Media Literacy and How It Has Affected Me

    The dictionary definition of media literacy is "Media literacy is the ability to sift through and analyze the messages that inform, entertain and sell to us every day. It's the ability to bring critical thinking skills to bear on all media." Personally, I think that media literacy is the ability to understand that the media affects our lifestyles and the way we see things around us, from issues to everyday activities. It is being able to interpret our society through its means of technology and communication, seeing hidden messages, underlying themes, etc. in our world through different mediums.
     Media literacy requires us to be informed and aware of the influence that media such as magazines, movies, commercial advertisements, etc. have on today's society. The way we accomplish the simplest things have been impacted by these things, even if we do not really notice it. 
     Personally for me, I have an iTouch, an Android phone, and a laptop computer, and I enjoy them all. However, I'm perfectly content with a book as well, and no, not a Kindle book. 
     We see different commercials everywhere on the TV and the Internet, making us desire "bigger and better" things.We are a society that for the most part, believes everything we read, but I don't think we should. Marketing professionals' jobs are to attract people with alluring advertisments, and they know who to target. Of course, there is the good and bad kind of media to succumb to. You just have to be perceptive, choosing the forms that benefits you. (Because of technology and media, we can no longer use the "my dog/cat/iguana ate my homework as our excuses, sadly.)
      We are all so focused upon our phones, that some find ourselves losing interaction and communication skills rapidly, as well as the simpler joys in life, like reading a book or going out and just sitting to relish the silence. We have to be constantly listening to music, or pacing, surrounded by noise, when the best thing is to just sit and enjoy time to ourselves. I know this because I am guilty of these things, as well. 
      Media literacy is important to me, because I want to be able to discern the good from the bad media, so I don't fall too deeply into the hole that is technology, because it could take many joys from my life. I don't like the prospect of wasting away, not living, because I was so enveloped in the materialistic and technological things of this digital age. 
      I never want to lose my sense of social skills, or my individual voice, due to a gradual dependency on media and technology. Technology has a way of de-humanizing a person's unique voice in society, and if people aren't careful, there is always a chance of losing that individuality that makes us who we are. To me, that does not seem worth losing in order to gain a sense of conformity in my society.
      Don't forget the small pleasures in life. If you feel like you are replacing them with technology and media, fight to find a balance, because it's not a negative thing to understand their purpose in society, but like anything, "too much of a good thing can be bad for you".


-Kelsey


Links to check out:

http://www.handheldlearning.co.uk/content/view/61/

http://henryjenkins.org/2006/11/eight_traits_of_the_new_media.html

http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/teachers/media_literacy/what_is_media_literacy.cfm

http://www.cmp.ucr.edu/education/programs/digitalstudio/studio_programs/vidkids/medialit.html