The hidden cost of entertainment
Social media has revolutionized how we consume and share content, with Facebook playing a leading role in this transformation. Among its many features, videos have become a dominant force, captivating millions of users daily
Every day, millions of people are drawn to various videos on social media, ranging from funny clips and viral challenges to news updates and celebrity gossip. Although these videos provide quick entertainment, they consume far more of our time than we realize.
The system behind this is quite simple but powerful. On social media platforms, creators and distributors view our attention as the most valuable resource. In the same way that products are priced based on demand, the amount of time we spend watching a video and the total number of views determine its worth. The longer we engage with a video, the higher its value becomes, benefiting both the content creators who earn revenue through advertisements and sponsorships, and the platform itself, which profits from ad space,
In this way, our time doesn’t just serve as the cost of entertainment; it sets the price of the content itself. This model incentivizes creators to produce content that maximizes engagement, often encouraging addictive, attention-grabbing material that keeps us watching for longer periods.
Ultimately, our time -- spent watching these videos -- becomes a form of payment, with the platform and creators reaping the financial benefits, while users unknowingly subsidize this economy. The more attention we provide, the more valuable the content becomes, leading to a cycle where we unknowingly trade precious hours for quick and shallow entertainment.
These activities are often pushed aside in favour of endless scrolling, leading to a loss of fulfilling engagement in our lives. This shift can erode the social bonds within our communities and contribute to feelings of isolation and loneliness.
