this post was submitted on 16 Jan 2025
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Asklemmy

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Looking through my media feeds, including Lemmy, YouTube, News Outlets (Reuters, Financial Times) as well as news related to my profession, I would estimate that 85% of what I see is doom and gloom, i.e. reports about something that's going wrong in the world or might go wrong in the future.

I try to limit what I follow to educational and unopininated sources (as far as that's possible anyways) and some satire or a meme here and there. I don't like suggestion algorithms and don't use social media, because I don't want to be trapped in a self-reinforcing bubble. On YouTube for example, I use third party apps which show me only videos from channels I explicitly follow.

Still, it's mostly depressing information: how bad the job market and economy is, geopolitical threats, AI risks, symptoms of late stage capitalism. I am aware, thanks. But I didn't ask to hear these things over and over and over again, and it's negatively affecting my outlook on life. I've given up on reading the news entirely because I just get triggered by the enshittification of society, politics, the environment and daily life where I live. At this point I'd rather not hear about it anymore.

What I want to ask is whether you are having the same experience? Am I doing something fundamentally wrong? I don't want to be blind to what's happening in my/the world, but I want to have a positive and optimistic outlook on the future. How can I make that happen? How can I get away from an engagement economy constantly bombarding me with bad news without giving up on learning about the things that I am interested in?

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[โ€“] YungOnions@lemmy.world 32 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (6 children)

You are 100% correct, negative news has a greater impact on people than positive: https://assets.csom.umn.edu/assets/71516.pdf

Media sites know this, and use it to drive engagement:

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-023-01538-4

https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/social-media-facebook-twitter-politics-b1870628.html

And so, negative headlines are getting worse: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0276367

But negative news is addictive and psychologically damaging: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/why-we-worry/202009/the-psychological-impact-negative-news

So it's important to try and stay positive:

https://www.goodgoodgood.co/articles/benefits-of-good-news

If you want a break from the constant negativity, here are some sites that report specifically on positive news:

And here's 35 more: https://news.feedspot.com/good_news_websites/

Some communities on Lemmy you might be interested in:

Remember, realistic optimism is important and, unlike what some might have you believe, is not the same as blissful ignorance or 'burying your head in the sand': https://www.learning-mind.com/realistic-optimism-blind-positivity/

https://www.centreforoptimism.com/realisticoptimism

And doesn't mean you must stay uninformed on current affairs: https://www.goodgoodgood.co/articles/how-to-stop-doom-scrolling

https://goodable.co/blog/tips-for-balancing-positive-and-negative-news/

[โ€“] some_guy@lemmy.sdf.org 5 points 2 days ago (2 children)

You clearly took some time with this. Hat tip.

[โ€“] YungOnions@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)
[โ€“] Apytele@sh.itjust.works 3 points 1 day ago

Will be perusing when I get home.

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