WATCHING TV MAKES YOU 'UNEDUCATED'

Today in my media audiences class the topic was 'The Gendered Audience.' As a tutorial task we were split into two groups, boys and girls. We were asked to discuss which TV shows we often watch. We were also given a photocopy of yesterdays television guide and were asked to highlight TV shows we thought were aimed at females in pink, those aimed at males in blue and neutral ones in purple. Sounds fun right?

I love watching TV. Sometimes I am too busy and barely get to watch it at all but Thursday night is my 'TV' night. I watch Home and Away, Masterchef, Glee and The Amazing Race. When I told my group this, a girl named Melanie* looked disgusted. She immediately judged me as being 'non-educated.' I couldn't believe it. She was like 'I never have time to watch TV. I am too busy studying.'

When discussing Masterchef our group decided it should be colour coded pink. We also decided that the 7:30pm report on channel ABC should be coloured blue. Melanie quickly added 'some women are actually educated and wouldn't watch Masterchef, they would be more inclined to watch the 7:30pm report.' I couldn't believe her nerve. She was calling me 'uneducated.' For the rest of the class she had nothing to say but insults and behaved as if she was above me and the other members in our group. She was making it out like watching TV was a sin and that it was a hobby for stupid 'uneducated' people.

People like Melanie* make my skin crawl. I understand she is entitled to an opinion but she had no right to make such remarks and assumptions like that.
Sorry. I just HAD to get that off my chest.

WHY I DEACTIVATED MY FACEBOOK

In response to my recent post about procrastination I felt that it was necessary to focus more on my study and less on social networking. Therefore I recently made the bold decision to deactivate my Facebook.
This was a tough decision as my daily routine often includes Facebook 'stalking' and 'prying' and often this addictive hobby can often consume up to two to three hours of my day. I am always on Facebook, chatting to people, looking at peoples photos and laughing at the ridiculous amount of pathetic groups people willingly join. Deactivating was a difficult process but I knew it was the best thing to do. I have three major assignments due within the next two weeks and the last thing I need to be doing is spending my time on Facebook (although I still have my Twitter account) lol ;)

I did some research and on the Facebook site found some frightening statistics.

• More than 400 million active users
• 50% of our active users log on to Facebook in any given day
• People spend over 500 billion minutes per month on Facebook

I almost think that Facebook is sad. Although hypocritical because I often find myself on the site for hours on end, it is sad to see that people actually 'live for Facebook'. I think that instead of social networking people should get off the couch and make some friends in the real world. In the university library every computer screen is distinctively blue and white as people chat to their friends that are two computers away from them. Face-to-face conversations are almost extinct.

Although I admit I will reactivate my Facebook within the next few weeks I want to limit my daily dosage and focus more on my studies. The only reason I don't delete my Facebook forever is for two reasons.
1. Facebook is my only link to my friends I made in America while on student exchange
2. Facebook doesn't let you DELETE YOUR ACCOUNT.

That's right. There isn't even an option to delete your account. You can only deactivate it with the option of 'reactivating at any time'. Facebook doesn't want you to leave. They encourage you to stay. It's a trap.

When I went to deactivate my account there was a slogan saying 'Are you sure you want to deactivate your account'. Below Facebook has accessed your pictures and chosen five of you and your friends. For example above each picture it says 'Sarah will miss you' 'Brody will miss you' 'Claire will miss you' etc. Right down to the last second Facebook is convincing you to stay, a cheeky tactic!

It has only been two days since my deactivation but I find myself habitually typing Facebook into my browser then realising I cannot access it.

I think this Facebook detox will be a good thing for me and hopefully my assignment grades will reflect that.

How long do you spend on Facebook/Myspace/Twitter each day? :)

THE ART OF PROCRASTINATION

I have mastered the art of procrastination. Procrastinating is the one thing that I am truly good at. Leaving things to the last minute is my specialty. I am always making up excuses not to do something. The other day I watched a television documentary on how wallpaper is made, just to avoid doing some marketing revision.

I will do anything to postpone things. I will do the stupidest things just to avoid doing study. Like check my emails, clean my room, cut my toe nails, read my horoscope and of course, sit on the computer for hours. I can't help it though and it is such a bad habit. I know about uni assignments for months, yet I always try and finish them the night before and majority of the time they get handed in late. I procrastinate, procrastinate, procrastinate...until the very last possible moment. I let my hair get super dirty before I wash it, I let my phone die before I charge it and I let my room get super dirty before I even think about cleaning it. I am always trying to get to uni in about 20 minutes when really it should take me a good half an hour drive. That is because I even procrastinate getting out of bed. I press snooze about five times, then usually end up falling back to sleep and having to get ready in a mad rush.

I wish I was more organised with my time. Really I hate procrastinating and I wish I could kick the habit. I try writing things down in my plan, having a schedule, but still I find ways around it. I will think of any reason not to do something. I'm addicted to procrastinating!