Now more than ever, all eyes are on the newest developments of the communications realm, like cell phones with fake lightsabers and constantly growing Internet communication sites such as Facebook.com and Twitter.com. This tidal wave of new media seems to leave the more traditional publishing industries struggling. One longtime staple, however, remains popular: television.
In fact, according to a recent article in The New York Times, Americans are now watching record amounts of television.
College students are doing their part to maintain television's eminent role in the media landscape. According to Media Life Magazine, college students watched an average of 10.6 hours of television per week in the spring of 2007, a rise from 10.1 hours the previous fall. The study cited the increased use of YouTube.com and other online TV substitutes, as well as the rising popularity of cooking shows on the Food Network, as potential factors in the rise in college viewership.
A separate study by the magazine noted that a whopping 96 percent of college students watch television weekly.
For many, TV takes on a social dimension in college. At Tufts, students often plan to gather together in front of the tube to watch a favorite show. "I'd say there's a social component to it," junior Amy Rosenbaum said. "My friends all have standing dates to watch certain TV shows, like, a couple of my friends would come to my house, and they watch 'The Office' ... and I know 'Grey's Anatomy' was really big for us when we lived in the dorm."
Some students said that living with their friends in college introduced them to new shows. "I think you start watching what your friends watch because you live with them," sophomore Emily Spooner said. "Then you keep watching what you watch along with [the new shows]."
Junior Amaro Taylor believes that the social aspect of watching television transcends the simple act of watching. "I think people talk more about shows in college than they did in high school ... so I think that makes it more of a social experience."
Students often use TV as not only a way to connect with others but as a mental break from busy schedules or simply as a way to recuperate after a hectic week. "Really, I just use it for background noise when I'm studying," junior Rob Matera said. "I don't like it to be completely silent, so I just put [on]... nonsense."
Rosenbaum agreed with Matera. "I mean, we all have those days when it's like Saturday, and you've just woken up, and you're ... not at your top physical peak from the night before, and you're just like, 'I really can't deal with this,'" Rosenbaum said. "And you know you'll sit down and all the sudden, like three hours later you've been watching a whole bunch of TV. ... But sometimes it's kind of what you need to ... uncheck your brain."
Whether watching TV on their own or in a group, many students say are taking advantage of online TV shows because they are easier to fit into their schedules than watching a show when it airs. "I would never watch a show when it's on now just [because] I can just wait until it's online, and then I don't have to watch commercials," Taylor said.
Studies suggest, however, that students opting for televised news over The New York Times or watching online TV as their bookshelf gathers dust, may lose out on the valuable mental processes that accompany reading. Several recent psychological studies suggest that the complex neural interactions that are formed by active activities that encourage critical thinking -- for example, reading -- are not stimulated by more passive activities such as watching television. According to researchers, the future implications could include less-complex brains for children who spend a great deal of time in front of the TV.
Senior Janak Kumar agreed with these findings. "My attention span is more focused when I read. When I watch television, I'm never completely focused."
But chronic television addiction does not seem to be a problem for most Tufts students, according to junior Louise Galuski. "I think people are pretty good about it, actually," Galuski said. "I mean, if you watch like one show a week. ... It's not like everyone hangs out and watches TV mindlessly for hours."
