We live in an environment where censorship is becoming a more prominent discussion, so it is natural to start being more aware of the immense amount of research at our disposal. Going into 2025, I decided that I was going to make a stronger effort to indulge in all forms of media during my free time instead of just doom scrolling.
Three months into the year I found that this change has improved a lot for me, such as my health, knowledge, and attention span. While the short term impacts are amazing, I feel that multimedia has a deeper role in our present society. With its diverse amount of mediums and its range of topics, media is everywhere. So why is it so important?
Media refers to all forms of communication to the public. It can include all forms of art, news, and the written word, and all works that rely on the five senses to consume. Multimedia is a fairly new concept due to past human advancements. Current media started in the 1960s and has grown greatly since then, as media started to become more popular to the public with jobs in these fields providing fame and wealth. Media in all forms is a reflection of a cultural environment and always tells a story with the end goal of entertainment.
In my journey of consuming media, my favorite forms to consume so far this year are books, movies, articles, tv shows, art, and music. I feel that these types keep my attention the best while making me feel better. I felt it was a great privilege that I could partake in such a great quantity of media as it was easy for me to access all of these mediums.
For books, I’d go to the library or a bookstore. For film and music entertainment, I would go on a streaming service, and for art and articles I could go online and find anything I wanted. Since all of these things are so easy to access, it’s also easy to forget how amazing it is. It’s hard for me to imagine not indulging in entertainment in the past now that it’s an integral part of my routine.
A great thing about media’s accessibility is how it connects people from all over the world. Correspondence has been integral in society as it has exposed many world issues and creates support for causes on a larger scale. Mass media spreads knowledge and news, and to have all these resources be so attainable and not use any is grim.
When you consume media to expand your view of the world, you can find information on a copious number of subjects. To reach your full potential as an educated, curious, and adaptable person, you must consume all avenues of intelligence.
Media has always played a major role in how individuals turn out. Everyone’s social behaviors and viewpoints are a reflection of what they choose to indulge in. While there are many elements in one’s life that decide how they end up, such as parents and ethnicity, mass correspondence is different as it presents choices. We live in a generation that fittingly forgets we can choose which media and how much of it we take in. Even with trends and algorithms, you can choose what you want to watch, what you want to read, and what you want to listen to with ease.
I think it’s also important to consider the difference between physical media and digital communication, which is more widely used by our generation with social media platforms. Conserving the digital media we create is of utmost importance because in history it’s our role to pass down our experiences so the next generations can learn from them. As the digital sphere is new, we don’t know how that’s going to work or if everything will be preserved, even though it does feel rather simple.
It is important to understand the privilege of multimedia and the themes it shows us. Its important to make sure it stays a normality. While considering this, acknowledge how what we choose to consume impacts our lives. What you watch and listen to will eventually consume you, and what you choose to focus on will reflect on you personally. Ultimately, make sure you not only embrace all art and work, but make sure it’s with things that make you feel good and provide you with hope and knowledge.