Video games require you to listen to instructions, execute inputs, and follow tasks to completion to get a reward. Tiktok is basically swipe, watch for a few seconds, next hit; 85% of the clips will be shit but that 15% makes our monkey brain happy so we swipe again and suddenly an hour is gone and you’ve gained nothing but a shorter attention span.
I was replaying Super Mario Bros a while ago and it was really striking to me how deliberate the game seems to be about trying to teach patience and impulse control. Games ask more from you than social media content does.
But what if I miss that one meme and the internet culture leaves me behind? How can I be in on all the inside jokes and references of I’m ever offline??
Video games require you to listen to instructions, execute inputs, and follow tasks to completion to get a reward. Tiktok is basically swipe, watch for a few seconds, next hit; 85% of the clips will be shit but that 15% makes our monkey brain happy so we swipe again and suddenly an hour is gone and you’ve gained nothing but a shorter attention span.
I was replaying Super Mario Bros a while ago and it was really striking to me how deliberate the game seems to be about trying to teach patience and impulse control. Games ask more from you than social media content does.
Yes! Thank you for putting this into words, I had the same experience recently but couldn’t articulate what I was feeling…
Platformers, metroidvanias, soulslikes, puzzlers… some games are almost brutal in how they demand patience and focus!
That 15% ends up on other social media sites anyway so…
But what if I miss that one meme and the internet culture leaves me behind? How can I be in on all the inside jokes and references of I’m ever offline??