Media, Time, and the Intersection of Sociality

We live in a media focused world. Now, some may act like it hasn't always been this way, and that this is a solely modern development, but thats an incorrect statement. Since really id argue the 50s, the world has ran on entertainment. Radio, movies, and in the future tv and video games, its what we have always done with our time, discussed with others, and created. Even this, what I'm doing right now, is in a way entertainment.

Media has also created something extremely important modern society in my opinion, something called a monoculture. A monoculture, simply stated, is things that EVERYONE is aware of. Think the release of the first star wars movie, or how in the 90s almost all of America tuned into Seinfeld week after week. Something for the entirety of America to relate to, something that exists as part of a culture. Something that makes the now, the now.

Essentially, these monocultural pieces created a connection to the current present more than anything. Something that tied everybody together, to have at least one thing that connects them to the reality that exists around them, even if fictional. Obviously, everybody is connected to reality, all the time. What I'm getting that is that it was much easier to interact with things happening now, at this very moment. Casual things, not news but rather entertainment. 

If you turned on a television, theres a good chance what you would see was something that released within the year. There also is a good chance that someone you know personally would be watching that same exact thing. Therefore, it's easier to make a casual, simple conversation with said person. Those moments are extremely important, it connects you to that person in a way that isn't planned, that isn't artificially created.

The only thing we have similar in these times is news. News connects you to  reality, it connects you to time, it connects you to your other man. But even now, news has been co-opted by bad actors for narratives rather than information. Its hard to know who to trust, what information is correct, especially in a social media landscape. Social media in general even is an overstimulating mess of constant whiplash, where nothing can be truly connected to or remembered.

And with films and media as a whole, its so disconnected that even in niches nobody is experiencing the same thing, and even if they are, its either artificially planned or something from the far past. With streaming services, everything is thrown at you, you can experience the entirety of film and television at your fingertips, it is objectively much better than what we had before.

..But, there's something missing, right? I try to talk to my coworkers a lot, about really anything. Movies I've seen, games I played, what I think of current topics, and I try to listen an equal amount. But what it comes to mostly is I saw something they haven't, they saw something I didn't, and current topics are something we both got completely different information on. Its soul crushing almost. We live in a media focused world, but it feels as if with everyone experiencing something else that its harder to make those simple, casual connections.

The world runs on water cooler conversations, on short talks with coworkers or just someone next to you on the bus. Without those things, the only conversations that can exist are analytical or emotional, which immediately negates more casual talks with strangers or acquaintances. There's no real solution to this, except to just try to put movie nights together, or try to find other ways to connect to those around you. Try to connect to the things your friends have seen, find things on someone that you can relate to. Just remember you don't exist in your own bubble, I guess.

Just be nicer to one another.

-Rachel rosethorn, 

your unluckiest clover