We found out that we are always being watched by our media, and that our media may very well one day takeover the human race. Media is everywhere so therefore we live in media.

I believe that we need to look at ourselves and the world we live in through media because that is what our world has evolved into. We rely on our media. I believe the point of looking at ourselves through media is to find out what we are seen as through the “technological” eyes of others. Majority of our time is spent through media. So, when a person is trying to find out information about us, they immediately turn to their media to do so. We need to look at ourselves and the world we live in through the perspective of our media because that is what the majority of our population is doing. Our world has become obsessed with media…I seriously could not imagine what would happen if one day it all just disappeared. Our world would be in utter and complete chaos. If a person does not hop on the media train, they are going to get left behind. This class has opened my eyes to how our media is constantly growing and it has made me reflect on how far it is going to go.

If this class has taught me one thing it is to just accept that we live in media. Sometimes it’s scary, sometimes we worry that it’s going to take over our lives or the world. The truth of the matter is that it has. I didn’t realize before this class is that media has become a part of our everyday lives. Don’t fight it, embrace it.

Reflecting on this course, I feel like I look at the world and the ways we use media in a different way. From the perspective of living in media, we then realize how this alters everyone’s lives. This isn’t necessarily good or bad but just something to be aware of. People’s interactions with others are done in ways that didn’t use to happen. In a way, that could be helpful to people that are more outgoing online for instance. On the other hand people can present themselves in a way that isn’t really who they are. So the point of looking at yourself and the world as living in a media life is to be knowledgeable. Know not to take everything at face value, because not everything is what it seems. Realize that the things you do, especially in the media, are forever. Not to live in fear of what you do, but to try to portray yourself in a light that truly reflects who you are.

Looking back on this course I have developed a different perception of how we live with media. Media is always changing but yet things are never forgotten. Living in media allows for anyone to be on display for the rest of the world making communication easier. At times it may seem that technology is moving to fast but as it progresses so do we as humans. So what i got out of it most is that media adapts to humans and as humans we will always adapt to our media. Therefore creating an ongoing cycle with no deceleration but just constant advancement.

Looking back on this course and the fact that it isn’t a history of media life really however, trying to get us to understand how media now effects our lives. We are the producers as well as consumers of media. Realizing that we are media allows us as scholars to begin seeing the connections to our lives and media. Everyting we do is either influenced by or is completed by using media. We are what we see through media and how we act is mimicked from the media world. Our view on the world is one we view through media. Thus, media life is the life we live in.

I think it is an advantage for us to look at our lives in media because, as we’ve talked about this entire course, whether we like it or not, our media is expanding. Both the usage and the technology, media has already taken over a large portion of our lives, right now I am using media to complete homework, and it will only expand with time. Being able to see how we fit into this wild picture, the different sides of each argument about media, and generally seeing how one thing effects our lives so much, is essential to fitting in to the increasing media picture. Also, looking at things like becoming zombies in a positive way which I have never heard in my life has given me a different mindset with most things, helping me keep an open mind and see both sides of each argument. Lecture was never hard to go to, I will miss this class and some of the ideas and concepts discussed in T101.

Initially I heard about T101 Media Life from my older sister who took the course a few years ago. Coming into college without a clue of what I wanted to major in, I took Media Life because I heard it was an overall easy course. From my personal experience I would tell one of my peers to take Media Life for many reasons. Does this course come easy to me? Yes it does, but it is also a very intriguing topic. Looking back, I have learned that our lives are impossible without media. It has been interesting to track my media use in one single day. I am always immersed in media and it has taken over our generation. The topic of “Alone Together” was easily the most interesting to me. It opened my eyes to see that not all interaction with others is meaningful because we are usually using our media simultaneously. It makes me question whether or not time spent watching TV with my family is actually quality time. T101 has given me a new perspective on everyday life and I am now more aware of media presence in my life.

To me the point of looking at ourselves and the world we live in from the perspective of living in media is because media is such a big part of our lives and many people don’t even realize it. We live in a media world so everywhere you go there is some type of media that has been created by someone else or even yourself available at an instant and a way to connect to others all over the world. As we evolve media will continue to evolve along with us because we are so connected with it, media will continue to change and shape our lives as we shape our media.

-Blake Collins-

There are several reasons as to why people should look at themselves from the perspective of living in media. The first is the most obvious: we are so engrossed in our media that we use it without thinking about it consciously. It is because of this that this class is what it is about. We take so much for granted nowadays that we fail to see how media is affecting our lives everyday. Even before I started college and got my laptop, I was still using media everyday. Which brings me to my next point. Even when we are not using media, we are still involved in media life. Whether it is people posting on our Facebook walls or our faces being caught on security cameras, there is hardly any point in time where we are not connected to media in some way. The reason we should look more closely at ourselves from the vantage point of media life is so that we can learn how and why we use media the way that we do, and so that we don’t just become zombies that turn our brains off anytime we use media. This class has been a gateway for me to think proactively about my media usage and helped me to look deeper than just the surface of my cell phone buttons.

Through this course, I have learned that Media is more than just the computer, newspaper, apple products, and other electronic devices…rather it is a complex network that guides the lives of many people in the world today. Something that I have pondered frequently about this class is the argument of weather we follow the course of media, or if media follows us. Through discussion, many have shared their opinions that we follow the course of media…monkey see, monkey do…but I still find myself thinking that media follows us. Our freedom here allows us to venture out, take control and grow. We can develop new ideas and it is our needs and wants that create ideas to fix/cooperate with them. The media does just that. We are the media, we decide where it goes, and what it will become…the media follows us.

T101 has changed the way I look at my media and how it interacts with my life. It has opened my eyes to how close my personal relationship with media truly is. It affects every aspect of my life, everyday. So the question is, what’s the point? Because we are media. Media is us. We live together because we are together. It’s as simple as that. The point of this class is to realize this connection and learn how to embrace it and use it to better your life.

The reason why I think its important to look at our life through media is because our relationship with media is ever changing. Never before have some technological advances been had and the way we interact with media changes everyday. This class taught me how much we overestimate and underestimate media at the same time, at times we don’t think it has a major influence on our lives it does. I have always just used my media never taking the time to really think about what I’m doing and what effects it has on my life. With this class I have. I now notice things I never would have noticed without taking this class.

Living in a civilized and commercial era, it’s inevitable to be drawn into the information exploede and media-dominated whirlwind; it’s impossible to get rid off the impat of media. Media seems invisible for us but we are definitely not invisible in media. However, panic about media is not necessay, we just need to be alert to the fact that media is not independet, it’s inter-related and it interacts with individual. We can’t control the trend that media goes and develops, but we can control how do we see it.

“We are all fucking zombies.” Never in my 19 years of existence did I think I would hear that sentence, let alone by a professor. But once it’s analyzed, using a media perspective, it makes sense. With that being said, throughout T101- Media Life I have learned that we really are all fucking zombies. Everyone is connected through media somehow. We are alone, but together. While on social networking sites we we chat with others or “creep” on profiles. We are together looking at photos but can be alone while doing it. We will always exist, even if we are deceased, because we leave a digital footprint. Nothing is really ever deleted. It may be out of sight, but it’s still in the digital world if one digs deep enough. The question I ask myself frequently while sitting in a lecture is, does media help or hinder us more? We are being watched with cameras on the street and with each swipe of our campus access cards or credit cards our moves are tracked digitally. On the internet the sites we enter can be tracked and used for marketing purposes. This helps businesses but does it help the individual? We’ve had debates about this in discussion and consensus was that it doesn’t really affect us being watched on the internet but the same doesn’t go for cameras. When there is a camera shoved in our face we watch our behavior a bit more. This ties in with the Truman Show Delusion. Media is always evolving and this will never change. We plan out our day accordingly with media usage. T-101 has taught me that we shouldn’t be ashamed our our daily media usage, we should embrace it because it’s here to stay.

Media is ubiquitous, and as we learned last week and throughout the semester, it is almost impossible to escape from. Everywhere you go you see people focusing on their media instead of the world and people around them. But who are we to say whether this is “good” or “bad”? It all depends on context. All technology has pros and cons, and like Spiderman’s Uncle Ben (or FDR, or Jesus depending on who you ask) said: “With great power comes great responsibility.” Technology, and by association media capabilities, increases exponentially and is always giving us more power. New media/technology opens a world of possibilities to us and it is up to us to make the most of them. Being Luddites and saying that media is “bad” is ridiculous because it’s here to stay, and as we’ve seen, it’s only going to become more central to our lives. Like we learned in class by looking at a study of how often people say they use media versus how often they actually use media, it is a huge part of our lives and to a greater extent than we realize. While corporations may own most media, society as a whole helps to shape it (and it helps to shape society), so it is up to us to make the most of media and use it to improve our lives.

The point of looking at ourselves through media is so that we can have a better understanding of who we are and what our reality is. We are media.