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Avoiding outrage fatigue while staying informed

(www.scientificamerican.com)
757 points headalgorithm | 4 comments | 05 Feb 25 14:55 UTC | HN request time: 0.5s | source
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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. polishdude20 ◴[05 Feb 25 19:00 UTC] No.42953419[source]▶
Is WhatsApp really considered social media? I mainly use it as my sms alternative.
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2. lukan ◴[05 Feb 25 19:36 UTC] No.42953906[source]▶
Depends how you use it. Once there were groups, it became quite similar - but since Telegram became so much better at it and I used it for some special groups and contacts - I now suddenly had lots of groups with subgroups and notifications for people liking my posts or replying to it - that suddenly I had social media again. What works for me is uninstalling it once in a while and only come back if I feel a specific need.
3. johnnyanmac ◴[05 Feb 25 23:44 UTC] No.42957038[source]▶
It can be and is in other countries, ones that didn't have unlimited SMS for 15+ years. It usually isn't in the US, though.
4. ◴[06 Feb 25 00:10 UTC] No.42957262[source]▶