How Media Affects Us and How to Manage it – Get Your Wasted Hours Back

We are living in a digital age that is very much different from the one our parents, let alone grandparents knew in our age. There is great glory about it since the media allows us to connect with each other and we quickly find out what is happening anywhere in the world at any time. Especially in the last year, we’ve realised that without media we wouldn’t be able to continue living our lives normally by attending our classes online or working from home. It can also be a source of inspiration in many aspects. However, what happens when media inspires us in the wrong way? What if we put down the pink glasses and realise how this digital age is changing the patterns in our society and personal behaviour? Let me just ask you, when was the last time you took public transport and didn’t see at least one person using their phone or other devices? Probably when the train was empty.

The first problematic part of the digital age is fake news. We should constantly be on the lookout and question the sources we are using. There is a huge quantum of information that is crafted to send a biased message and sway the users into a specific mindset. It is very hard to recognise what we can still trust on the internet and the excuse ‘It’s true because I read it on the internet’ just doesn’t cut it anymore. So, the first important thing to remember is to always double-check the information before giving it our full trust. Fake news can easily create a fragmented society that can turn against each other with the snap of fingers.

Advertising is a whole chapter of its own. Especially then in the digital age that makes it too easy for advertisers to target, segment, and personalise offers online. This is often tied to the lack of security and privacy online. And you can’t blame people since there should be more transparency from brands and media on how personal data is used. Although algorithms finding out a lot about a user seems scary, I am not bashing advertising as a whole since it helps the economy. Additionally, it can turn into a form of art if it’s done well and in an interactive approach. Plus the psychology behind advertising is inspiring to me. It’s just important to understand that advertising will always want to convince us about something therefore we need to keep our integrity.

Photo by Eleni Afiontzi on Unsplash

Media can affect not only our views and opinions but also our health. I am talking about both physical and mental health. Our bodies are screaming for more active time because humans were not designed to spend hours and hours without end sitting by the computer or looking down at their phone. So many young people are getting physical pain of their back, neck, and so on. Our bodies are screaming because they want to go out to nature without us making our eyes tired from the blue light that each screen illuminates.

Mental health on the other hand is something that wasn’t even that acknowledged in the past even though I dare to say every person is going through something at least once during their lifetime. Media, specifically then social media isn’t helping this because even though there are many people spreading body positivity, it’s still a bare minimum compared to the filtered and edited photos that put unrealistic standards on us. We tend to compare our real selves to users on social media and essentially what we are doing is comparing our bad moments to only their good ones. We don’t see their bad ones and our brain thinks that we are the only ones going through bad feelings like not feeling enough because all the other people are ‘living their best lives out there.’ What I recommend for managing these feelings is a simple digital detox. It doesn’t need to be for long but turning off that media even just for few hours will bring so much benefit. It is very good to build a routine of this and reduce the hours we are spending online instead of living our life. When you go online, it is important to understand that it is not good to follow everybody and anybody. Do your research about what users to follow. There is no shame about unfollowing somebody for your mental health. You need to build your feed to bring you inspiration and bring you up, not down.

Photo by Jakob Owens on Unsplash

We, as a society are spending so much time online that we are forgetting how to not use the devices and be present. Our behavioural patterns have changed massively in the last few years and the digital age is still developing into something new and ‘better’. We need to remember that going out with your friends doesn’t mean recording every second of the evening just to post it and family dinners are for talking to the people sitting at the table not for chatting with the icons popping up on our screens.

Photo by ROBIN WORRALL on Unsplash

Every time we are bored, we reach out for the always-present phone and scroll aimlessly our feed. This is just filling the void when we are bored. We could be doing so much more. I think we are killing our potential by using the media so often. So next time instead of grabbing the phone, grab a book or try picking up that hobby that you haven’t done in ages because you ‘didn’t have enough time’.