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Avoiding outrage fatigue while staying informed

scientificamerican.com

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Re: Avoiding outrage fatigue while staying informed

#331

Post by stevage »

joshdavham wrote: post #42

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 argu…

The challenge for me is that there is useful stuff in there that I want to access.

There are neighbourhood groups and other really useful forums on Facebook. There are tech discussions on BlueSky.

But it's annoyingly hard to run the gauntlet of politics and outrage bait to get to the stuff I actually want.

Re: Avoiding outrage fatigue while staying informed

#332

Post by lykahb »

joshdavham wrote: post #42

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 argu…

I think that the social media is okay as long as no algorithmic feed gets involved. Visiting a few select tech subreddits doesn't affect me negatively. On other platforms the feed can't be avoided as easily.

Re: Avoiding outrage fatigue while staying informed

#333

Post by HEmanZ »

lazyeye wrote: post #244
braiamp wrote: post #228

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Dude, lets be real here: most people would say the economy is shit, while still being comfortable with their lives. Anyone's general assessment of the economy based on gut, is meaningless. Unless you were on food banks/stamps, you were doing pretty good for all intents and purposes.

This statement is ridiculously out of touch.

There is a massive amount of evidence that Americans basically think everyone else is having a terrible time, but asked to review their own living situation things are going well. Here’s a decent summary from late 2024: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/23/opinion/biden-trump-vibec...

Instead of engaging in the data, opponents usually yell the equivalent of what you put “You’re just out of touch!” Or throw in an anecdote like “well my cousin is having a terrible time!”.

What’s going on the US is weirder than a “normal” economic problem. That’s what makes it so frustrating and politically polarizing.

Re: Avoiding outrage fatigue while staying informed

#334

Post by stackedinserter »

snapcaster wrote: post #179

I think "being informed" is very overrated in general. Often it means being informed about palace intrigue and intelligence service/corporate narratives. I would say that in general media consumption or "staying informed" should be seen as a vice not a virtue

It's not overrated, it's often confused with "to understand what's happening".

To "be informed" is like to take a look at a chess or go board: positions are clear, black and white pieces are here and there, but it takes skill to really understand the current dynamics of a game.

Add media bias ("let's show the board at this angle that looks better for our side") and now we have "informed" population that's being surprised by reality every day.

Re: Avoiding outrage fatigue while staying informed

#335

Post by stevage »

AznHisoka wrote: post #294
ziddoap wrote: post #166

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It's unfortunate people expect you to have social media like a girl asks me if I have Instagram and I'm weird to not have one Outside of reddit/discord/hn, I haven't had any social media since roughly 2010, and I don't use reddit or discord for anything remotely "social media"-ish. While I still get the occasional look as if I'm wearing a tinfoil hat when I say "I don't have FB. No, no insta either. No... not snapc…

I wouldn't care a whole lot if someone told me they weren't in IG, FB, Snap, Twitter, etc. However, if someone told me they never bothered with Linkedin, it would be hard for me to resist bowing at their feet.

Wait, really? I must be old. I technically have a LinkedIn but haven't really been on the site since the last time I was in the job market 8 yeras ago.

Very occasionally a potential client messages me through it but they are almost very low quality contacts.

Re: Avoiding outrage fatigue while staying informed

#336

Post by stevage »

jordanpg wrote: post #159
ge96 wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I quit reddit too recently, I still look at it for info but I'm not logged in/scrolling through it I find myself reaching for something when I have YouTube/chilling at my desk at the end of the day, can't code anymore/make something just on till I sleep. Sometimes have the desire to play a video game (I have a gaming rig too funny how that works) I've been trying to read HN or IEEE, TechCrunch stuff like that as my "…

One healthy way to consume Reddit that I recently learned about is creating a "custom feed" (see left margin of new UI). You can just add subs that are of interest that lack the torrent of bad news and only ever visit that custom feed. It doesn't ever algorithmically add posts from subs you don't manually include, as far as I've seen.

Yeah I just use old Reddit, which still works like that.

Cannot stand unsolicited content.

Re: Avoiding outrage fatigue while staying informed

#337

Post by barbazoo »

mavamaarten wrote: post #318
93po wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Reddit is overwhelmingly fake information and covert ads. Investigate any random post on the front page of /r/all, even if it's just like a cute gif of an old person, then go to the comments. Like 75% chance there is something fake or made up about the title or context. It's such a mind pollutant, I can't stand it.

In my opinion reddit is still such a great community if you subscribe to topics that interest you and leave the default subreddits. There's plenty of subreddits that I would not be able to find a good alternative forum for, maybe a Facebook group exists here and there but is that really better?

Good for you for being able to ignore /r/all, /r/popular, etc. I just can't, I always end up relapsing.

Re: Avoiding outrage fatigue while staying informed

#338

Post by stackedinserter »

matteoraso wrote: post #189

Why is it even important to stay informed? In virtually all cases, there's very little that I can do about anything, so I'm just wasting energy by looking at the news.

To predict future and make your decisions, e.g. on where to live, what skills to learn and what to do in general.

If you're on HN, it's most likely you can't control reality much, but you can navigate it better.

Re: Avoiding outrage fatigue while staying informed

#339

Post by upcoming-sesame »

EVa5I7bHFq9mnYK wrote: post #116
joshdavham wrote: post #42

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 argu…

I reduced my news intake to a daily email from reuters + HN. Special thanks go to AI, as reddit and others no longer allow reading content without login.

Interesting. What's your setup ?

Re: Avoiding outrage fatigue while staying informed

#340

Post by lcnPylGDnU4H9OF »

dageshi wrote: post #118
ryandrake wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What helped me is to realize: Sadness and anger come from within, not from the outside. Nobody can "make" you mad. They will do what they do, and it's up to us to decide if and how to emotionally respond to it. We are not amoebas that simply respond to stimulus. We have agency over our own thoughts and feelings. This is something I try to teach my kid, and I think it's also helped her deal with others who she would p…

I think "deciding whether to emotionally respond" to something... isn't emotion? Emotion is something you feel, not something you decide to allow yourself to feel. Like, if I hear about someone being raped or murdered, how am I not going to have an emotional reaction of sadness or anger to that? And ultimately what use was that emotion? I cannot prevent the event happening, it has already happened, I am just a voyeur…

> Emotion is something you feel, not something you decide to allow yourself to feel.

Recognizing your emotions when you are making a decision is key. The emotions you feel will largely be outside your control but you can catch a thought you disagree with when you have it and wonder what triggered that thought. If the trigger was an emotion, you can wonder what triggered the emotion. Ask "five whys" (google it if you don't know what I mean). You have more control over this than you seem to think; you will just have to practice exercising it.

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