In this article, the authors report on a study designed to explore college students' experiences in two writing environments, or ecologies: a media-free, silent zone and a media-saturated zone. Participants shared varying reactions to both environments. Some individuals found media distracting while writing, and others found it to be an energy boost or reward. And, where some participants initially indicated a preference for a silent environment, they discovered that pure silence caused an overload of mental activity. This variability of reactions to media multitasking suggests that educators need to facilitate this process and help students to reflect metacognitively regarding their optimal writing environment.