A Day in the LIfe

    The landscape of digital content is vast and constantly evolving but allows for greater opportunities to connect, consume media, and exchange ideas, goods, and services with friends, family, and strangers around the globe. For myself, these are the top six platforms I use and integrate with the most:

 Google

    First up is Google. This is a bit broad but I utilize their suite of services most of every day through email, maps, their search engine, Chrome, Drive, and even use their hosting environment and web service functions for the digital content management functions in my job as a Marketing Manager to name a few. Google has cemented itself as the foundation of digital experiences for both personal and professional use.

 
 Instagram

    Social media platforms are where you see the most evolution and development. In previous years, I was active on many platforms but have since decided to interact almost exclusively on Instagram. As a creative, I was drawn to this platform immediately after launch for its image hosting and the network I was able to build to curate my feed to show me the content that I desired. Now with ad integration, it allows for targeted products and services that fall in line with my preferences and needs, which sometimes can be a bit troubling but if we are going to see ads, they might as well be what you are in the market for. 

 Reddit

    As someone who constantly desires to learn and keep up to date, Reddit has been the number one source for me for the last 15(ish) years. The platform allows users to rank the content to promote the most popular contributions and allows for engagement in the threaded comments. Subreddits are curated with specific (or broad) niche hobbies, interests, entertainment, news, etc. where you can find others with similar interests and beliefs. These communities have evolved for better or worse so you have to go in knowing that there is probably more native content and bot accounts and filter through that to get what you want out of it. That being said, this is where I spend most of my personal time when engaged with digital content on either the app or browser-based site. 

 Spotify

    Spotify has changed the music landscape and entire business model. The streaming service allows you to listen to almost every song ever recorded, besides the few artists who only release their content on exclusive platforms. Music and podcasts are my most consumed entertainment content. From when I wake up in the morning, throughout my day, and even as I fall asleep, I am engaging with the content on Spotify, mainly through their iPhone app as well as the desktop client on my computer when I am working, or writing blog posts for a marketing class!

 Amazon

    Speaking of game-changers, there is nothing bigger than Amazon. Similar to Google, this is also a very broad platform as you can exist in their ecosystem and meet your every need as a consumer. I engage with their products by browsing and ordering products through their delivery platform where free, almost instant shipping being the biggest draw, listening to audiobooks with Audible, watching TV and movies on Prime Video, Alexa and integrated smart devices, and also using their servers and technology capabilities for the backend of digital platforms. As an early adopter of Prime delivery when it first launched, this is a platform that is well integrated into my household and one that would make things a bit more expensive and inconvenient if they disappeared. 

 HBO Max

    Still one of the main pillars of high-quality original content, HBO's newer HBOMax platform is where I gravitate to for original programming. Although other platforms have rivaled their quality, they have decades of content that have always been the pinnacle of storytelling and documentaries. With most platforms, the content has to sell me in order to get me to watch it. With HBO, they have built up enough clout that if it is on their platform, I will watch it even if it's out of the norm for me - and it rarely, if ever, disappoints. 

    Reactions to digital media platforms vary. In recent years, I've put more focus into managing time invested within each platform to make sure I am getting the most out of life and implementing it with my digital experience. Facebook, for example, used to be where I spent most of my time because it was a place to socialize with friends and stay up to date with each other. It has now turned quite toxic and no longer provides the service that it was initially developed for so I now have negative reactions when using the platform. A major positive would be the ability to consume as much content as you want. As I stated previously, I always have music or a podcast playing, and not having to worry about buying (or storing) new albums or having to change a record or CD constantly has created a more efficient consumer model. It also allows me to discover new artists around the world that would have gone unnoticed in a previous time. Based off of this analysis of my digital media usage, my needs are satisfied with creative and original content (music, movies, TV, podcasts, audiobooks, pop culture, etc.) and those primarily are the platforms I interact with the most. Ultimately, engaging with digital media and platforms should be a positive experience for the individual and if a platform evolves beyond your desires, there are other communities that will supplement your wants and needs. 

    Emails from corporations were something I always pushed aside until I began working in media and marketing. There is a tremendous value for both the consumer and business with email engagement but it is a very fine line. Personally, I have curated my inbox to receive only the messaging from businesses that I know I will interact with or take advantage of a promotional opportunity. If I am in the market for an expensive product, I will wait until the business offers a coupon or deal through an email campaign or automated outbound messaging when interacting with their website. By learning more about how email campaigns work, you can use this to your advantage as a consumer. 

    Digital media should now be the major focus of marketing initiatives for every corporation or business. I may be biased because I've spent most of my career in that space but this is the way of the future. Marketing is a department that has to be on the cutting edge of technology and innovation and utilize the tools available. In these times, if your brand is not online or utilizing digital media platforms, does it even exist?