I think one reason many people seek distractions is that we are conditioned, indirectly, to avoid fully adopting roles: the role of father, of employee, of husband/wife. The basic training is that your goal in life is to fulfill yourself, and since you can never know what lies over the next hill you never commit fully to any understanding of yourself–particularly one which connects in a lasting way with others–you expect to remain fixed.
Yet, this is somewhat maddening, never resting in fixed self conceptions. We need something fixed. I think that is the role of the media: it changes constantly, but it never REALLY changes, qualitatively. You can watch TV your whole life, and never really be altered by it.
You can chase “experience” your whole life–hang gliding, skydiving, travel, sexual conquests–and grow little. I would argue, in fact, that picking a slot for yourself–virtually any slot will do–is THE best path forward, when coupled with awareness.
The Japanese consider an old stone that has gathered moss to be attractive. I tend to agree with them.
I am speaking off the cuff here, but hopefully that makes some sense.