Consuming media

I have always consumed a lot of media. I was that kid who was loud and hyper all the time and the only thing that could make me still was watching television or playing video games. My big sister was a huge nerd back then and of course I thought she was the coolest, which she still is. She introduced me to a lot of media, especially games. Though as competitive I am there was a lot of crying and throwing controllers (jeez). Closer to my early teen years, when social media started to be a thing, I didn't quite understand it. For a good while I didn't have any account on anything and when I did I wondered why I got so little followers and likes. Why didn't everybody follow me back? Then (to some even today)  followers and likes were  the currency of how relevant you were and it got compared a lot.

I wanted to think that I didn't care what other people thought of me, but it truly was that even one like from someone I considered popular was the best day of my life, just to get accepted. That one tap on the screen, gave me the feeling that finally they like me and they could be my friend. It is quite foolish, but it did reflect my media behaviour a lot. What I thought was cool, what to post or even what to be. I don't care as much as I did then, although I don't know why I worshipped people like that and why it was so important. In highschool, hierarchy has always been present and it's no different in social media platforms.I worry about the youngsters of today. While social media is a bigger thing than it has ever been.

I would say 90% of my media usage is being consumed via phone. 80% of the time procrastinating and the remaining 20% reading news articles. On instagram I spend my time on either watching cat videos, browsing art or admiring my own feed. Can sound a bit selfish but isn't the whole idea of your feed to prop up your ego? On youtube I watch let’s plays, in depth analysis of games, podcasts or that weird scene of ghost busting and telling creepy stories.  Even on youtube I am tired of the drama and how restrictive it is with it’s weird policies.Ta-dah, and then comes our beloved trash. FACEBOOK. I absolutely hate that I am browsing facebook's recommended videos. The thing is that the same videos won't perform any good at other platforms and they have 20 seconds of unskippable ads. Yes, they are that trashy, But I'll watch them. I am part of the problem. I'll wait 20 seconds just to watch the youtuber prank video. Watching videos and using Media does affect me and I get anxiety very easily but at the same time I don’t really care and I use it to make the time fly faster.

Why, is a good question to  be asked. I guess it's just an old habit. I don't consume as much media since I lost my phone two years ago and lived without a decent phone for a year. I got used to living without a smartphone and even when I bought my newest phone I usually just forget it somewhere for hours.It was interesting how without interacting on the internet with others left me quite alone and forgotten when my presence suddenly disappeared. It is surprisingly important to know what your friends and pals  are up for and what they are doing. Commenting and keeping the connection up. That sounds very weird,  of course you have to keep your friendships up. But without being in the same city and actually seeing each other the only interactions you have is via phone. 

To end my post I will award you with this 👻 you did it 👏 you read my text 👏 you are a champ!