One of the most significant developments throughout history has been the speed of communication and thus, the sharing of information. Never has it been so easy to learn about what is going on in the world, or what happened in the past, while sending it to our circle of friends and family who will share it with their circle of friends and family, and in less than five minutes we have all read the same article, viewed the same post or watched the same video. Personally, I find this to be remarkable and indispensable.
If there is something that most people agree on, it is that the world is changing constantly at an incredible pace. This has always been true, but we were unable to see it then, and we can now. As college students preparing themselves for “the real world,” learning about international affairs, politics, business, technology, law, and more, staying informed is a non-negotiable. How will we tackle the issues that our generation is left with if we don’t understand them first?
As stated above, it is now easier than ever to stay informed and to stay connected, even against our will. Any social media app that you open will be shoving headlines in your face, or influencers speaking up about issues. To a certain extent, this is great. Lots of people will not take the trouble of reading the newspaper or listening to the radio, but if these news are in Instagram posts and stories, or if a celebrity or influencer speaks about it, then we are more likely to listen, which can lead us to do our own research, and learn.
It is so important that we understand what is happening socially, politically, and economically around the world because we are the ones that will have to deal with it eventually, even if it does not feel like it right now (for a lot of us). Therefore, it is good that this information is thrown upon us as soon as we open our phones, that we are encouraged to talk about it with our friends, and that it is so easy to look it up on the internet. Because if these things didn’t happen, I am sure that so many of us would not even think about it.
However, there is a bad side to every good thing. Due to the amount of information that is shared, and the speed with which it happens: it. is. everywhere. Lately, negative news outweigh positive ones, everyone is angry, scared, and sharing these sentiments online. Meaning that as soon as you open your phone in the morning, you are met with news about conflict, war, disease, and economic and political instability. You go about your day, and when you look at your social media before going to sleep, more bad news are there to bid you goodnight. Inevitably, this will affect the way you go about your day, the way your brain processes information, the quality of your sleep, and ultimately, your mental health.
Based on conversations with friends, there are growing feelings of worry and anxiety taking over our everyday lives. “There’s nothing wrong with my life, I don’t know why I feel like this.” Possibly because most of the conversations around you and the content that you are consuming revolve around the decaying state of the world, what someone is doing wrong, or what you should and should not be doing with your life. It is impossible to feel good about yourself and the state of your life when you are constantly reminded of what is going wrong.
It is with a certain sense of shame that I share this. How lucky am I that I can choose to simply put my phone away when I do not want to be reminded about a war happening in a different country? We must take care of ourselves to the extent that we can. If it is affecting our mental health, it must be dealt with. The struggle of finding the balance between staying informed and not letting the overconsumption of information affect our mental health is a real one, and it is not talked about enough. We live such fast-paced lives, our brains are constantly receiving information, and if this information is mostly negative, we will suffer because of it, and so will our relationships and our productivity. Staying informed is imperative, and make sure that you do so from proper news sources, but it is also okay to choose to put your phone away and watch a comedy show instead.
