T X DIGITAL DE O WE TRIED IT:
HIS TAKE:
Adventurer: Founder Kyle Koehler In July of last year, I took a 30 day detox from all digital media. The rules were simple. No digital media. None whatsoever, for 30 days. That’s no social media, no digital news media, no digital sports media, nothing. A complete abandonment of all online and digital media for 30 days. It. Was. Awesome. Aside from the obvious time saver and anxiety reducer, shielding all digital media (which, lets be honest, really meant all media) from my life for 30 days was extremely enlightening. In todays age of constant scrolling, swiping, and thumbing through hundreds of pictures, articles, or posts a minute, media companies know that in order to vie for a person’s ever-decreasing attention span, they must publish content that can capture someone’s attention in seconds, or even milliseconds. This leads to an overwhelming amount of publicized content on self-help, instant gratification, and over- consumption (think, “The 10 Things Productive People Do”, “How to Get that Six-Pack Tomorrow”, and “The 30 Best Luxury ______” – kind of articles). They’re everywhere. But constantly filling your mind with that type of media just leads to second guessing and self-pity. That, coupled with all of the nonsensical FOMO that psychologically pervades itself from a barrage of “I want you to believe this is real life” Instagram and Facebook posts, just isn’t healthy. It taught me to really put filters on the type of media I consume. I still check up on the daily news and sports scores, but I have yet to fully engage with Facebook or Instagram, and have set stricter filters on the news outlets and publications I follow. There are plenty of similarities with media and food consumption. Limit the bad, consume mostly what’s good for you, and, of course, everything in moderation.