It starts out as just a simple objective: to research what it means to multitask and the affect that it has on human efficiency. Through studying multitasking the amount of internet tabs I have opened, questioned the exact conclusion researchers had come to. What I was learning and the way that I was going about learning it seemed to be ineffective. Anna Cirell (2014) and Annie Paul (2013) encourages with in their professions that people look at what they are doing, how they are doing it and the reason for it. The addictiveness of looking at multiple screens and engaging with so many different things distracts from the real focus, the real intention of what someone wants to do. With all the gadgets and gizmos that are at our disposal and the portability of those gadgets they are always with us, calling out and tempting us to be used.
The idea of multitasking is interesting to me. With all the screens that I can be looking at and playing with it seemed to me that the simplest form of multitasking would be eating and working on a computer. The main difference I see being that eating is a necessity for health and human survival while using a computer can be anything from fun, work and even just boredom. So the idea behind looking at this topic would be to look at which aspects of eating and being on the computer would people succumb to. Would people stay on the computer and forgo eating because technology is so compelling or would they be able to control themselves – step back from the computer and get something to eat. While this may question the addictiveness of technology it didn’t quite relate to multitasking directly.
My choice looked at pizza and Reddit. Pizza because it is a common thing that I eat on a regular basis while using my laptop and that it is the leading choice of take-away food in America. I chose Reddit as the social media as it is seen as a popular place for American users, so the connection between America’s choice of Pizza and a social media that is used by Americans provides the potential to find connections between what they do in the area of multitasking Reddit and eating Pizza. Looking at how media could have the potential to change the eating habbits of its users is an interesting aspect to look at. My topic looked simple at the way they people would eat their pizza if they were to do nothing but eat and to see what they did differently when using a computer. The results would be a reflection of the people who change their behaviour. Would people consider the qualities of pizza when they are using a computer – grease, loose topping, sides and crust.
Gathering information from making a survey allowed to look at each individual aspect about how someone would get a pizza and then how they would eat in when being on the computer. Looking at where people buy pizzas – independent pizzerias or cafes, multi-chain stores that sell pizza frozen or fresh, if people order online and have it delievered or pick it up and even if people buy all the raw ingredients and make pizza from scratch allows to understand what type of pizzas people are buying. Whether they want a to-do-it-yourself style fresh made, a frozen just stick in the oven or one from a take-away store that supports local business.
There are multiple aspects we can look at in regards to finding out what demographic on Reddit there is that allows for pizza companies to make a decision on how to promote their brand and secure an audience. A potential brand or stakeholder would be Domino’s Pizza as looking at what sort of audience there is on Reddit allows us to distinguish what aspects of pizza are prominent, what costs people are willing to pay, how far people are willing to travel and how interested people are in eating Pizza. My research would provide valid research in looking at what aspects are key in finding if Reddit is a worthwhile promotional platform for Domino’s advertisement.
The additional interest about looking at eating pizza while being on Reddit is interest in how little common problems such as greasy pizza and loose problems is catered to when multitasking. Greasy pizza would lead to greasy fingers and potential greasy keyboard, depending on how much someone cares for their products and so wanting their computer to stay clean how would they go about cleaning the grease up. Also would be to look at what could someone add to their computer to protect from that little bit of liquid landing on your keyboard no matter how careful you are.
References:
Cirell, A. M. (2014) “Media Multi-Tasking and the Learning/Developing Child” The New Social Worker, January 5, accessed online 31 October 2014 http://www.socialworker.com/feature-articles/practice/media-multi-tasking-and-the-learning-developing-child/
Paul, A. M. (2013) “You’ll Never Learn! Students can’t resist multitasking, and it’s impairing their memory” Slate, 3 May, accessed online 31 October 2014 http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2013/05/multitasking_while_studying_divided_attention_and_technological_gadgets.html