Have you ever had a dream about someone that just straight up does not belong in your thoughts or subconscious? You wake up upset and confused, and you just want to know why! This typically happens with people I at least know in real life, however, after tracking my media consumption for 24 hours, I was disturbed with a dream about Addison Rea that night.
Addison Rea is not only the second most followed account on Tik Tok, but she’s also the cover of every Snapchat article that I have seen for weeks. She is the sole reason that I have not clicked on Snapchat news in as long as I can remember. I did not choose for my news feeds to be dominated by Tik Tok stars, and I certainly did not choose for my thoughts and dreams to be plagued by them either. I genuinely don’t even watch these influencers. It seems that the influencer culture on social media has invaded every aspect of my life.
As much as we all hate to admit it, there comes a time when we have to confront the reality of social media and influencer culture. The reality is that we have more control over what we’re consuming than we think. Through tracking my media consumption, I truly understood how little responsibility I take over my media habits, and as a journalist major, I am deeply disappointed in myself.
Social media is a leech to my mind and prevents me from making productive use of my time. I clicked on the same apps all day knowing that I would see nothing meaningful or beneficial to my life. Many times, I knew that it hadn’t been long enough, and I most likely would not see any new posts or updates. I take no action to stop myself from re-clicking on the same apps, and seeing the same content on repeat. Everyday is the same cycle.
The only app that makes me feel like I am staying up to date with current events and trends is twitter. I saw the tweet above during my day and felt like it described my life so accurately that it was scary. Twitter is one of my only sources of news. I took note throughout my day at the types of news I was seeing on the app, and most of the sources had the same opinions and leaned left. While a lot of these sources coincide with my own beliefs, it doesn’t allow me to expand my thoughts or hear much from the other side, which restricts my ability to be a well-rounded media consumer.
The most compelling discovery I made was that I inherently don’t even enjoy scrolling through my feeds. It would be understandable if my content was a guilty pleasure of mine, however, that simply isn’t the case. I don’t know how I let myself get so addicted, but the first step in overcoming addiction is admitting there is a problem.
I never want to have a dream about a Tik-Tok star ever again.
Marissa Zayed 