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Avoiding outrage fatigue while staying informed

(www.scientificamerican.com)
757 points headalgorithm | 10 comments | 05 Feb 25 14:55 UTC | HN request time: 0.001s | source | bottom
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joshdavham ◴[05 Feb 25 15:50 UTC] No.42950233[source]▶
One thing to consider for those of us who are more sensitive to online outrage is to just quit social media all together. I’m technically gen z and I’ve been off of social media (aside from HN, WhatsApp and discord) for years and you wouldn’t believe how great it’s been for my overall state of mind.

Reddit, instagram, X, Facebook, TikTok, LinkedIn, Threads, etc are all the equivalent of digital junk food and I’d argue that we’re all a lot more negatively affected by it than we think. There’s a reason ‘brain rot’ was word of the year.

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1. nineplay ◴[05 Feb 25 16:57 UTC] No.42951436[source]▶
Alternatively carefully curate your social media accounts. My reddit home page is all books and formula 1. I'm quick to hit 'show me less like this' when anything drifts in from the front page.

My Facebook feed is all friends and family who don't discuss politics and ads for nerd shirts. I've purchased a few. It is also easy and effective to hit show me less of this.

I agree about LinkedIn and don't go there unless I'm actively job hunting, something I hope never to do again. I don't feel any bitterness when I see friends and family on FB go on expensive vacations, but I do feel an unhealthy and indefensible jealousy sometimes when I see former coworkers getting new jobs or promotions.

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2. gleenn ◴[05 Feb 25 18:18 UTC] No.42952811[source]▶
I totally understand the desire to avoid politics on all these platforms but in some way I always expect the greater powers want to destroy these platforms and make us even more hopeless.
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3. teuobk ◴[05 Feb 25 18:21 UTC] No.42952852[source]▶
Indeed. I've unsubscribed from all subreddits that have become infested with political content, and I've "unfollowed" all of my acquaintances on Facebook and LinkedIn who post anything political. So much more enjoyable.
4. lbarron6868 ◴[05 Feb 25 19:24 UTC] No.42953734[source]▶
This is how I've dealt with Instagram. My IG account is literally nothing but cats. it's actually very refreshing to look at for five or ten minutes. But it takes work. IG wants to keep feeding me their BS reels. Sometimes I don't think it's worth it, they really make you put up a fight.
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5. nineplay ◴[05 Feb 25 20:05 UTC] No.42954344[source]▶
The greater powers control these platforms and want to keep us engaged so we believe what they want us to believe.
6. alistairSH ◴[06 Feb 25 00:37 UTC] No.42957480[source]▶
That didn’t work for me, at least with FB and Insta.

I unfollowed/unfriended anybody who kept posting political stuff. I did the same for anybody I didn’t interact with in real-life regularly.

That basically left my parents, and about 5 friends. None of whom post anything regularly.

So, now my feed is just random shitposts and memes from “influencers”.

So, I deactivated my Meta accounts. And I’m still alive. And probably saner.

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7. sien ◴[06 Feb 25 02:42 UTC] No.42958374[source]▶
Adding animal feeds to whatever is a very good way to tone things down.

Otters, dogs, cats, snow leopards, red pandas whatever floats your boat.

Also, as you say the big platforms will still try and get you into an outrage loop.

8. datavirtue ◴[06 Feb 25 04:46 UTC] No.42959184[source]▶
I can't imagine identifying myself on a forum...much less reddit.
9. icoder ◴[06 Feb 25 10:45 UTC] No.42961072[source]▶
Yeah, I you should see the curation totally from the top, so fully dropping certain platforms is part of the curation. I mean, in essence we all already do that as certain platforms are not even considered a candidate in our 'portfolio'.
10. williamdclt ◴[06 Feb 25 12:27 UTC] No.42961708[source]▶
I used to have the same thing (other less wholesome content has made its way back, I've not been strong enough). It was a better experience than what my feed was like before or after, but I'd still waste hours watching cat videos! Trying to stay off the feeds entirely, now.