Sense of time and the “overwhelming sensation of being constantly connected” (Trine & Gunn 2019) in media engagement was an area in this week’s reading Digital detox: Media resistance and the promise of authenticity I found interesting. With their contention that using digital media does “distract us from what is valuable and essential for a good life” (Trine & Gunn 2019), I found altering sides to this argument. When people do use digital media, they seek a burst of dopamine which can be addictive but at the same time can make people happy, excited that they are up to date on news and laugh in the moment.  However, remembering what you did in that time afterwards can be forgotten and can result in regret reflecting upon whether that time spent was worth it.

Boredom was another concept experimented in class but also in the reading Distracted Present, Golden Past? I found the wanting to be distracted in hyper stimulation whilst also trying to escape the uncomfortable feeling of feeling bored (Susanna 2020) relatable in the class activity where we looked straight at a wall for 10 minutes. During this time, I subconsciously thought of various ideas to feel stimulated and not bored. I was surprised that in this time there were people who blank out which I could not relate to. Focussed boredom was also discussed and I saw it has value in refreshing my mind in helping me be creative to then completing the next task of completing a model. What I took away from this sequence of tasks was that inserting bits of boredom in a creative process can help spark new ideas.

References: Susanna P (2020) ” Distracted Present, Golden Past” Media Theory, Volume 4, Issue 2, p.11-32, accessed 16 of March. https://journalcontent.mediatheoryjournal.org/index.php/mt/article/view/117