The Daily Digital: A Day in the Life

     The sites and applications I use most often are Gmail, Facebook, Instagram, Outlook, and Pulse. Gmail and Outlook are email servicing applications and I use those applications to communicate. Pulse is an application that is school-related. I use this pulse to receive notifications from my instructors such as grade updates and announcements. Pulse also notifies me when someone has responded to discussion board posts I am subscribed to.  Facebook and Instagram are well-known social media sites/applications. I typically use these apps to keep up with my friends and family and as a form of entertainment. Through these social media apps, I can post my thoughts, photos, and videos, or repost information that I want to share with my friends. I can comment or react to others' content and be entertained via Facebook and Instagram reels.

    

    Digital media can evoke either positive or negative reactions. For example, if I log into my social media pages and see that someone has posted bad news, it could cause me to have a negative reaction. Typically, when I log into social media, there is a positive reaction because I can join in the joy of my friends when they have achieved a milestone like marriage, having a new baby, or getting a promotion at their job. When it comes to pulse, there is a certain level of anxiety while waiting for grades to be posted because I am anxious to know my grades. I do enjoy seeing what my classmates or instructor may have had to say in response to my discussion boards. When it comes to emails, many of them are spam, but I do get excited when I get an email from one of my favorite restaurants because sometimes those emails come with coupons or free items. I would have to say that digital media evokes an overall positive reaction for me because I try to keep the negative content to a minimum. 

    Although I use multiple forms of digital media, I could go a few days without looking at a couple of them. I can fulfill my need for entertainment through Facebook and take a few days off from Instagram. The same is true with Pulse, I do not have to check Pulse every day because I log into the computer every day so I can check the same notifications there. I do find that I check both email sources multiple times a day, so they are both necessary because they have different purposes.

    Emails have become more and more important. I find myself checking my email multiple times a day and I receive emails from several different businesses. They each have their tactics to catch my eye, but I find that I am most likely to open and read the emails that address me directly, by name, in the subject line. I feel like those messages may not be a mass message that was sent to every contact on their email list. I also am more likely to open emails that have enticing offers, like free chicken sandwiches from Chic-fila, because who would want to miss the opportunity for free food?

    

        The use of digital media in marketing is a must for businesses today. Consumers are all using digital media to either get information, shop or as a source of entertainment. “American consumers spend around eight hours of their day with digital media… (Guttman, 2023).” I have seen an uptick in the amount of applications available for businesses. Many more businesses are taking advantage of the digital media as a way of reaching their target audiences.

Guttmann, A. (2023, December 18). Topic: Media usage in the United States. Statista. https://www.statista.com/topics/1536/media-use/#topicOverview