Millennials’ Media Use: It Is a Matter of Time

A transmedia diary tracked the media use of 388 Canadian university students, documenting the various ways they migrated across a range of devices and platforms as well as online and off-line sites during a typical day. The study suggests that media are used for entertainment, but also predominantly for socializing. The tendency to employ media for socializing is neither trivial nor alienating. It is a sign of a time when assembling sociality has become more challenging. Alan Warde’s theory of hypermodern times explains students’ dedication to “convenience technologies.” Media allow students to coordinate, stack, or shift their social interaction to better suit personal timetables. The analysis suggests that young people respond to new demands to socialize around the clock with escalating use of convenience technologies.