Now, if you'll excuse me, my phone is buzzing. A notification says a streamer I like is going live.
I told my friends: "If you love me, don't tell me about Invincible Season 2 until finals are over." True friends respect the academic sabbatical. Final Thoughts (Before I open YouTube) Popular media is not the enemy. It is the art of our time. But as students, we are the most vulnerable users. Our schedules are flexible. Our self-control is taxed. And the algorithms are very, very smart.
I don't want to stop watching entertainment. I just want to watch it because I choose to, not because an algorithm autoplayed me into a coma.
I started this week with good intentions. I was going to read a chapter of my history textbook. But then TikTok reminded me that a new episode of House of the Dragon dropped. While watching that, I saw a YouTube clip breaking down a Marvel Easter egg. Three hours later, I was deep in a Wikipedia rabbit hole about the economics of streaming services. Diary Of a Student -Marc Dorcel- XXX DVDRip NEW...
I admit I watch lectures while scrolling Reddit. But I’m trying to reverse it. Now, when I watch a movie, I put my phone in the other room. Watching one thing deeply is more satisfying than watching three things poorly.
In the 90s, if you missed Friends , you were out of the conversation. Today, if you miss a show, you just watch a 10-minute "recap" on YouTube. But the social pressure is worse.
Popular media knows this. That’s why "low stakes" content (ASMR, cleaning videos, unboxings) is exploding. It’s the mental equivalent of a lullaby. I haven't solved the problem, but I’ve started a few rules to stop entertainment from eating my GPA. Now, if you'll excuse me, my phone is buzzing
This is the life of Student Marc. And if you are reading this, it’s probably your life too.
...Maybe just for ten minutes.
Entry Date: Wednesday, 11:47 PM Mood: Overstimulated, yet curious. Final Thoughts (Before I open YouTube) Popular media
Dear Diary,
Why? Because complex narratives require energy. As a student, my brain is fried by 5 PM. I don't have the cognitive bandwidth for subtitled foreign films or complicated timelines. I want noise. I want bright colors. I want a man in a mukbang eating noodles.
Right now, there are 18 shows in my "Continue Watching" list across Netflix, Hulu, and Disney+. I have 400 unplayed games on Steam and a podcast backlog of 75 hours. This isn't leisure anymore; it’s an inventory management crisis.
Welcome to my diary entry on how popular media and entertainment content are rewriting the rules of being a student. As students, we treat entertainment like a reward. “Finish the calculus problem set, then you can watch one episode.” But the volume of content has become a second full-time job.
I don't watch anything "serious" within 30 minutes of studying. If I do, my brain keeps analyzing the plot instead of the periodic table. I listen to classical music or brown noise instead.