by Dr. Amber Smallwood
January 2014: I resolve to tidy up my email inbox.
There it is—my first resolution of 2014. I’m one of 45-ish percent of Americans that, come the first day of a new year, works on a list of changes to enact in the new year.
I looked online to see some popular 2014 resolutions. My friends and others are resolving to lose weight, exercise more, shop small, eat local, travel further, pay down (or even off!) debt, learn a new language, spend more time with family, etc. A few of these are also on my list, but that email inbox has been bugging me for a while.
Here’s the problem. It’s my Hotmail account—I’ve had this account since at least 1997. In 2007 or so it got hacked (again) and so I packed up my important email life and moved into the world of Gmail. But I just can’t let go of Hotmail—its contents are such a reflection of who I have been over the past 15+ years.
In my Introduction to Mass Communications class, I teach that media reflect and affect society. In so many ways, our media are our culture. Bring it down to the micro-level—the individual—the media content I consume says a lot about who I am, whether I like it or not. My personal email inbox is no different; it’s an amazing (at times, embarrassing) reflection of who I am…or have been or try to be.
So I looked back over my Hotmail inbox in the final 4 or so days of 2013. What I found was a flurry of promotional and persuasive messages sent by companies and organizations I have interacted with at some point during the lifespan of my Hotmail account (aka most of my adult life). Collectively they piece together clues about who I’ve been, and still am.
And a flurry of online and brick-and-mortar shops—local and national—offering me after-Christmas sales.
At some point, my Hotmail became my “junk” email inbox, used whenever I needed to register or sign-up for something. What perplexes me then is why I am so reluctant to “unsubscribe” to these email solicitations. Do I feel some sense of identity by being associated with specific brands, services and products?
I do believe that the media and messages we expose ourselves to, use and consume say a lot about what we value, believe and do, even if they’re only part of our stories. Still, if my media messages, and the state of my inbox in general, reflect me, I do not like looking in my inbox mirror.
In 2014 I WILL tidy up my inbox. I WILL unsubscribe from the emails that I no longer need (or read). I WILL try to give more consideration to the media and messages I use and their reflection of and effect on me. Wish me luck!
Amber Smallwood, Ph.D. is the associate dean of the College of Social Sciences and associate professor of Mass Communications.
