The year is 2006, and you are home on a Saturday afternoon, looking for something to do. You grab a bunch of magazines and newspapers, a pair of scissors, a glue stick, and a blank poster paper. You begin cutting out letters and items that are of interest to you. You stick the items and create a funky-looking poster to decorate your room. Your focus is dedicated to building your craft in a way that expresses your unique style and taste in art. You are not bothered by constant notifications from a device. This was entertainment. We have shifted away from that sort of entertainment, but that has resulted in a plethora of effects. Those being a cap on our creativity, ability to have original thoughts, and to think outside of the box without being constantly influenced by another. Humans have become accustomed to consuming tons of content from online social media platforms, including TikTok, Instagram, and Twitter(X), as a source of entertainment. This has redesigned entertainment as merely a distraction without the engagement aspect.
So how can we deal with this? As the question frames, this is a matter that we can handle. It is not sensible to combat this issue or have an all-or-nothing approach because, after all, the media does offer us other helpful resources, news, education, culture, and enlightenment. A great first step is to do some self-exploratory work. You might already have an idea of your interests based on your personalized, algorithm-driven feeds. For example, I noticed my interest in poetry based on the content I was recommended. This experience inspired me to explore and interpret poetry, providing me with a new form of entertainment, a meaningful way to spend my time, and a supportive community that fosters self-expression. Once you have done the self-exploratory work, you can start looking for a venue. Explore the various components of what interests you to discover which aspects you truly enjoy. If you are passionate about poetry, try engaging in activities like writing, journaling, reading, or analyzing texts to pinpoint what resonates with you most. While this might seem challenging at first, the internet is a valuable resource for exploration—but it shouldn’t be your only avenue. Don’t overlook the people around you; a simple conversation with peers can often spark your next hobby or interest.
Next steps: Engage in casual conversations with others to discover and learn new, enjoyable activities. Who knows? You might find yourself creating your collage poster in just a few days!
