Despite not subscribing to political communities and having a large number of content filters based on keywords, my feed here is still for a large part all negative articles and ragebait. Elon Musk this and Israel that. Microsoft ruining windows, AI ruining internet, right wingers and capitalism ruining the world, police being racist and shooting innocent people, companies demanding workers into offices, privacy being under constant attack from all sides… And all this despite the effort I go thru to block that from my view. I can only imagine what the unfiltered feed is like.

I get that this is all important stuff but holy shit it’s depressing when that’s all I read here every day. Sure, some of it is legitimately news worthy but lets be real here; much of it isn’t. It’s just to get you riled up and engaging with the post. It’s the exact same thing all major social media recommendation algorithms are doing; feeding you content that causes outrage to keep you on the platform for as long as possible. Do we really need to know about every stupid thing Elon says or every police shooting where the victim is black?

It’s no wonder so many people, especially younger ones feel absolutely miserable from day to day. It can’t be healthy to live like this. I feel like this kind of media diet is pretty much equivalent to eating fast food every single day.

  • darthelmet@lemmy.world
    97·
    6 months ago

    I am tired of living in a world with all of these problems. Whether or not I have the luxury to ignore them is besides the point.

    • AliceAEnglish
      13·
      6 months ago

      You doing anything to change those problems ?

      • darthelmet@lemmy.world
        3·
        6 months ago

        Admittedly not much anymore. It’s hard organizing people in the face of systemic opposition under the best of circumstances, but I’m also incredibly unhealthy. Socially awkward and anxious is only the tip of the iceberg of the personal problems I have that make it hard for me to engage in real life activism anymore. I’ve tried, but it’s not really something I can do at the moment. I can barely do anything at the moment for that matter.

        That said, there is some small value in trying to convince others to think about these problems and develop class consciousness. I’m not claiming it’s much and it’s stressful/depressing knowing I’m not doing more, but at least I’m not trying to get people to stick their heads in the sand. I’m not actively making things worse.

        • AliceAEnglish
          1·
          6 months ago

          You don’t like ‘owe’ me an explanation of your personal ect ect I can empathize. We all literally have shit going on in our lives myself included so I get that shit is just fucking really tough sometimes. Life is not always the way we want it and we face challenges everyday.

          But that is just the very reality though for the entire human race. No one is exempt from that. Challenges go hand in hand with life in general.

          Don’t make excuses. Take ownership.

          You don’t need to ‘gather’ a group of people to do x y and z. You don’t and can’t force/entice/convince/ whatever anyone to Do what you think needs to be done.

          That’s up to you and you only. You start by setting an example not making excuses.

          • darthelmet@lemmy.world
            3·
            6 months ago

            Agreed that it’s something I need to overcome. But I still think collective action is the only way forward. Half our problems stem from everyone acting as individuals divorced from community.

    • Thorny_Insight@lemm.eeOP
      56·
      6 months ago

      Nobody is making the world a better place by paying daily attention to every possible thing that’s wrong with it.

      • motor_spirit@lemmy.world
        47·
        6 months ago

        This sounds like the “don’t make everything political” rhetoric which is naively hilarious. If you’re encouraging moderation for the sake of mental well-being, sure - but that is just that, like many other things.

        Information is a well; people will come and go. How much any one person consumes, like food and drink, is their choice regardless of consequence. You can argue diet, drugs, alcohol, entertainment, masturbation all the same.

        Personally, I’d rather take on the mental burden of being informed over being as clueless as some. Ignorance leads to many problems, higher costs when you’re not much of a problem solver etc.

      • Cornelius_Wangenheim@lemmy.world
        1·
        6 months ago

        The idea is that you spread the knowledge to others and occasionally do something about some of them, even if it’s only a small contribution.

    • AliceAEnglish
      8·
      6 months ago

      Honestly reddit has gotten less negativity because a lot of it moved here. I still use reddit I use both reddit and lemmy.

      Got back from a lemmy break recently because I couldn’t stand the negativity and needed a while away from it

      Dude yes make another account there’s no reason you can’t use both

      I feel exactly the same and completely agree with all you said

    • GBU_28@lemm.eeEnglish
      18·
      6 months ago

      Agree. Lemmy seems to have like… Some sort of progressive LGBTQ friendly black pill folks or something. Completely resigned to doom posting, always negative. Always looking to kneecap. Always bringing up macro scale issues on micro scale events. Calling for violence, saying society is guaranteed toast.

    • AwkwardLookMonkeyPuppet@lemmy.worldEnglish
      2·
      6 months ago

      I’ve checked it out again recently. It has gone way downhill. Once vibrant communities are now full of themed variations of Ask Reddit questions. The posts are such obvious trivialities created for nothing more than to drive meaningless engagement.

    • SorteKanin@feddit.dk
      1·
      6 months ago

      I just want to say, thank you for still being here and trying to change it in a good direction.

    • ameancow@lemmy.world
      5·
      6 months ago

      Politics are dumb but very, very important

      I know that saying well.

      And I agree. You are not learning to understand politics because you think you’re going to run for office and change the world, you learn so you understand what’s actually going on and so you can help educate others.

      Seriously, everyone out there who rather just block out anything to do with politics and society and are overwhelmed by the idea of finding the path to least harm, you are only going to make your insecurity and anxiety around politics worse by ignoring it or condemning it when you see it. Forming strong values around your axioms is politics, and when you find a confident stance like “Do good things, don’t do bad things” and learn what consequences are of different attitudes and actions, you become a LOT more complete and confident and less likely to be absolutely railroaded by the very real forces out there who will exploit your apathy. It doesn’t mean you have to preach or lecture anyone, just know how things work.

      Sitting it out, ignoring it, hiding from it… that feels like you’re escaping, but you are just playing into the plans of those who need you to be apathetic. You don’t get out of taking a side here, so start learning.

    • AwkwardLookMonkeyPuppet@lemmy.worldEnglish
      2·
      6 months ago

      What is consuming everything actually doing for you? Like, how is it benefiting? What positive actions does it inspire that lead you to creating a better world?

      • ameancow@lemmy.world
        6·
        6 months ago

        Personal insecurity comes from lack of understanding of systems that impact you.

        Everyone has different needs and wants out of their society, but we all have the same axioms. Learning how to connect your axioms to your political identity is a very strong way to feel more connected to your community and the people you care about. Learning how the world works can help guide choices and support others who may also be struggling. Understanding how politics and sociology work gives you a window into how people are motivated and you will make better decisions.

        And more than anything, the MOST important part of learning how the world functions and how science, politics, religion, emotion and relationships are all tied to each other, is that it defends you against bullshit and lies.

        You and I are very vulnerable to the way others can trigger emotional responses and then use those feelings to explain an agenda. People do this all day long, every day, on every side of the political spectrum, and it’s VERY easy to get pulled into these clubs and communities, most of which are either scams or grifts trying to sell you something or trying to get you to become a walking advertisement for what they’re selling.

    • OccamsRazer@lemmy.world
      1·
      6 months ago

      The problem with politics on lemmy is that it isn’t a discussion at all, but a one-sided circle jerk. Almost every post is some flavor of Right Wing Bad, and any attempt at nuance or calling out hypocrisy results in a sea of downvotes and what appears to be shadow bans. There are no dissenting opinions allowed. If you spend your time consuming heavily moderated and filters content, it’s going to produce anxiety. But more importantly, it isn’t even reality.

  • originalucifer@moist.catsweat.com
    21·
    6 months ago

    i get this way sometimes. the answer is easy; dont read it. its just that simple. if its only the headline in a list giving you angst, it feels like you might have other issues.

    you said it yourself… its a diet you feed yourself. its all in your own hands. dont read it.

    • GardenVarietyAnxiety@lemmy.world
      7·
      6 months ago

      I agree with this 100%

      I used to love wallowing in bad news, but it just got to the point it was having more of a negative impact than it’s worth. I still pay attention to what’s going on, it just doesn’t need to be via an IV bag all day so I filter most of it out now.

      • AliceAEnglish
        4·
        6 months ago

        I like your last sentence alot lol very true

  • Lowlee Kun@feddit.de
    20·
    6 months ago

    You are so on point. I come here mainly for chuckles, some light hearted discussion and memes but what do is see most? Rage, rage and more rage.

  • spicystraw@lemmy.world
    20·
    6 months ago

    Thank you for putting how I feel browsing Lemmy into words. I really hope that more wholesome communities can gain more traction soon.

    • nix@midwest.socialEnglish
      4·
      6 months ago

      One thing I’ve tried to take to heart on lemmy: On reddit I nearly never posted articles. But here, I try to post any article I find interesting. I think with such a small space we’ve gotta be the change we see. Every time you read something worthwhile, try to remember to find somewhere to post it here.

  • splonglo@lemmy.world
    18·
    6 months ago

    IMO the issue isn’t that there’s too much negative content, but that there isn’t enough of everything else. I’d encourage people to post, engage with and signal boost other kinds of content they’re interested in. May just be that politics and social issues are some of the most popular interests in the community.

  • Swedneck@discuss.tchncs.de
    16·
    6 months ago

    The world is depressing, and if we just stick our heads in the sand and ignore it all because that feels better nothing’s going to fucking change.

    Sure, focus on positivity so you don’t collapse into a depressive blob, but the idea that we should ignore the state of the world because it’s unpleasant is terrible.

    • Thorny_Insight@lemm.eeOP
      13·
      6 months ago

      There’s probably a healthy middle ground somewhere between the two extreme ends. “Sticking your head in the sand” is harder than you’d think. I go out of my way to try and avoid seeing these articles but I bet you couldn’t name a single current event I haven’t heard of.

  • rufus@discuss.tchncs.de
    15·
    6 months ago

    In short: Yes. It’s dragging me down, too.

    I’d like to focus on positivity. I mean negativity comes with strong emotions and I don’t want to get rid of it. But I’d like to see more positive things, too. People sharing side projects and nice things they’ve done and created. There needs to be a better balance. Because this doesn’t depict life or the entire perspective.

  • WhiskyTangoFoxtrot@lemmy.world
    13·
    6 months ago

    I don’t mind when bad news is posted. It’s important to know these things. What bothers me is how the top comment is always some low-effort defeatest bullshit like “and there will never be consequences.”

    • fine_sandy_bottom@discuss.tchncs.de
      4·
      6 months ago

      I’m finding that some really bizarre ideas around persecution are embraced on lemmy.

      In some other thread someone is trying to convince me that wealthy people hate e-bikes because they don’t want poor people to be free.

    • intensely_human@lemm.ee
      1·
      6 months ago

      YES good point. This is truly where I feel the most disgust.

      Honestly if you wanted to demoralize a nation and had either some GPT bots or rooms full of foreign operatives, this kind of defeatist top comment would be a pretty effective way of doing it.

      You can just influence the culture of their people. Make them think through social proof that the right way to act is to be defeatist and pessimistic and negative.