The Antidote to Social Media Stimulation
Stoking Creativity, Prioritizing Focus, and Regaining Control Over Our Mindset
Welcome to this week’s Sunday Evening edition of The Backlot. These newsletters will include stories from my recent experiences working in documentary filmmaking, helpful resources for emerging filmmakers, and other posts covering topics in the documentary industry.
NOTE - The Sunday evening version of the newsletter is free. Future mid-week posts on Wednesday evenings will require a paid subscription.
This week, we’re taking a step back from the world of filmmaking and sharing a few ideas for taking back control of our focus from the triggers of social media…
🎞️ Five Ways to Combat the Social Media Stranglehold
🎬 The Best Posts from The Backlot thus far
🗞️ Wrapping Up & Recommendations of the Week
A Few Ways to Combat the Social Media Stranglehold
Over the past few months, I’ve been thinking a lot about our future and the role social media plays in that future.
Lately, it seems like our lives are entirely consumed by some sort of social media content - whether that's the latest celebrity gossip, social media reels, marketing ads, or algorithm-based viral trends. We’ve manufactured a society where we are caught in an endless and addictive loop of consumption that stimulates a continual yearning for more sensational and addictive entertainment.
The presence of these social media platforms has almost certainly played a role in our shortening attention spans. As of 2015, the average attention span was roughly 8.5 seconds, roughly 25 percent of the average in 2000. That’s also an attention span less than that of a goldfish, which can focus for an average of 9 seconds.
Because of this, our social platforms have started to prioritize media that grabs the attention of the audience immediately, specifically addictive or sensationalist content designed to elicit a reaction and trigger a dopamine rush.
I’ve often found myself locked in this loop, endlessly scrolling through video after video, seeking more content to preoccupy my attention and trigger my mind. Because of this, I’ve started to take larger notice of this constant need to be perpetually “stimulated,” as it has greater effects on my creativity, mental health, and lifestyle - including my filmmaking career.
Through this consciousness of the effects of social media, I’ve started to be more intentional about my online habits and have started to prioritize different practices that actively combat the need for stimulation in our virtual world.
For anyone in the creative world, having control over our time and concentration is key to having success - I’ve found these five activities to be critical to fostering more concentration, creativity, and dedication throughout my life.
Meditation
Meditation is one of the best and most difficult ways to counteract the need to consume content and be endlessly stimulated. The entire process of meditation revolves around creating silence and space in the mind where you can learn to sit with yourself and exist in the present.
In the beginning, this process can be difficult. Attempting to quiet a very busy and loud mind is difficult, and will feel very uncomfortable. You’ll feel frustrated, angry, and even emotional, trying to focus on the present and release the need for stimulation. You’ll also have to confront aspects of yourself that are usually hidden behind these walls of consumption, leading to some uncomfortable conversations with your inner self.
On the other side of this uncomfortability lies a sense of calm and silence that can be one of the most profoundly insightful experiences. Mediation can foster greater resilience, dedication, and inspiration - unlocking an internal power that has a potential beyond your wildest dreams.
Read Books
In many ways, reading books is a form of mediation. The practice takes a lot of focus, and the absence of distractions lets you immerse yourself in the words on the page and fully comprehend their meaning.
In many ways, reading has become the opposite of the current phenomenon of instant gratification. By their nature, books take time and energy, requiring a dedication to the work and story. They also require a thoughtful focus that ensures your mind stays connected to the story and less to the stimulation needed in the brain.
This makes them the perfect antidote for the virality of social media, helping energize your mind to concentrate and build a relationship with long-term storytelling.
Try Endurance Sports
As I’ve spoken about many times in this newsletter, I’m an avid ultra runner and will take any chance I can to talk about the sport in a positive light. The community, the practice, and the dedication that has come with running have been some of the greatest gifts I’ve ever received.
That’s because ultra-running (and endurance sports in general) has been the ultimate counter to this virality and constant stimulation of social media. These activities take immense dedication to the process and require months, years, and even decades of training to reach your goals and expectations. They do not involve any sort of instant gratification, and most of the time, the act itself is a form of resistance to the fast-flowing virality of our culture.
Running, biking, climbing, whatever it may be, takes a willingness to be within your own body, take on the empty mind, and preserve despite discomfort. In many ways, they are the exact opposite of the very action of mindless media - something that can truly change your life.
Writing & Journaling
Another one of my favorite activities for combatting the notions of quick media and sensationalism is writing. The process of writing - for yourself, for others, for a career - is a purely slow process. It’s also one of the most humbling processes you can go through and teaches your mind to slow things down and foster long-term creativity.
As for anyone who doesn’t write for a living or creative pursuit, journaling is a perfect way to practice this slow activity without any consequences. The process of just taking the time to relive your experiences by putting them into words is a fantastic way to retrain the mind to rethink art and creativity.
This process allows us to provide more focus for the brain and rewire our mind to process slower, be more imaginative, and concentrate on the action at hand.
Gardening
I am not a green thumb - the many dead plants in my backyard will reassure you of that reality. Yet, the process of learning to garden has been one of the most enlightening parts of my recent existence. That’s because it is a process entirely dependent on our ability to focus, plan, research, and wait.
Turns out plants don’t grow immediately, and they don’t often provide that quick excitement that characterizes so much of our media landscape. Instead they take a little bit of effort every single day.
The process of learning to garden can be an incredibly insightful experience because of this slow-moving aspect, as well as the grounding effect it can have on nature. This activity can help us rediscover the local environment and reconnect ourselves with the world beyond our screens - seeking natural stimulation instead of generated.
And just a note: this activity can be exclusive to those who can foster a garden in their housing situation, but there is always an option to cultivate indoor plants, join a local environmental center, or attend community gardens.
The Most Read Posts Thus Far
As you can tell from this week’s topics, The Backlot has been experimenting with a wide variety of content. In the last five months, we’ve touched on everything from documentary filmmaking and blockbusters to being creative and cultivating a healthy mindset.
In truth, that’s because the process of being a filmmaker and artist requires a holistic view of life and passion. Our profession requires us to be the best versions of ourselves while also learning to be thoughtful and attentive members of human society.
This newsletter will continue touching on topics across the spectrum of filmmaking, along with sharing a bit about the different ways we can continue to show up in this world as better creatives, storytellers, and humans.
Here are a few of the top posts from the past five months of The Backlot. Thanks for being here and supporting this newsletter.
The Documentary Film Series
The Life of A Creative
The Interviews
Wrapping Up & Recommendations of the Week
This week, we’re sharing a movie of the week and offering a few other recommendations from across the industry…
The Social Dilemma (2019)
Director of Chasing Coral and Chasing Ice, Jeff Orlowski, dives deep into the world of social media and the reasons why this technology is highly addictive. The film is an incredibly insightful and terrifying look at the algorithms, processes, and impacts of our viral existence.
Through various interviews with tech experts who have researched and worked on several social media platforms, the documentary sounds the alarm on the hidden consequences of social media on our society, our minds, and our relationship with each other.
Other Recommendations
The new documentary Shine On takes a deeper look into the sets, production, and locations that inspired Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining.
Alien Romulus (my most anticipated movie of the year) got creative with its marketing at Comic-Con, with face-huggers invading the theatre and attacking guests.
As you may have heard, Robert Downey Jr. is back in the Marvel Universe for The Avengers: Doomsday, where he will be playing Dr. Doom.
The International Documentary Association is looking for Call for Entries through August 5th for this year’s Documentary Awards.
