On T.V. and Video Game Addiction

A balanced Media Meal and how it is affecting us:

I'm fairly certain most people born in the 20th century can admit to watching a lot of T.V. as a young kid. My days as a young person included rushing home from elementary school to catch Ed, Edd, and Eddy or Courage the Cowardly Dog. My television consumption got to the point where, despite not seeing them for so long, I can remember specific commercials and individual SpongeBob episodes. Of course, this leads me to believe that's the reason I can't remember anything else, as my head is full of commercial jingles, but that is beside the point. 

The claims that Kubey and Csikszentmihalyi make in their essay, Television Addiction is No Mere Metaphor, caused me to recall my days where I would spend hours in front of the television, rewatching episodes for no good reason.

Pictured: an easily frightened but adorable cartoon dog named Courage.

Of course, Television is addicting, but I don't think it wasn't beneficial in some way or another for me. Whilst I did watch a lot of television, I also enjoyed time outside, going to new parks and making new friends, riding bikes, rollerskating, ice skating and swimming. 

What is most interesting about the Television phenomenon is that it is a shared experience. Tons of people my age also remember these specific commercials and episodes to the extent that we can make a reference offhand and it automatically is understood without context. In this way, television sort of created its own subculture through its addicting qualities. For better or for worse, it has made a lasting impression on the young adults born of the 20th century. 

In this way, I feel that the authors make a point when describing that the same properties also apply to video games, as a lot of the youth that can be expected to have been addicted to T.V. also can be seen to play lots and lots of video games. However, with the rising increase in quality and connectivity with games in general, this can also simply be a correlation of the modern time. Whatever the case, we have to be careful to monitor the time that we spend, lest we allow it to escape from our grip. 

(Image Source: http://courage.wikia.com/wiki/Courage )

Violence ... What is it Good For?

Can we make our negative emotions beneficial?

Of course, we do not want our children to be violent. Teaching boys and girls to solve their problems by throwing a few punches is not something any modern parent wants to do. However, I agree with Jones when he asserts in his essay, Violent Media is Good for Kids that there is a certain amount of exploration of emotion and exposure that must occur in order for children to develop into lucid, realistic adults.

 

Pictured: A game that children should not play, but surprisingly, some do anyway.

There is, however, some rules to this idea. While comical violence as that pictured in children's comic books and manga are alright, we do risk overexposure if the media is overtly violent. For example, a game that includes sex and sexual acts is not appropriate for children, as it can warp their perspective on consent and give them false ideologies on the process of procreation. A little blood is okay for children, as most experience a little blood as they fall and scrape themselves. Overly graphic depictions of death and blood can lead to an unhealthy obsession with violence.

Our nature as human beings causes us to be naturally interested with the macabre, and often thinking about violence or witnessing it often leads to an adrenaline rush. Because our brains naturally mirror the chemical reactions of a being we are witnessing, also known as empathy, this leads to an adrenaline rush being felt. We do not want children to look to this kind of adrenaline rush for stimulation. They may grow to believe that watching and/or enacting killing is the best way to achieve this feeling. 

We must be careful when finding a good compromise between helping children grow and warping them. I do not believe that completely cutting them off is the solution and that there are ways we can find a good in-between.



(Image Source: http://store.steampowered.com/agecheck/app/271590/ )

Glimpse and Snaps

The Allure of Effervescence

The utility of Snapchat is obvious. Firstly, there is the control aspect of it, being able to know who sees what, when, and whether they decided to keep what you said is certainly appealing. Secondly, the effervescence of it is useful. Anything you send will disappear as soon as they open it, or rather, if you post something to your story, it will be there for twenty-four hours. It is interesting to think about where this need for control and a picture that disappears comes from, however. What use could someone have for a picture that only lasts a second?

My first idea is that the company that created Snapchat is trying to bring back the idea of a moment. By allowing people to send a single picture, it brings back the idea of a moment being here, then gone. Being shared simply for the memory, and the inclusion of that activity. In a time when 'vintage' is being honored simply for the aesthetic appeal, such as the revival of one snap polaroid cameras, that take one unique picture, and the love for a record, painstakingly etched and fragile., it is easy to see why the recent generation has taken a liking to something that gives them more control over their social media. 

On Snapchat, you only see what you want to see.  You have to choose to see something, and you know what you're getting into, instead of mindlessly scrolling through a newsfeed. This, to me, has made Snapchat a platform where one can reclaim more time from the turmoil of social media, and be able to actively choose what they are sending and what they are seeing.  

As someone who absolutely does not care about the affairs of celebrities, I don't have to look at their stories. The app, of course, is changing, throwing in ads between each story. You can, of course, simply tap through, instead of having to sit through, but it is apparent to see that the platform is changing.

A Sinister Drawback?

My second idea is that Snapchat was born from a rebellion. From a generation that was born into computers, we almost always had age limits and rules in order to use the internet. You can never be too careful after all. Perhaps, then, the app was born from a need to have more privacy with the things you discuss or send. Even if your guardians or friends have your password, they won't see anything if they go into that particular app.  This gives young adults more freedom, but can pose a problem for the younger generation who may or may not know how to use that power in a way that won't cause negative repercussions to them . 

Whether this app successfully gives people back more time or consumes it in a new way is definitely debateable. There are always pros and cons to any type of interaction. 

The Reality of the Virtual

In defense of playing with strangers:

As someone who, at a young age, spent quite a bit of time playing games online with random strangers, I was intrigued by this idea. 

Sure, there is a certain level of separation when playing with people who you have no idea about. but I think there are some benefits to playing online with people you don't know the first thing about.

First, you never have to talk to or play with these people ever again. You simply reload the match or switch to a different server. While that may be saddening for some, the relief of being able to play terribly without lasting repercussions is certainly a blessing for others. Whilst some of your more experienced friends may pester you for making common mistakes, or even flat out refuse to play with you on their team because you are so terrible, with complete strangers, you can have the freedom of learning, and everyone can move on with their merry way. 

Secondly, there is always the option of making new friends. If there is someone you meet online that you find interesting and personable, as well as having the same values as you when it comes to video games, there is always the option of adding that person on skype or to steam to continue playing games with them.

For a lot of people that struggle to find friends while in school or elsewhere, finding friends online is a great option, because, many times, these people will be in the same situation as you. And with the multitudes of people who play online games like Minecraft, Team fortress Two, Overwatch, and League of legends, there is always the possibility of making friends. 

The next thing to consider is availability.  A lot of friends in real life won't have their schedules completely in sync, so finding time to be able to play together is difficult. So not only that, but they may not be as invested in the game as you are, so there will be times when you are stuck alone on your computer with no one but the people online as an option. This opens up the convenience of being able to play the game.

Of course, it's nice to play with your friends that you see IRL, but online play especially benefits to those who don't have that luxury. 

(Image Source: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160602006554/en/Overwatch%C2%AE-Global-Hit-7-Million-Players%E2%80%94and-Counting )

The Modern Zombie Apocalypse

Isn't that everyone's goal? Some brains?

Have our lives really become so mundane that we've been reduced to nothing but tedious tasks?

Are we really so disengaged that we can be related to a bunch of brainless, sagging, creatures that resemble a human, but is really more a shell?

Okay, to be fair most of us are only that way when we haven't had coffee yet that day.  

But! It is an important point to make. A lot of the tasks we do in the modern day require less physical effort than they used to, back when you couldn't order a pizza to your door, or lock your door from work! While these improvements are great, they also create some problems. Mainly that involving instant gratification and a sedentary life. Although Klosterman in his essay, My Zombie, Myself: Why Modern Life Feel Rather Undead, talks mainly about tedious tasks involving work, and the struggle to remove oneself from the daily routine, I think that allowing the brain to go on autopilot, however, is something everyone deals with, though some would say the younger generation is more prone to it than the average person who can recall 'a simpler time' ( as it is always put ).

One very common complaint is that teenagers are too invested in their little hand computers that they absolutely cannot go without. I believe there is certainly truth to the idea that 'we're all constantly distracted! we aren't engaged and alert and aware like all the adults! No one has real conversations anymore! This generation is so spoiled!'; however, I think that last part is something everyone thinks of the previous generation. This isn't a unique thing to the millennials and it won't be unique to the next generation either. Going back to the point, there is something to be said for the constant attention we give to our smartphones. It does interfere with our presence in certain situations and cut us off from those around us.
However, I don't think this is anything new.

 

Pictured: The archaic way of ignoring everyone around you.

For generations, we as humans have become more and more complex with the way that we keep to ourselves. Before it was reading the newspaper or a book on the train home. Now, If one is to look around on the Light Rail, most everybody is giving their attention to a smartphone, and occasionally, a novel. 

The point is, maybe the way we see things now are really updated versions of the tasks our grandparents used to go through. At one point in your bloodline, maybe someone in your family watched the weaving machines during the industrial revolution or fished off a trolley boat. If you got back far enough maybe your family has someone that crushed and ground nuts for food, No matter how far or wide you go, it seems that at one point or another doing some menial, repetitive, or tedious task was just a part of life. We still stand in line at the same place every day waiting for coffee and we still sift through junk mail. 

Of course, despite all this, I think it is still important to be aware of it. And to understand that despite it not being a perfect parallel, there is a point. Have human beings really changed so much? Maybe there is more to it than thinking zombies are cooler in any circumstance. Don't let that stop you. Be aware of the autopilot so that you can remember to think and learn, not just passively completing tasks one after the next. Now go out there, and get some brains!