By: Anonymous
Media has become commonplace in our lives. My generation, Gen Z, has grown up with media and technology at our fingertips. Starting with cartoons and tv as toddlers. To Disney and Music as kids. To news, social media, and streaming services as new adults. I recorded an hour’s worth of media interaction by scrolling through Instagram Reels. This form of social media consists of short videos 30 seconds- 1 minute. Each clip that I watch is based on my likes so I don’t get shown models or celebrities, as I don’t like those things. Sometimes, I’m shown funny animal videos. Other times its old vine compilations or crochet items that I want to make myself. cooking videos, and tailored content to the current book I have been reading. One thing I’ve noticed about this form of media consumption is how it shortens the attention span. Since each video is about a minute max. In the hour I watched reels I watched 75 reels give or take. When my timer went off showing the hour completed. I doubted it was an hour until I looked at the clock and saw the 2 had become a 3. In periods of breaks from school and work my screen time averages about 10-13 hours a day. This is a normality in many new adult’s lives.
Nature has become distant in the lives of Gen Z. Since we’ve grown up with media, it takes effort to get us outside. In a typical week, I am lucky if I get 2 hours of being in a naturalistic environment. The naturalistic environment mentioned above is the campus path. This is laughable when you think about it because the time outside is only to get to another place indoors. I have classes and work throughout the week so making time for nature hasn’t been a priority. I had to rearrange my schedule to allow myself an hour outdoors. I set up a time and went to a park for my hour outdoors. I sat on a bench with a good view of the forest surrounding me. Because I am so used to the hustle and bustle of daily life, I grew bored. In the first 15 minutes, it was almost painful to not be doing something productive. Another thing I noticed was the constant buzzing in the trees. It annoyed me as I am from California and that isn’t present when you are outside. As the hour continued I watched squirrels dot between the trees. Some were fat and had bushier tails and some were leaner and had slim tails. I enjoyed watching them climb up and down trees. This only entertained me for about half an hour so I looked upwards into the canopy of the trees. One thing I did enjoy years ago was birdwatching. In California, the birds in my area differed from the east coast birds. They consisted of morning doves, owls, hummingbirds, red-tailed hawks, robins, and scrub jays. I contemplated the differences in birds I saw when I disconnected from the world. I saw a cardinal which got me excited. I hadn’t seen one in real life before. A few more of the birds I saw were small brown birds that were slimmer than the ones I’ve seen in California. I enjoyed looking for the birds for a while but towards the end, I started noticing the trees themselves. In California, the leaves change but not with the vibrancy I’ve seen with pictures of the East Coast in the fall. The trees in California parks and cities usually consisted of 3 types. They were Sycamores, Coastal Oaks, and Pine trees. I enjoyed being outside again in comparison to scrolling through social media.
After both of the hours, I sat back and reflected on them. As a kid who grew up with phones and media was always at my fingertips, I took for granted the entertainment that comes from the natural world. Yes, it may not be the new Marvel movie or the newest post of a celebrity but it is entertaining in its way. My main takeaway is that nature is necessary for the mental well-being of the population. The attention spans of the public are shortening to a point that it’s almost laughable. Time in nature allows people to exercise their minds and increase their attention spans. Additionally, a naturalistic environment encourages relaxation and a little bit of joy.