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Ask HN: Have you stopped reading most news?

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Re: Ask HN: Have you stopped reading most news?

#41

Post by bruceb »

ulfw wrote: post #19

It's extremely weird and frankly scary to me that you assume Facebook and Twitter are "the news" or even good news aggregators. Both had significant Russian and other foreign actor influence. Pick your news sources of choice (newspapers, websites, tv stations) and use those. Not what someone on 'Facebook' might tag as such.

It scary that some think Russia and others are so powerful at shaping the news compared to the power of the US govt and corporate interests. Beginning days of the Ukraine-Russia war was all propaganda from the Ghost of Ukraine to the hagiography of Zelensky. RT was banned from some platforms.

I am afraid of propaganda from Fox news and MSNBC, not a relatively weak Russia and other "foreign actors".

Re: Ask HN: Have you stopped reading most news?

#42

Post by h4n1 »

I stopped actively keeping up with any sort of serious news a long time ago. There's a few RSS feeds I'll check once a month or so but most of the news I get is filtered through whatever jokes are being made on twitter (UK govt chaos, Brazil election) or whatever people irl bring up in conversation.

Most news isn't relevant to my life, and if it is, I usually can't do anything about it. This month, there was an election in my city I didn't follow at all because the incumbent's victory was guaranteed from the start.

If it's important it'll make itself known to me.

Re: Ask HN: Have you stopped reading most news?

#46

Post by brundolf »

Yes. I occasionally check an app that gives me very neutral summaries of the very biggest news events, but otherwise it's been mostly purged from my life and I've been better off for it.

Even setting aside all of the emotion, outrage, and panic that most news is laced with these days, it's simply not very helpful to stay informed of the vast majority of things going on in the world.

I think many people feel a perverse sense of duty to suffer the fear and grief of things they have absolutely no agency to affect, just as some sort of weird penance to the world. But overloading yourself with painful emotions doesn't help anybody- in fact, it makes it harder for you to be a positive-contributing member of your community and society. A person who's anxious and depressed all the time at best has less to give to those around them, and at worst becomes an active source of toxicity. The places where you have the most impact on the world (positive and negative!) are in your human interactions with those around you, not in abstract far-flung issues. Optimize for that.

Emotional energy is a precious resource that should be spent on things that matter, not thrown away in self-flagellation.

Re: Ask HN: Have you stopped reading most news?

#47

Post by boredtofears »

Two years ago I finally cleansed myself of most mainstream news including social media like twitter or facebook, but not things like HN or reddit (specific niche/hobby subreddits, not the main ones).

It's been a huge life improvement. I've been able to let people back into my life that I had mentally cast aside because they had a political opinion I didn't agree with. I talk to my neighbor now whose been wanting to talk to me for years (kinda trumpy, but genuinely good human being who lends me lawncare equipment). I no longer try to fit every person I see into some kind of stereotyped character. People will surprise you when you actually talk to them.

My emotions feel less manipulated by arbitrary news cycle headlines that I can't control. I feel more down to earth. The internet feels smaller and in some ways I feel less connected to people I once did, but I'm realizing now just how superficial those connections always were -- it's far better to be a part of your local community.

Don't get me wrong - I still vote, but my free time is spent on my hobbies and family now. This feels like a healthier way to live.

Re: Ask HN: Have you stopped reading most news?

#49

Post by ankeshk »

There is a point to gossip (which is what most news is.) Gossip connects people. Helps with bonding. When two music lovers meet, they don't each talk about their fav musician. Because that would quickly make the conversation competitive. So instead, they talk about the most famous current musician.

Don't disconnect yourself so much that it makes interaction with others difficult. Find one or two good sources of headlines. And don't go deeper than the headlines or the first paragraph. 2 minutes a day is enough news.

Re: Ask HN: Have you stopped reading most news?

#50

Post by x86hacker1010 »

dontchooseanick wrote: post #31

Very opiniated answer here : I now rely mostly on Wikipedia, cf https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Current_events Most news look to me as entertainment, not information. Articles detail what B.Spears has done or what hominous unacceptable sentence has been said by CongressMan X or Y. Spoiler : I don't want entertainment, I don't want to be outraged (most people do and won't really admit it). I want the state of the…

How do you find topics to read up on via Wikipedia? In particular news topics. I’m a frequent user of visiting the site but unfamiliar with the idea of using it to stay informed on the dynamic world we live in.
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