My Addiction to Media

My name is Haesel, and my role in media consumption…is bigger than it used to be, let’s start with that. I was working for a small IT support company up until mid-December, when it became abundantly clear that I needed to leave in order to maintain my sanity. I began my desperate search for another job, to fill up my days and pay my bills, but the search is ongoing and my malaise worsening. To pass the time in between sleep and going to class, the only things I seem to be able to do (or afford) any more, I spend my days inside with my buddies Netflix, Hulu, NPR, reddit, Instagram, and the insufferable Facebook. I hate you Facebook.

There was once a time when I used to take more of an active role in making media – this past Christmas I decided to make a video record of my parents’ lives before they met each other. But with several hours of footage on a drive somewhere, that project is now dead in the water since I’ve been going through a creative block.

In my circle of friends, it seems as though the only reason to communicate any more is to share a funny gif or video. Although now said gif/video generally originates from me since I spend so much time online these days. I send out articles I find interesting too, but I’ve begun to notice how people’s attention span isn’t what it used to be. Neither is mine. We’re constantly bombarded with so much information - videos, images, mostly advertisements, that if it doesn’t grab our attention or peak out interest within 10-15 seconds then we’re not sticking around to see what happens. 

I access online media on an hourly basis. It feels weird for me if a certain amount of time passes and I haven’t checked the front page of reddit, listened to NPR, or browsed Instagram to see Bernie Sanders’ latest selfie. I also use films and TV shows as a way of taking my mind off of things, using this process of staring at a screen to dull my mind and senses. When I put it that like that, it doesn’t sound like I have the healthiest of relationships with TV and the Internet…The media, or mass media, are something that I can’t live without, but I need to get a better grip on them in order to not stagnate. Hopefully this class will give me some much needed insight.