Adam Mikeal → Courses → Computers and new Media → Media usage themes
Certain media types showed up with strict regularity among the class members; for instance, every single student listed an email client of some kind, and 7 out of 14 listed Gmail specifically. Over hals the class also listed an IM service of some kind (AIM, MSN, Yahoo, etc), and television shows were also popular (but not universal; two students listed no traditional television programs at all).
Internet reading (blogs, new sites like slashdot, CNN online, etc) were the other near-constant, with 12 out of 14 students listing websites that they frequented. Interestingly, search engines such as Google and Yahoo were also listed by several students, and indication of the degree to which these necessary tools have become essential parts of our daily lives.
Comparing specific media choices out of the entire selection revealed interesting threads as well—both personally and between other members of the class. I've already mentioned the commonality of email as a communication medium, and like myself, over half the class uses Gmail as their email client (and server). Additionally, Brian uses his email client for general organizational tasks, such as note-taking; just as I do.
I share several common interests in television and film viewing with other class members: Crystal, Brian, and myself all enjoy Lost; Crystal, Sarah, and Maritza all listed Grey's Anatomy or House, both shows I like to watch; and I know that Alex enjoys Battlestar Galactica as much as I do. Several students shared similar tastes in films as me: Alex and Colin both listed various Sci-fi related movies, and Brian's list looked familiar in it's eccentricity. and Ahmed listed HBO in general, which I like, too (sometimes serendipitous discovery is just the thing...).
Colin, James, Robert and Sarah all shared reading interests, either authors or specific books (BTW Robert, I should get the credit for Colin's Turtledove reference, since I'm the one that introduced him to it :-). And yes - I don't think there is a better concept than The Guns of the South), and there was a lot of overlap between commonly-visited websites.
One more interesting feature: the music tastes that were listed were remarkable in their dissimilarity, I thought. Even though we are in a class full of people with very similar backgrounds, by-and-large, (grauate students, Engineering, Computer Science), the music listed showed very little overlap. I think this reveals an interesting insight into the personalities of the class.
Addendum (11 Feb 2006): Brad, I am offended (highly!) at your implication of shame involved with my listing of Gilmore Girls on my media report. Obviously, you've never watched the show, or you would know how funny it is—where else will you hear arcane cultural references to Condaleeza Rice, Allen Ginsberg, and Dakota Fanning within 15 minutes of each other, followed by a guest appearence of Madeline Albright as herself?
Addendum (11 Feb 2006, but later): Actually, this brings up an interesting question: I wonder how much self-censorship (if any) happened in these reports? Did students fail to include certain shows or media examples because of how they thought they might be perceived by the rest of the class? Conversly, were other examples added because of the (perceived) image the association might grant them? Hmm...