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 

I found this week’s reading of There Are No Old Media a lot easier to comprehend and more relatable to my everyday life as compared to last week’s reading. The use of nostalgia was discussed in the readings under  “technostalgia” (Van der Heijden, 2015)  where it was a type of nostalgia in media “regarded as a fascination with things that link to their, their parents,’ or previous generations’ past”.  (Natale & Simone 2016) I saw this idea of technostalgia in my encounters with media as well as the creative process. This especially applies in the area of visual effects (e.g the film or chs style look) and I think it is very interesting for my generation  to have interest in using these but not knowing or vaguely rememeber what it exactly looks like in its raw form. 

As a class activity I found a picture on my phone of the time  when I travelled to Japan with my friendsI was able and remebered very well the details like weather, sights and happy emotions.   I then could relate this to an idea in the reading of how media old or modern can really “provide us with meanings and narratives to make sense of the transformations and changes experienced throughout life”. (Natale & Balbi, 2014) Its very impressive to me how when we recall events which may have seem a while ago, nostalgia and seeing something from the past can activate senses and feelings as well as reflection upon changes which can lead us to wanting to go back and missing those times or experiences.

References: Natale, Simone (2016) “There Are No Old Media” Journal of Communication, Volume 66, Issue 4  p. 585–603, doi:10.1111/jcom.12235