I have a love/hate relationship with media. I love sites like YouTube, the audiovisual content is endless. These creators inspire me, the videos shared grant one the ability to learn, dissect, wonder – the access of information is limitless.
However, like everything, it must be moderated. Addiction is real, and the reality of that addiction is: it is now virtual too. We are drawn to media because of its limitless protentional and our never-ending desire to socialize with others, but today we have reached a point where media is forced upon us on too readily, becoming a necessity to maintain a place in society rather than a gift to be used accordingly. Media is a wonderful thing but the rise of social media algorithms have been left unchecked.
We now live in a culture that requires extroversion. Not everyone in is extroverted but some of us are, and these people thrive in such a culture. It seems as if one does not adhere to this voyeuristic culture, if one does not express themselves through these medias, they are not seen, they are not living. This is stressful. Being a child in this day and age and being flung into a world of social medias where everything is ubiquitous is damaging. To be attached to such devices before we can even think. When I was in primary school it was rare for a classmate to have a flip phone – now it is rare not to have an iPhone, but quite common to see a baby using an iPad or other such devices.
I believe media and the devices we have created are a positive thing. The relationships I have formed, the decisions I have taken, philosophies I discover people I have met; all of these things may never have happened to me without myself having a presence in media. But I do not think for a moment that we are taking inventory of what the current infrastructure of these medias is doing to us, or how it is controlling and shaping us – especially the social medias.
Those who are extroverted thrive. Those who aren’t must “keep up”, or be ostracized completely.
Why I Heart My Media 