How I Communicate.

When I want to talk to a friend, family member, or teacher I usually use three different types of communication to get in touch with each one. Depending on the person that I am talking to determines what type of technology I use to get in touch with them. When I talk with my friends, for the most part, I text them because I never know if they are in class or doing something in which they cannot talk and that is the easiest way to communicate. I don’t really like to text message, but since it is all that my friends do I guess that I have changed the way that I feel about it a little bit. If I need to talk to my mom, dad, grandmother, or someone from the older generation I normally use the telephone (well not a telephone, but my cell phone). My mom has finally started to get texting, so now sometimes I text my mom, but I would say that over all I prefer to use my cell phone to talk to people.

I like to talk on the phone with my friends and family more because for one thing I am a very fast talker and have a lot to say, therefore typing or texting takes a lot more effort and time rather than a phone call. Also I feel that face-to-face or a verbal conversation is more personal than a text or email. And I also think that an e-mail is more personal than a letter, I could not tell you the last time that I actually sat down and wrote a letter though. In the past year I have not written any letters by hand, but I do use my email on a day-to-day basis. Sometimes I wish that people still wrote letters because I think that they are more personal than an e-mail, but now-a-days it is so much easier to just hop on your computer and type a note or letter. I also feel that letters are way more personal because with an e-mail you can not see the handwriting that the person writes and with an e-mail anyone could technically be writing it and you would never know.

I use my cell phone everyday all day. I honestly do not know what I would do with out it. I recently just got a black berry and now my phone is attached to my hip more than it already was before. Even though I love my phone and feel naked when I do not have it, I do enjoy when my phone either dies or is broken for a few days because then I do not have the distraction. Also people are unable to get in touch with me and it is kind of nice sometimes. Now that I have a blackberry I can get on the Internet, which also means that I can check my Facebook more than I already do with my computer.

I get on my Facebook page at least three times a day and I am what you can call addicted. I really like to get on and see what my friends are doing and keep in touch with old ones. I stay in touch with a lot of my friends from high school, old time elementary school friends, and even friends from college who I might not see everyday. Facebook also has a new application in which you can chat with other friends and it is kind of like instant messaging. That is another way that I keep in touch with people that I have not talked to in a while. I really enjoy Facebook, I really wish that I didn’t, but I would say that it is a big way I communicate with others in my life. I hope that communication stays the way it is because it is becoming less and less personal and if that is the case then in a few years people will be communicating with out any verbal interaction.

My Media Habits- Blog #1

I am Abbey Swift and I am a senior here at UMBC. I play on the Women’s Lacrosse (http://www.umbcretrievers.com/) team here and I am a Media and Communications and American Studies major. I come from a big family and I love spending time with my family and friends.

My media habits started at a very young age. I have three brothers and two sisters and my mother was a stay at home mom, so in the early morning I would watch the news, then her favorite morning talk show was Regis and Kelly and I loved watching that with her as well. At night when my family was done dinner my mom would watch the evening news and then Entertainment Tonight was always on at 7, so we had to watch that. My two older sisters have two different interests when it comes to their media habits therefore I got both spectrums. I was influenced by one who loves celeb gossip, reality television, and primetime TV where as my other sister likes to watch and be updated with worldly and political news. Since I look up to my older sisters I have, I guess followed in their footsteps when it comes to media habits because I always wanted them to think that I was cool.

I would say that I have pretty good media habits. I at least try to get all aspects of the media because I love reading about celebrity gossip and I really enjoy watching the daily evening news. Since I watched the news as a kid it makes me feel at home while being at college. The only thing that I wish that I was more “in-tune” with when it comes to the media is currently I would like to be more informed with the new president and worldly news. I have been trying to stay up-to-date with most recent news with our new president, but I have trouble keeping up with it. My goal for this year is to learn more about this topic and stay interested in it. Also, I believe that has a lot of impact on people’s lives. The things that people see on television or hear about in the news influences how they perceive people in the media.