Shortform #98 Visual media consumption considered enjoyable but net harmful for now
In shortform #89 I declared another media diet. That diet ended yesterday evening so I tried out a TV show, Neil Gaiman’s “The Sandman” on netflix. Which...promptly hijacked my attention from last night until the afternoon of today. I came across LRNZ’s “Golem” for free on Wednesday last week at my local cafe hangout, took it home, and devoured it in one sitting. I could keep listing examples, on and on...of all the times some visual media (digital or analog) has so utterly hacked my attention that I abandoned all else in favor it...but that list would be ridiculously long.
Friction increasing or other interventions around visual media consumption that work well for me:
Video games: if the playtime is with a group of others and scheduled in advance, that poses no issues & maximises my enjoyment of the time (I don’t usually like playing video games alone anymore).
Movies: going over to a friend’s house or a theater makes this totally fine. I may also be okay with limiting to one per week because honestly I just don’t watch movies very much.
What I simply have to ban, unfortunately:
TV shows
YouTube videos or similar but from other platforms
Three exceptions: Video is from work & required to watch. Video is educational / from ROSE for a workshop. Video is short and was sent directly to me by a friend.
What I am uncertain about but likely need to ban:
Webcomics, manga, visual novels, comics
I don’t engage with such media very often, but when I have, they’ve been very hijack-y. A blanket ban with exception for reading set amount of chapters or arcs per time interval with a group is probably the best bet.
After experiencing attention hacking or hijacking, my mood tends to crater, my mind is unfocused & hazy or a bit...loose (see yesterday’s shortform for a great example of that), and I feel bad about the time spent. Not guilt per se, more of a melancholy feeling about having missed out on more enjoyable non-hijacking activities.
So! Back to a media diet starting tomorrow 7 August and lasting through 10 September this year.
Shortform #98 Visual media consumption considered enjoyable but net harmful for now
In shortform #89 I declared another media diet. That diet ended yesterday evening so I tried out a TV show, Neil Gaiman’s “The Sandman” on netflix. Which...promptly hijacked my attention from last night until the afternoon of today. I came across LRNZ’s “Golem” for free on Wednesday last week at my local cafe hangout, took it home, and devoured it in one sitting. I could keep listing examples, on and on...of all the times some visual media (digital or analog) has so utterly hacked my attention that I abandoned all else in favor it...but that list would be ridiculously long.
Friction increasing or other interventions around visual media consumption that work well for me:
Video games: if the playtime is with a group of others and scheduled in advance, that poses no issues & maximises my enjoyment of the time (I don’t usually like playing video games alone anymore).
Movies: going over to a friend’s house or a theater makes this totally fine. I may also be okay with limiting to one per week because honestly I just don’t watch movies very much.
What I simply have to ban, unfortunately:
TV shows
YouTube videos or similar but from other platforms
Three exceptions: Video is from work & required to watch. Video is educational / from ROSE for a workshop. Video is short and was sent directly to me by a friend.
What I am uncertain about but likely need to ban:
Webcomics, manga, visual novels, comics
I don’t engage with such media very often, but when I have, they’ve been very hijack-y. A blanket ban with exception for reading set amount of chapters or arcs per time interval with a group is probably the best bet.
After experiencing attention hacking or hijacking, my mood tends to crater, my mind is unfocused & hazy or a bit...loose (see yesterday’s shortform for a great example of that), and I feel bad about the time spent. Not guilt per se, more of a melancholy feeling about having missed out on more enjoyable non-hijacking activities.
So! Back to a media diet starting tomorrow 7 August and lasting through 10 September this year.