Media-Technology Use Log

From the time I woke up this morning, I recorded each use of media technology in a log with pencil and paper. Here is an excerpt from the log:

11:14 - check cell for new messages
11:26 - begin this log w/pencil and paper
- open up computer to begin grad school research
11:35 - gmail chat from Noelle
11:45 - login to Skype
-skype with Mom, skype with Noelle
12:56 - begin grad school research on the computer
1:51 - text Erika/plug in phone
2:04 - exchange several more texts messages with Erika
2:16 - close comp to go for a walk
- unplug phone to bring

I don't expect anyone to be particularly interested in the details of my lazy Saturday morning. However, the process of creating the log was individually enriching for me. At a community level, the compilation of "technology-use logs" could prove to be a valuable source of information for social scientists, economists, businesses, etc. Consider the individual and community significance of creating a media-technology log:

Individual significance - Creating the log helped me be more mindful of my media-technology use throughout the day. Having contemplated this experiment for a while, I was eager to begin when I woke up today.

First, I had to decide which activities I would record. It was the buzzing of my cell phone that woke me up, but does that count as my use of my cell phone? I decided to record only the uses of technology that were intentional and significant to me. For example, as soon as I sat up in bed, my eyes began to catch site of all the brand logos glimmering around my room. The microphone sticker on my CD case, the books on my bedside table, my smartwool sock on the floor, the lonely-planet guidebook on my shelf. But I didn't place the objects around my room with the intention of waking up and consuming the messages they convey. These objects are part of my media-scape, conveying messages to me, whether I am conscious of them or not, that I can hardly notice or take time to notice. I suppose my real reason for not recording these mediated interactions is simply that it would take too much time. The log was intended to be a light reprisal of the choices I made about media-technology use throughout the day, not an all-consuming process of logging every haphazard interaction with text, image and sound that my senses digested. Thus, I only recorded the choices I made about which media-technology to use, or not use, today.

Second, the knowledge that I'd be creating this journal changed my behavior. For example, when I decided to go out for a walk, I considered taking my iPod with me. But I decided I'd rather be mindful of my surroundings and take the time to clear my head. I did, however, bring flashcards to study when I reached the park. Also, while outside, I didn't use my cell phone as much to check the time or send text messages because I didn't want to make unnecessary media interactions that would have to be logged later. Instead, I tried to keep things simple. And I enjoyed it.

Throughout the day, I reflected on my use of media-technology. The creation of the log was not so much burdonsome as intriguing, enriching. "Oh, I spent an hour and a half doing that..." "I turned on the computer to do this, better not get distracted by writing this email..." These are thoughts normally wouldn't occur to me, but I had fun considering them today.

Community signifiance - In the future, such a pencil and paper blog will be laughable because every digital movement (and everything will be digital) will be logged by the information powerhouses of the internet world. The Googles, the Amazons, they will know your every move. And collectively, they will use the information gathered from millions of users to filter and reprocess information to privilege the interests of the powerful.

But that is a bleak future imagined by a dark, techno-determinist who would have everybody leading Second Lives by next year and living in the Matrix. From a more neutral point of view, I would argue that a collection of user reports about use of media-technology is (and will be) valuable. This is precisesly the kind of technology that Microsoft employs when they ask you to send an error report when Word crashes, or Google uses when you search. The idea is to create kind of a wiki based on recorded behavior. This information, like all other information, is valuable. Companies want to know about your behavior on the internet, on your cell phone. So do social scientists. People want to understand what people do and why they do it. Such understanding is powerful. And in an age mediated by technology, an understanding of the use of technology is fundamental to consolodating power.

From an optomistic point of view, the creation of such media-technology logs by users could be used to empower the users themselves and their communities. Such information could be collected in a wiki or group blog. And hyper text and searching features would allow for cross-reference and analysis. It's likely such logs already exist. In any case, the control of this information by setting permissions or access would be a critical to ensuring that the information is used for the interest of users, the public interest, so to speak.