Media Fatigue in the Modern Age

I think the articles this week, (10/18) have touched on an emerging concept of Media fatigue, where certain demographics are becoming overly saturated with external influence and stimuli. As people are constantly marketed to and having content thrown in their face, it becomes increasingly difficult just to stay relevant and keep up with everything. The human brain has amazing plasticity to adapt, but that doesn't mean one generation will be able to fully adapt and conform to the new flow of technology. We are experiencing a very real fatigue from constant exposure to targeted and manipulative external stimuli.

I've talked to many friends in the recent months who have experienced something similar to this concept. As the content we consume becomes increasingly complex, more technological and more tailored to our own lives, it begins to wear people down. The problem lies in how integral and wide spread technologically supported Media has become in our society, and now that information is so easy to obtain, people are becoming savvy to the tricks and manipulation used by marketers and producers.

I foresee a coming counter-culture shift away from constant media bombardment and technological pressure. Already we see millenials understand that instant gratification has been engraved into our very being, and we also see millenials who understand that more pay, does not mean more happiness. In a sense, the serfs are becoming literate.

The counter argument to be made here, is that once corporations figure out what makes a person happy, does that mean they are allowed to own that person? There's an increasing trend, as outlined in one of the articles, that companies are being pressured to improve work conditions and living conditions for their workers. But when you start to dig deeper into media it's easy to notice that this cultural shift is being heavily embraced by some of the larger companies, Pixar is a fantastic example. Almost all of the Pixar films set forth the concept of usefulness and productivity as the key trait to achieve. Unique usefulness, the ultimate goal of every person is to be able to fulfill their role. If a Pixar gives all their employees everything they need to be happy, then can Pixar ask everything of their employee, and where does that land the future worker?

Here is the referenced article, it's a fantastic read.

https://www.theawl.com/2015/07/the-pixar-theory-of-labor/