Me as the media consumer

Back then...

When I think about it, the earliest example of my media consumption I can come up with is probably television. I did watch the news and stuff with my folks, but the main thing for me was our relatively small collection of VHS-tapes. Moomins, Thunderbirds, Care Bears, The Simpsons and other good stuff like that.

My mom says there was a point in my life where every day I would sit in front of the TV for hours, just rewatching our small collection of cartoon VHS-tapes. She was a bit worried, but I guess I toned it down at some point, and avoided becoming absolutely braindead. If anything, I gained a healthy appreciation for good entertainment (especially animation), and it definitely fueled my passion for films and other forms of art.

...and now

These days technology is more developed, and therefore my options for media consumption devices are much more varied. As of now I own a smart phone, a laptop and, after protesting for years, I also own a TV.

Not much has changed with these new options however. I'm still watching a lot of cartoons, since YouTube makes that really easy (Netflix too, but I gave it up a while back to save money). I'm not subcribed to a lot channels, but mainly besides animations I watch music videos and video essays. Occasionally I watch some tutorials, Let's Play -videos and just about anything that passes the time that I don't really have.

I think most of my media consumption happens through social media, as I check Facebook and Instagram daily. There I follow my friends, my favorite artists and a couple of news outlets just to keep up with some really basic happenings of the world.

What do I make of all this?

Recently there's been no shortage of discussion about the amount of time we all spend online, and I have to say this discussion hits home with me. I do enjoy spending time outside and reading, but I still spend way too much time watching pointless YouTube videos. All of this can make me anxious at times. This is however something I'm constantly working on, and I'm sure I'll find balance in time.

Don't laugh, let me have this!

I also sometimes feel some guilt about being so entertainment oriented. I try to check the news more carefully every now and then, and have thought about ordering a good old newspaper. I usually end up not reading them. Then again, objectively thinking I do have actual political ideas, and so I would say I'm not completely oblivious about the world, so who cares if I watch the occasional dumb meme video. I guess this is all about balance as well.

Closing thoughts...

There are no closing thoughts. My weekly sketch is of my 5-year-old self watching TV. Catch you later!