VIRTUAL ESCAPISM
Almost a whole year has passed and we are still stuck within the walls of our own home. For extroverts, it is hell. For introverts however, it is a dream come true.
Being stuck inside our home during quarantine has left most students with nothing else to do other than surf the internet and play videogames out of their minds. Some do it to pass time and relieve boredom. Then there are special cases where people seek comfort from it.
Philosophy student, Naphtali G. Mariano or “Nap”, said that he used to be an outgoing type of person. He preferred going out with friends than staying at home. But that changed when the pandemic hit. Instead of hanging out with friends who still go out at the risk of contracting the virus, he managed to stay indoors with the internet as his best friend.
“Mas less hassle. Nakaka-drain makipag-interact sa mga tao in real life kesa online.”, Nap said. His daily life is waking up to surf on the internet then go to bed, usually to watch Netflix, anime, play videogames and talk with friends.
A communication student, Wayne Austin D. Tagulao, struggles to meet new people in real life. The quarantine is pretty much a safe haven for him. He only goes out if needed, to buy necessities and to visit his relatives. His family is in a bad situation with his biological parents being separated which forced him to live only with his mother and little sister. He indulges himself on the internet, trying to escape the pain from his family’s situation, from the time he wakes up until he gets tired and needs to sleep.
The virtual world has always been there for people to have fun. It can be used to cope with everything that is going around the world right now. In some cases, to escape the harsh reality within our lives. Nap has a girlfriend who studies psychology. They study together and call it “bonding”. He said that people like to use the internet since it is an “easy-access virtual world” where people could create a pseudo reality. People could create their life-long dreams, and become as comfortable as they need to be while in this world. The only major downside however, is that it erases the fine line between authenticity and inauthenticity especially in social media. People use a persona on social media and sometimes they confuse themselves with their real and internet personality.
A daily virtual life consists of; checking a phone as soon as one wakes up, browsing social media, turning on the computer, browsing more social media on the computer, then maybe playing video games. It is very common that most students or teenagers have the same daily routine. Even while doing schoolworks, one can keep on browsing social media every once in a while, just to relieve the stress that an individual is feeling. It is very therapeutic, as Wayne said. It eases the pain and helps with mental health but it is also highly addictive. It’s exactly like a drug that when you feel the pleasure of, getting free from it would take a lot of time and hard work. It just keeps pulling you back and you keep wanting it because the world around you is nothing that you’ve hoped for.
We all have different circumstances in life. We deal with it in different ways also. It just so happens that we are privileged enough and could easily access such a wide world that is the virtual world. It has its ups and downs, but more importantly, it helps many people get through their tough lives.