VIRTUAL INSANITY

than ever before. We are able to connect with anyone across the globe and see the world from new perspectives. The internet has given us the ability to reach different cultures and expose ourselves to new realms of the world simply through our devices. Because we can have global connections, we can find inspiration in the diversity we are exposed to online. Creativity can stem from this type of media exposure since we have constant access to new ideas and different perspectives.

Bridging the gap between producers and consumers may seem like one of the advantages the internet has given us, but these interactions can be vampiric in nature. Alarmingly, brands do a great job at making themselves “human” by interacting with consumers. Companies no longer have to rely on million dollar marketing campaigns and instead can run a free Instagram, Twitter, or Tik Tok account. Companies control our social media interactions by becoming increasingly involved among our personal social media accounts, lulling us into a false sense of security by claiming to have our best interest in mind, all the while pressuring us to invest in their product by taking advantage of the empathy created by human-to-human interaction.

Brands infiltrating our lives isn’t the only negative outcome in the age of the internet. In 2020 alone there have been a number of devastating events in the media. As I mentioned before, the start of the pandemic is what drew many of us to an increased social media presence, mostly out of a combination of boredom and fear. News media outlets fed us endless information as we awaited the next answer or COVID-19 statistic. We sit constantly on our phones, reading one horrible piece of information after the next, yet we never question how harmful this really is. This numbness which we have developed is known as desensitization. The catalyst? I believe it’s the abnormal amount of time spent on the internet. The difference between desensitization in previous generations is the news source

photographed by: Lilly Thomas head stylist: Bella Conner modeled by: Erin Huston

and the limitations. Before phones, we had newspapers, radio, and TV to get our news from which offered a limited amount of information due to lack of space in the paper or a set airing time. Now, media is given to us in an unfiltered amount which we tend to be sucked into, even if we do not realize. For example, “doom scrolling” goes hand in hand with the idea of desensitization. Users become hyper focused on the negative media throughout the internet and cannot seem to stop. In a sense, we can view doom scrolling as being associated with anxiety because

we never know what the next thing is that we will scroll past, but we are eager to find out in hopes of “controlling” this uncontrollable phenomenon. It is an addictive habit, especially during the current pandemic. I found myself being bored throughout my days, but instead of doing something productive, I picked up my phone and scrolled with no real reason. There will never be a shortage of information and it keeps us coming back for more. If there is no limit to the content on the internet, there is no end to our time spent scrolling.

We can thank the internet for the

ever changing information it provides us with. It is amazing how evolutionary technology has shaped this generation, as it has released new realms of the world we have never known. Of course, the tendency for our lives to become saturated with media is seemingly inevitable. Thankfully, times are changing and more attention is being called to the negative impacts of the internet which has prohibited many aspects of our lives. As we come to understand the full scope of the Internet’s impact, we can also navigate when and where its presence is beneficial.