[3] The Power Of Media

At the very start of the semester in my writing class, we were tasked with reading a talk given by Elder David A Bednar, entitled "Things as They Really Are." In this talk, he talks about the dangers of social media, and other virtual worlds such as video games and role playing games. I'm also in a mass communication class and we talk a lot about the effect that social media can have in our lives. I just like to touch base on this principle, that social media and games can take over our whole existence if we choose to permit it.

I myself play video games. I don't spend a lot of time on social media, but I do enjoy sitting down and playing games with my friends. I would say that in our day and age, a large majority of people, especially young men, are guilty of playing games at least occasionally. When it gets to be a problem, as was mentioned in the talk, is when it starts to become our reality and we lose sight of what is really important. There was a story about a man who spent so much time in his "Second Life" video game, that he actually ended up having a virtual affair with a woman who he had never met outside of this game. It goes to show that too much of any sort of media or entertainment can be a bad thing

I like to relate this to many different aspects of life, as this can happen with anything. Gambling, watching TV, getting too worked up over a sports team, etc. These can all be debilitating things that when abused will lead to an unhappy life and a whole slew of other problems. As long as we can keep reminding ourselves of what is real and we can continue to have some perspective, we will be alright.