No way, really?
Taking a break from social media makes you happier and less anxious
461–470 of 486 posts
Re: Taking a break from social media makes you happier and less anxious
#462Earlier quoted context omitted.
> obvious detriment compared to brief half hour or hour long "evening news" This is not obvious to me personally. I don't think it matters how much you consume the news as much as it matters what the news is . And the news these days is almost entirely negative, even in a half-hour-long evening news segment.
The news has always been "almost entirely negative", even when the only source was newspapers. But being informed of what's going on, vs being clueless; there's a societal benefit in having an informed citizenry. This does presume that that half hour or hour is not a purely editorial function (think Walter Cronkite vs Tucker Carlson), and that the goal is to actually cover the news of the world, not create partisan w…
> he news has always been "almost entirely negative", even when the only source was newspapers
This doesn't ring true for me at all.
What percentage of broadsheets were dedicated to crime/murder back in the day? Now estimate the same for crime/murder being covered in the local evening news.
From my experience it's not even close. Broadsheets were actually informative, cable news is a lot of fear-mongering.
Re: Taking a break from social media makes you happier and less anxious
#463Earlier quoted context omitted.
> obvious detriment compared to brief half hour or hour long "evening news" This is not obvious to me personally. I don't think it matters how much you consume the news as much as it matters what the news is . And the news these days is almost entirely negative, even in a half-hour-long evening news segment.
I disagree. This article talks about this "Studies have linked poor mental health to news exposure during negative and traumatic events such as terrorist attacks or natural disasters; the more news a person consumes during and after these events, the more likely they are to suffer from depression, stress and anxiety. For example, a 2014 study surveyed 4,675 Americans in the weeks following the Boston Marathon bombing…
Kinda agreeing with me though? I said "doesn't matter as much".
Case in point, I think someone that watches 1 hour of news about the Boston Marathon bombings is going to be worse off than someone who watches 12 hours of news that happens to be mildly positive. The problem is (as I said) that the news these days is almost entirely negative, because that is what sells.
Re: Taking a break from social media makes you happier and less anxious
#464I fast from food for a month a year due to religious reasons (from dawn to dusk). During this time,I fast from social media (telegram, twitter mostly). After about a week, I feel anxious at a superficial level but it levels off and I feel much better about 2 weeks in. After the whole month, when I log into twitter again, I can really feel a mental shift. Almost like being dragged back into it. It's not pleasant. I'm…
Might be easier to just say you fast for Ramadan.
Not everyone knows what it is. As a Muslim I still regularly get people asking me to explain what exactly Ramadan is.
Re: Taking a break from social media makes you happier and less anxious
#465Consider the following scenario: You're pleased and content one minute, thinking your life is going fine the next. You have a few minutes to kill, so you log onto Facebook and begin scrolling... First, you notice a friend's post stating that she has accepted her ideal job. Then you read a coworker's too political rant. You continue browsing and see a video of your neighbour enjoying a fantastic tropical vacation. And…
I feel the same when I see someone making 6x my salary on hacker news and complaining
Re: Taking a break from social media makes you happier and less anxious
#466Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Social media is really just an extension of that This is true, however extensions are by their very nature different than the thing they're extending. Social media is an extension to traditional media at a scale, speed, and attack vector (friends, family, community) which humans are much more vulnerable to
People are pretty vulnerable to the garbage that passes for news in the last 20+ years. I'm not so sure "fixing" (read censoring) social media will solve any of this, even if it was possible. The outrage machine will still exist in traditional news media, but they won't have to worry about new technologies unseating them. I'm not sure that is a good thing. Social media, to me, seems like just a comment section to cur…
Yeah you might want to brush up on the current state of affairs. A lot has happened in the last 9 years.
Re: Taking a break from social media makes you happier and less anxious
#467Earlier quoted context omitted.
HN mostly reminds me of the Usenet of the late 1980s - which was in a way the social media of its time.
I haven't been on Usenet in the 80's (coming from the other side of the Iron Curtain, my own IT history basically starts in the 90's, first internet access around 1995-98). Did Usenet not require any moderation? Or was it simply the barrier for entry that made people behave like the access was a scarce resource? Or what do You think made the period so unique?
There also were specific moderated usenet groups.
People were behaving more I think people at the time were socialized to being polite and civil and for access to usenet you had to specifically configure your usenet client (I used netscape navigator back then), so that was a barrier for entry.
Re: Taking a break from social media makes you happier and less anxious
#468It's true and absolutely makes sense. I think social media is the bane of mankind.
Re: Taking a break from social media makes you happier and less anxious
#469Earlier quoted context omitted.
While feelings may be involuntary, this does not mean we are beholden to them. Maybe envy is what happens when a consciousness is discontent and allows these feelings to overpower.
envy: "a feeling of discontented or resentful longing aroused by someone else's possessions, qualities, or luck" So it's just a feeling. What you do with it (actions) is up to you, most people don't act upon those feelings in any noticeable way. But if we are being honest with ourselves constant feelings of envy often do lead to a deteriorating relationship (usually in the form of the person feeling envious choosing…
This is a profound insight. What do you do if you know someone is distancing themselves from you out of envy? (And what do you do if you're the one with the envy?)
Is the answer generally just "it is what it is?" That's so dark.
Re: Taking a break from social media makes you happier and less anxious
#470I quit social media entirely many years ago: it felt like quitting smoking, just less difficult but the same level of benefits. I also shifted how I get news: I don't read or watch "event-oriented" journalism (aka, reporting) and shifted entirely to analysis (through radio and press). The biggest win is that the timeframe is different, as analysis requires perspective, opposite to reporting which only focuses on the…
This is genius (although I do wonder how you get your war news, then. Do you not follow the Russia war at all? Would it change if you had relevates there? Would it change if the war came to your backyard? Say another 9/11? War reporting is essential, but it would break your rule of not following live reporting.
Thanks a lot for the appreciation!
Some exceptions apply, as you point out.
One thing is that I cannot escape major events, no matter what I do (I live in a capital). And I see it very positively.
For such events, and other exceptions, live coverage or daily news apply.