Blackout media - three pages

SOC 356 (Sociology of Popular Culture) Media Blackout Experiment (50 pts)

FIRST: document 12 consecutive hours of all of your media use. Do this part of the experiment sometime during the week of September 18 – September 24.

Keep a written log for 12 hours (of time you are awake, not sleeping) of exactly how much time you spend using some form of media. Include all time spent watching television, surfing the Internet, listening to music, viewing films, and even using your cell phone – any activity that can be constructed as part of the media.

THEN: document 12 consecutive hours without media – a media “blackout.” Do this part of the experiment sometime during the week of September 25 – October 1.

Eliminate all use of media, except for that required for work, school, and emergencies for a 12-hour period (if you can do this project on a day where you are not required to use media for work or school that’s even better!), keeping a journal as you go. Consider: What are you thinking? What do others say? How do people interact with you?

Be sure to have some plan in place for having your family and/or friends contact you in case of an emergency. If you cannot go the full 12 hours without media (hopefully you will try!), please be honest and journal about that instead. At what point did you give in? Why? What are you thinking about?

Written Assignment:

After you have finished both parts of the assignment, document your findings in a short paper. Be sure to address the following:

· What did you learn about yourself as you recorded your own use of media over a 12-hour period?

· What was your experience like during the media blackout?

· What influence does the media have in shaping everyday life, including your self-concept and your relationships with other people?

· Incorporate at least two concepts that have been addressed in class and/or your readings to date (e.g., cultural hegemony, culture industry, ritualist, matrix of media, etc.)

· Attach your journals/logs/notes to your paper (handwritten is fine).

Your paper must be double-spaced, with one-inch margins and a standard font style and size (10-12. It must include a title page and a references page (NOT included in the total page count). Excluding title and references pages, your paper must be a minimum of two pages, but no more than three pages long. Use ASA format: (http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/583/01/)