I recently took the plunge and subscribed to Spotify Premium. I would consider myself someone who really enjoys music, but I’m not a complete song junkie. Which is why I was fine with listening to an advertisement once in a while.

I just opened Pandora on my phone to look up a playlist I had made on there. I started listening, and within 3 songs, I had a 30 second ad. And within 5 more songs, I had another ad. I was getting annoyed, but kept listening. A few more songs…another ad. The ads were already repeating by this point, so I shut down the app, opened Spotify, and started listening. I was about 30 minutes into a playlist before I realized I was back to no ads.

It’s a strange sensation. Going uninterrupted for a long time without ads is easily unnoticed. Until you’re watching a 2 minute Facebook video, and then 10 seconds in, you get a 30 second ad. And being me, I get frustrated and just exit the video. To me, it’s not worth waiting for the original video I intended to watch. And I think that’s sad. I can remember when Facebook didn’t have ads. Or when Snapchat was just you and your friends. Or how Instagram was just scrolling through who you followed.

Our world has become interrupted by constant persuasion, blinding color, blinking lights, flashy text, and unwarranted information. We avidly seek areas of the internet where algorithms don’t predict our next purchase. I enjoy areas of my city that aren’t full of billboards. I’m a millennial, but I feel like my old soul is being torn every which direction. Just for an ounce of my attention. It’s hard to train yourself to resist the FLASH SALE 30% OFF NOW ONLY banners that plaster the sidelines of your webpage. Especially because now Google knows you like that one store the best. It sucks you in. Inevitable.

I wish times were simpler again, and we could go back to excitedly anticipating the ads on Super Bowl Sunday, and then turn them off promptly after the game ended. We can’t turn them off anymore though. I’m pessimistic about what will happen in the future as technology continues to soar. I don’t want to be interrupted any more.