Doomscrolling: why we need to be picky on the internet

Spittens · 2021-12-20T16:33:56+00:00

This is why I limit my media time to bathroom breaks and lunch breaks (when I don't have a book to read).

This includes social media, news, etc. I cannot remember the last time I turned on my TV. There's not much on that I'm interested in watching anyway.

Books, hobbies, self-care is my escape. Life is much better when you severely limit and vet the hell out of your media consumption. Doomscrolling is absolutely a thing, and when I catch myself getting annoyed or angry about something I see I know it's time to turn off the screens and interact with the real world.

TikiTikiTata-chalala · 2021-12-20T17:18:06+00:00

This is so true!! We become what we consume: garbage in, garbage out. This applies to food, friends, and thoughts.

You have to actively cultivate the life you want to lead, and pushing away extraneous downer, cynical thoughts is a process that takes practice. It's essentially training yourself to let shit roll off your back- and its the most powerful thing you can learn: to not take it personally and not let it get to you.

Sage_Planter · 2021-12-20T17:30:16+00:00

Yes! This is wonderful advice.

I highly recommend reading the book Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport.

A key takeaway from the book is that social media is simply a tool that we can use for productivity or not. He has three steps for evaluating any social media activity:

Define your goals and what you want to accomplish in life (eg. I want to build a large professional network).
Determine which social media platforms can help you with that (eg. I'll spend an hour a day on LinkedIn connecting with other professionals to build my network).
Evaluate whether using that social media platform in that way is actually the best way to accomplish your goal (eg. I want to build my network, and instead of spending an hour on LinkedIn a day, I'll spend 8 hours per month at a professional conference, saving me 20+ hours per month and having a bigger impact on building my network).

Before reading the book, I was already questioning my relationship with social media, but Newport's advice helped me better shape my use to be more productive. It's absolutely OK to use a tool like Instagram, but we should be intentional about how/why we use it.

Jinxhourglass · 2021-12-20T17:54:57+00:00

I absolutely need to cut back and focus more on hv content and social circles. I need to desperately stop reading relationship subs and judgment subs. They're all rife with women and children in abusive situations. Even if there isn't blatant abuse, a lot of them are getting disrespected by their partners or pickme/enabling relatives. It makes me angry that so many people are socialized to accept the bare minimum and it all starts in the home.

It's been hard not reading the content though because after consuming many situations, it is so much easier to spot yellow and red flags in real life without having to go through the trauma itself to internalize the lesson.

MurchaMarcha · 2021-12-20T20:09:42+00:00

I love this post.

I started getting into the habit of doomscrolling when the pandemic started. There was so much uncertainty and I reacted by overloading myself with scrolling through tons of news articles. I realized that I was starting my day negatively - looking at my phone for half an hour or more trying to gauge what was going on. Then when I felt upset with reality, I tried distracting myself with superficial entertainment (TV, TikTok, etc).

It's an extremely difficult habit to break. I still fall back into it sometimes. But it's crucial for your health to recognize you have a problem, and change.

I took baby steps.

I started hanging out with a friend who goes on daily walks.
I put books on my bedside table to read in the morning and evening instead of scrolling.
I paid more attention to my work project and spent more time with a colleague.
I unfollowed people/pages whose content caused me stress and started following content that I enjoyed (authors, poets, national parks photography accounts, cooking blogs).
I stopped using Facebook altogether. I actually found Instagram and Snapchat to be much healthier because my insta has no political content and only close friends and wholesome accounts.
every weekend when there's good weather, I do a hike.

The internet is full of nasty content. And even "good" informative content can be overwhelming at times.

anotherdamnloser · 2021-12-20T17:33:33+00:00

He absolutely 100%! I quit or never had most so I’ll media, and I no longer allow myself to comment with strangers who wanna just argue. I’m trying to read more and practice my hobbies. It’s much better

The_Cat_Empress · 2021-12-20T19:25:11+00:00

I’m guilty of this too even if o don’t think it’s “that bad”. My Dad and sister tell me I need to “get off that Internet” and I’m honestly thinking of heeding that advice. Even some FDS posts upset me and make me want to cry.

Sunshine_Daisies2525 · 2021-12-20T19:19:11+00:00

I have to say. The content on FDS has increasingly improved and become a more positive experience. Good job mods! I legit only go on buzzfeed and check what’s popular and then read actual books.

AdmiralRando · 2021-12-20T18:07:32+00:00

This is so hard to do while also staying informed/proactive. I want to be informed of women and men who are fighting injustice, but I can’t do that without being up-to-date on injustice.

I try to avoid salacious content (with the exception of FDS ;) ). True-crime is very popular, but I try not to soak myself in the details if I can help it. It’s difficult to find content that sticks to the facts without being “centrist”. Ugh.

For the moment, I scroll books, plants, deep-dive legal podcasts, and long-form history podcasts. I throw in a bit of NPR. I’m trying to stay informed without taking on the click-baity emotions of others.

SakuraGirl88 · 2021-12-20T21:27:17+00:00

Yes! 🙌🏾. That's one of my new years resolutions; limit my time on social media, television etc and touch some grass, literally 😅. It really messes with your psyche.

JadeBaby2211 · 2021-12-20T21:53:54+00:00

So true. If I'm able to make a difference, I'm going to have a much better impact volunteering in real life than trying to educate a bigot on Facebook. Deleting that app has been great for my level up strategy!

mothboon · 2021-12-20T20:24:06+00:00

Absolutely agree! I've found much peace since I've decided to stay out of comment sections on certain pages I follow that deal with animal rights. It gave me such an enormous chip on my shoulder and I felt like it was me versus the world.

I surround myself with wholesome content now and am extremely picky on what I consume. It's helped me a lot with my mental health. This subreddit has been a huge help with dealing with my struggles and feelings of self-worth.

I'm done with garbage people and their low vibrational existence. ✨

CandidKick · 2021-12-21T10:00:12+00:00

I focus on content that features fully realized women.

One feature of our man-centric society is that we lack enough media with women’s voices. The media we consume that does include women often helps further our dehumanization. To combat this, I have been purposeful about reading books and watching shows and articles written by women about women (avoiding pickme content).

On top of that, I minimize the amount of scrote-scrolling I partake in.

Together, they have done wonders. Wholly recommend.

asoww · 2021-12-21T01:48:25+00:00

When I'm scrolling too much negative content I go on Pinterest for a while lol Also I've been too glued on my phone lately, can't wait for the winter vacation to re-center on quality hobbies like reading, writing and knitting as well as sports.

alpinepunch2021 · 2021-12-21T05:48:37+00:00

I think there's something to this but I don't think 'high value' media is just media that isn't negative in its content; I think it's probably more content that isn't tabloidy, is well researched, is nuanced and thoughtful, and is about stuff that actually matters.

Ok-Appearance5982 · 2021-12-21T14:19:41+00:00

While it’s great to learn about the dark side of the world we live in. I also believe it serves as a distraction. I scheduled time for this in my calendar so that I don’t expose myself to heavy content everyday. This saves me time and energy to focus on the things I truly enjoy.

babysoymilk · 2021-12-22T07:14:01+00:00

This is a great post! I'm guilty of doomscrolling, too. But something that has made a huge difference as well is reducing my time following influencers. I used to spend hours every day looking at influencers on Instagram, going down their drama rabbitholes, reading gossip websites and subreddits etc. Then I spent 15 weeks in inpatient treatment (split into two stays) in a hospital that has poor reception all over the grounds. Wifi was expensive and the connection was terrible. One thing I have realised is that I was more invested in these unremarkable strangers' lives than in my own. I barely check Instagram, let alone any gossip platforms, at the moment and it feels great.

TieDieEye · 2021-12-22T17:21:24+00:00

This is 100% a thing and also why I randomly take really long breaks from social media and then randomly come back for a few days lmao

Also most stuff out there is targeted towards straight men anyway, no matter how hard you try to avoid it

laylaloolah · 2021-12-20T16:36:46+00:00

Outside of men entirely, I love my volunteer work, hobbies, incredibly kind-hearted/supportive friends, and I donate to animal welfare causes. I adopted a Turkey for Thanksgiving (monetary only). Some of my good friends have lovely children, and it’s fun to watch them grow up and marvel at the world. Finding joy in little things.

But I also really love watching my tv shows, and reading/weed/EDM festivals.

Title	Doomscrolling: why we need to be picky on the internet
Author	oi_oi_oink
Upvotes	432
Comments	22
Date	December 20, 2021 4:18 PM UTC (4 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/FemaleDatingStrategy
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/FemaleDatingStrategy/comments/rkqw38/doomscrolling_why_we_need_to_be_picky_on_the/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/FemaleDatingStrategy/doomscrolling-why-we-need-to-be-picky-on-the.1091526 https://theredarchive.com/post/1091526

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