For me, this exercise was a wake-up call. I’ve always thought that I was a moderate consumer of media, and that is why realizing that I spent around 8 hours per day consuming media this week was a revelation.
The diagram below shows my consumption per media outlet. I spent a significant portion of my time (3 hours per day) using Microsoft Outlook, which is the application I use for work. This diagram made me realize the amount of time I spend sending and receiving emails. I also noted the number of times (12 times per day) I used the Outlook app on my phone to check if I have received any new email. Social Media is another outlet that takes a significant portion of my time. This observation can be attributed to the fact that most of my family and friends live abroad, so social media offers me the best method to connect with them and know their news.
The other observation I noted was that I only spent 10 minutes per day on articles that I’ve opened through Facebook and Twitter. I honestly excepted this number to be higher.

I was also surprised to realize that 51% of my media consumption was done through my laptop. I think it might be because during my work day I sometimes take some mental breaks by reading some news and entertainment articles. I also sometimes use my laptop for viewing videos which might have attributed to my consumption pattern.

Another revelation for me was the significant number of mediums I consumed that are being tracked third-party data-tracking applications. By using “Ghostery” a web extension which allowed me to monitor and block these applications, I realized that third parties are tracking 45% of the media I consume.
I have created the sculpture below to express my feelings regarding being continuously tracked by third party providers and by the media outlets I consume online. In the middle, there is the eye of the user being monitored by different digital eyes (representing the tracking of information) that are surrounding the user from everywhere, designed to make the user feel that the experience is as natural as possible so that the trackers can continue to mine data.

Overall, this exercise was eye-opening for me, and it allowed me to notice specific patterns in my consumption that I did not expect. It also prompted me to reconsider the way I consume media.