Are we being over-stimulated, chocked full of sensory overload due to the constant noise on the internet, social media, apps, ads, texts—always having everything right at your reach? We are being absolutely BOMBARDED in all directions with disruptions, unsolicited messages and just to plainly put it, GARBAGE.
Is this causing more and more anxiety diagnoses across the US, or even the world? Almost every person I discuss my anxiety issues with has some form of anxiety. There has to be some kind of correlation with the way our digital world has impacted our mental health. Technology is moving faster than the way our brain processes this constant flow of information. It’s all about “putting the brand out there, Clicks, CTR, conversions, but what about the end consumer? Are we being exposed to too many options and not enough time/energy to decide?
I call this the Netflix Phenomena. A library chocked full of movies, documentaries and TV shows to watch, but when facing the entertainments service, I am faced with this question: What should I watch?
Other popular questions we are faced with on a day to day basis:
Where should I eat? What should I eat? Where do I want to go? Where should I go? What should I do? Where do I want to stay? Where do I want to visit? With so many companies providing these kinds of answers, we are overwhelmed by too many decisions, that’s why we pass it off to someone else and ask THEM to make the decision, to give THEM the burden to provide their best opinion. We are relieved when they have a confident answer, but at the end of the day, we don’t want to decide. We want to be given the least amount of choices to choose from. We want someone to narrow it down for us in a more digestible way. We trust people we never even met and have no idea what kind of credibility they have.
So much more on these kinds of questions I have, from online dating, (Modern Romance by Aziz Ansari pretty much sums up my thoughts on this–highly recommended book), group thinking, identity and belonging, dreams and interpretation, love, and so forth.
And on a final note, I love the choices, but I think there is just WAY.TOO.MUCH.
