ALEX HOBEN
editor-in-chief
alexandra.hoben@my.tccd.edu
After a long day of school and work, all that’s on my agenda is to go home and relax by watching videos on the internet. At least that’s how it should be, but for some reason, I can’t pick anything to put on so my brain can turn off.
There’s just way too much to sort through that I’m more likely to be paralyzed with indecision rather than giving my brain the break it deserves. This dance of doom with the scroller of titles on streaming services has just become the norm.
More time is spent looking through every genre on Netflix or Hulu, occasionally saying, “Oh, that looks interesting.” But there’s never an actual decision made. Then, when snapped back into reality, all the snacks are gone, the end of the webpage is reached no closer to knowing what to watch.
This isn’t just a problem on streaming platforms. It’s across the online space. Everywhere you go, every website you visit and every link you click brings more content shoveled into your brain. It’s absolutely insane.
When the social aspects of the internet began, it was simple forums and online catalogs that barely filled up a thimble in terms of memory space. Now in 2022, it is an ocean of data ready to drag you in. The viewer flails under streams of trends and advertisements, trying to tread water in the realm of entertainment with YouTube and Netflix just to have a wave of internet trolling wash over from Twitter.
The online world now is just too loud. It has so many possibilities when you log on, and everyone wants you to check out their latest project. It’s now akin to walking through an outdoor market — with barkers yelling out their prices and all you know is that you’re hungry and don’t have a preference.
All these possibilities have turned us incapable of settling for something. This is incredibly dangerous because now we’re seeing how this constant output of ideas will affect us in the real world. I can’t decide which posts I want to see, or where I want to watch my shows, and now I’m even having difficulties deciding who I am listening to in a crowded environment even if someone is talking to me directly.
The abundance of content, especially short-form videos like on TikTok or Instagram reels, has made it so the brain is constantly switching gears without settling on an answer.
I know it’s hit me pretty hard, especially after the pandemic sent me to my phone for my contact with the outside world. I can’t even watch a movie within a set time period now, especially if I’m the one with the remote, I’m always having to pause so I can get food or check a message. Then, it’s an hour later, and I never pressed play again even though I really wanted to watch the movie.
There are just so many possibilities when it comes to how I can spend my time now, but at this point I think it’d be easier to just stare at the wall rather than have to wage an internal war every time I just want to relax.
