Does the marketplace of ideas and media leave us overwhelmed and disaffected?

 November 2016

One main characteristic of our fast moving society is the permanent availability and the mobile access to the internet. Devices like tablets and smartphones do not only boost the private exchange of information, but also the mass of public headlines that we get in contact with every day. Our daily routines are timed accurately, so that waiting times are efficiently filled with activities like checking our E-mails or scrolling through the latest news. 

It is not only the frequency of getting information that changed notably; there are also differences in the process itself. Split Screens on Television, online articles that include countless crosslinks to background information and the simultaneous usage of multiple devices (e.g. television and laptop or mobile phone) are examples for the multitasking in modern media consumption. The flood of information that we are confronted with is overwhelming and a complete assimilation of all these contents is nearly impossible. 

 The human brain constantly uses filters in order to protect from overload. Blunted affects are an unavoidable consequence of that extensive stream of information. We have to distinguish between important and unimportant news and create categories to classify them according to our personal involvement. In spite of those filters, we are faced with a mass of negative news like social injustice and political disorder in the world. The awareness of these problems and the inability to solve them could cause emotional resignation and disaffection. 

 

A similar impact is usually attributed to social media like facebook or twitter. These platforms allow public exchange of thoughts which often leads to controversial low-level discussions due to its anonymity. People also tend to compare their real life to perfect images created by well-chosen postings of others which could cause frustration. Thus, I am convinced that the contemporary dissatisfaction and depression of large parts of the modern population is also a result of the mental overload resulting from permanent consumption of media.