wednesdazing

[wednesdazing]

How AR became A Reality

For most people, an escape from reality can take the form in reading, watching media, or even writing, but the line between fiction and non-fiction has almost always remained clear. But this line begins to disappear when everything within our reality is fabricated then fed to an audience as if it were non-fiction.

I've been wanting to start a blog for a while now, so I decided to start with Tumblr... just to get the hang of it. I have a lot of ideas concerning social issues and personal growth, so I wanted to begin with a problem that is currently applicable to myself. With the beginning of a new school year approaching, stress is high and a new identity is being formed for myself, but I wonder how self-development can genuinely occur in the status quo where life experiences in the digital age are provided by creators online and almost always have ulterior motives. I believe augmented reality has found itself a larger place within our world than within the confines of a digital headset.

TikTok I believe is the most relevant example both to myself as well as current teenagers and future generations that are just beginning to explore the internet, however the same effects occur on most, if not all, forms of popular media. In the most crucial periods of vulnerability, easily-influenced minds are constantly being bombarded by persuasions, advertisements, and are being fed easily digestible answers on how to feel and what to do at all times. This effect was strongest on me during the COVID lockdown, as I fully immersed myself online to supplant the lack of physical connections I could make. I believed that I could relate to the people I saw online and believed that I should. Everyone started to focus on weight loss, so I did too. Everyone was "depressed" and "anxious," so I was too. I found that my emotional regulation wasn't occurring on my own, but was guided by the emotions I was being told were what was going to make me stand out from the thousands of other teenagers going through the same routine and aging process.

The reality I was experiencing during this time was completely augmented, controlled by some algorithm created to feed me more of the same malicious content. While I have distanced myself from those negative spaces, I still struggle with separating my emotional reality from the augmented suggestions. I worry that this effect isn't personal, but is soon to be generational and I hope the awareness of such issues continues to be spread. I had hoped to understand myself going into this new period of my life, yet I am still in the process of extracting the fiction that continues to blur the line between myself and the self I was influenced into being. Because of this, I hope that engaging in self-aware writing and reflection can rebuild this line and highlight my reality.

#mental health #awareness