Media is used for many different reasons for an audience , for example Entertainment. Entertainment is used for a way of escaping from reality, whether it be a TV show, or a genre of music. Entertainment will always be there to help the audience escape from whatever is in their lives.

In addition to that another way that Media can be used is for Personal Identity, Media helps us to reinforce who we are as a person and what values we have as a human. 

I use Media for the following reasons:

• Entertainment

• Personal Identity

• Social Interaction

• Information

Most of my media is online such as Instagram, Youtube, Snapchat, Spotify. All of these types of Media are under one of the four main reasons as to why I use Media. When using Media you have access to everything across the world just by the click of a button. You are able to see world news within seconds. 

Examples of My Media:

• Entertainment-Reality TV (Love Island)/ TV shows (Inbetweeners/Riverdale)/ Social Media (Instagram/Snapchat/Twitter/Facebook)

• Social Interaction- Social Media (I use social media to interact with my friends) 

• Personal Identity- Social Media (Youtube/Spotify/Instagram)

• Information- Online press (Guernsey Press/ Bailiwick Express) Radio (IslandFM) Social Media (Facebook,Twitter)

All of these reasons and uses for Media comes from Uses and Gratification by ‘Blumler and Katz’ When thinking about how I can use the Uses and Gratification Methods when making my own media, it will impact me to think about what types of Uses and Gratification will apply to my Media, for example will my Media impact my personal identity? Or will the Media I produce be informative to my audience and allow the audience to interact with one another about it.

The collage below represents all of my media I have an interest or access myself.

My Media Ecology:

The picture above is my idea of a Media Ecology.  The purpose of Lego Ecology setup was to allow myself and my classmates the chance to understand how Media Ecology effects most jobs. We learned about how everything in a job has to come from somewhere but it is the different types of Ecology that make the place what it is. An type of Media Ecology would be Distribution. Distribution is important because it makes us think about how has the object traveled to where it is now. Has it been distributed online? Or in a shop?

My groups idea was of a fire station, we spoke about how the different areas in a fire station are connected to one another. An example of this is how the service user’s (In this case the elderly man) animal is up the tree and has phoned the fire station to save their pet. Without the technology to do this, the fire station wouldn’t know about the issue.

When thinking about how the Music Magazine I produce will be effected in the chain of Media Ecology, I have to consider the following things:

• Who will be in charge of the Magazine?
• How much will the Magazine be?
• Who is the Magazine targeted at? (I.e What age? What Gender? etc)
• How will the Magazine be promoted? Will it be via Social Media? If so what platforms will the Magazine be promoted on?
• Does my Magazine fit into all the Governments rules and regulations?

When producing my own media, there is a chance that it could be impacted by Media Ecology because of all the different elements that are apart of Media Ecology. I need to be aware of the different rules and regulations and ensure that my Media will not break any laws. I will also need to be aware of the different ways I can distribute my Magazine, an example of this could be either on the Television or in the Newspaper. Both of these Media sources are hugely popular and would most likely attract an audience.

Another factor that impact my Magazine is Social Media and the Audience I have created from my Media source.  Without a popular social media site being used such as Instagram or Twitter that means the online audience wouldn’t have a place to react to my Magazine or interact to their friends about my Magazine. In addition to that the creators who are widely known online such as Bloggers/Vloggers or celebrities may see my Magazine and review it on their Social Media accounts which could gain a lot of attention and increase the audience.

The photo below is an example as to how Social Media has a big impact on so many different things. For example without social media the audience wouldn’t have anything to react to. Another example is Institutions. Without social media, the big companies such as ITV, BBC, 20th Century Fox wouldn’t have a platform to advertise, which means they would not get any profit out of it.

Social Media is a big part of the 21st century and without Social Media we as consumers and prosumers would be completely lost.  Creators such as Youtubers, Celebrities, Singers would have no platform to promote and showcase their lives.

During the next two years, I am hoping to learn how to confidently edit photographs and music videos. In addition to this I am excited to learn the different types of Media and how Media sources such as Radio, Television and Printing Press have changed over time and the impact that Media has had on our society. I am excited to produce my own music video as I have never done something like this before and are therefore eager to start the process. By producing a music video, it will give me to confidence in using the editing software provided by the school.

Due to studying Photography at GCSE I have a basic knowledge when it comes to using Photoshop however I would like to expand my knowledge for editing, so I have a better understanding of Photoshop. I am excited to use Indesign, as it is a program I have never used before and therefore will be a surreal experience learning how to successfully using new Adobe platforms. By choosing Media Studies, I believe that I will of learned good communication skills between my fellow classmates and my teacher. In addition to that I believe I will of continued and hopefully developed my Time Management Skills so they are superb.  Currently I am an organised person but by doing Media Studies, it will help me to maintain my ability of organization.