Fear Mongering and Doomscrolling: News in the Digital Age
Fear Mongering and Doomscrolling: News in the Digital Age
Fear is a powerful motivator, and lately it has our eyes glued to the news. In times of crisis, it is difficult to avoid falling into the rabbit hole of terrifying and depressing news articles.
Digital Health
It wasn’t always this way, the news has become more negative since the 70’s. Author Steven Pinker suggests a large part of the problem is the focus on reporting small, incremental changes. Day-by-day developments are more likely to highlight everything going wrong, while a zoomed out perspective could seem rosier. Good things take time. With the alarming frequency of online news articles, we’re seeing every single update, with clickbait headlines that further exaggerate the awfulness.
If you find you can’t look away from the horrorshow that is the news right now, you’re not alone. There’s even a name for it. Doomscrolling.
It’s important to stay informed, but be conscious of how much negative news you’re consuming. That’s why I like newsletters. You subscribe to what you want, and after you read it: you’re done. No infinite scroll.
Connected Culture
The Tricky Task of Policing YouTube
On the internet, extreme content gets clicks. Youtube is drowning with bizarre conspiracy videos, and the edits to the algorithm are reactionary. Has Youtube become too big to police itself?
Letter of concern to Mark Zuckerberg from Chan Zuckerberg Initiative-funded scientists
Is Mark Zuckerburg a hypocrite? Scientists from his own organization, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, have raised some concerns. They state that when the president tweeted “when the looting starts, the shooting starts” he was instigating violence. This is against Facebook’s community standards. Unlike Twitter, who promptly hid the tweet, Facebook is sitting on its hands.
-Madi
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