How entertainment and media have affected our everyday lives.
The good and the bad of everyday media.

We consume media nearly every day, whether it be from Twitter, Netflix, video games, YouTube; you get the picture.
But is this subconsciously changing the way we view the world and the people around us? I’ve asked myself the same question, so today I’m going to tell you what I’ve found and my thoughts on the matter! Buckle in kids, this is going to be a long ride.
Entertainment is fast and easy.
The thing with social media and entertainment is that it’s very easy to fit into our busy schedules. Whether it be a 22-minute episode you watch before going to work or a quick scroll through Reddit while waiting for something to cook, it’s specifically made to be quick and satisfying. However, can this carry on to actual conversations with friends?
One thing that may prove this to be possible is the widely believed theory that social media shortens our attention span. Since entertainment is so short now, those expectations may carry over to a conversation with friends or colleagues.
We’re also very critical of the digital goods that we consume. Maybe that’s made us subconsciously decide if what someone is saying is worth our time. As with entertainment, if the very beginning doesn’t hook you, you’re bound to leave. However, this doesn’t work well since entertainment and everyday conversation are two completely different mediums. Movies and television are made to deliver an important message or engaging story. Meanwhile, conversations are just… well, conversations. Sometimes people want to talk just for the sake of it or spend time with you as a person.
I believe that in a way, this encourages the behavior of seeking out people who fit into your busy lifestyle, as well as avoiding those who don’t, rather than making a compromise that benefits both parties. After all, if your digital life fits perfectly into your schedule, why shouldn’t the people around you as well? It’s essentially the next step after our vices and hobbies.
Another good question to ask: how is this affecting the people around us? A lot of the time, it can make them feel inadequate. As if what they have to say isn’t good enough for our attention or they as a person aren’t interesting enough for us. This can increase tenfold for people with anxiety, depression, self-worth issues, ADHD/ADD and so on.
So we get that part, but what are some other negatives?
Conversations can help us learn a lot about each other, even just by inflection or tone. By tuning out the uninteresting bits or dismissing the conversation as a whole, you’re turning down the possibility of getting to know the other people quicker.
The side effects of social media have started to become clear as well, specifically depression, anxiety, insomnia, and even withdrawal. What this leads into is a never-ending cycle of feelings of inadequacy and lowered self-esteem that negatively impacts both you and the people around you.
But there are different sides to every coin, and we’ve only been looking at the bad thus far! Let’s take a flip and see the positives.
The upside to mass media
While social media and entertainment can have negative effects, this page on Encyclopedia.com makes a very good point that entertainment can help structure our ideas and beliefs better than any other medium.
Ideas and images guide our lives. They create the belief systems that control our individual and societal actions. Television communicates more ideas and images to more people in a single day than [Biblical King] Solomon or [English playwright William] Shakespeare did in their entire lives. More people depend on the medium for news and entertainment, from which they construct their worldview, than on any other venue in the world.
— Kweisi Mfume, quote found at Encyclopedia.com.
Their post has gone a lot more in-depth into this topic than I have, so if you’re interested, go check it out!
Media has been depicting minorities in larger roles more than ever, and are doing their best to deconstruct the stereotypes that once plagued television, news and more. A lot of this representation has been coming from children’s shows, which delivers a good message to the new generation and will help them grow up to not only accept others but themselves as well.
I believe that mass media and social media have made us more oblivious to how special the people around us truly are, as well as the world as a whole.
There are superheroes, mages, and gods in entertainment. But the real world has people that are so much more special than that; people who will never leave you and people that will give you everything they have just to see you smile. I think that’s a lot more interesting than some special effects on a screen, don’t you?
At the same time, both forms of media have made us so much more accepting and have taught us so much. They’ve taught us how to love others and ourselves. Whether or not these things impact you negatively is up to you. You can mute news threads, block certain words, anything to make your side of the internet your own little home. You just gotta start!

