4 ms·

After doom-scrolling Covid through all of 2020, I decided to quit the news. As of 1 Jan 2021 I haven’t visited a news website. I never watched TV news anyway (

After doom-scrolling Covid through all of 2020, I decided to quit the news. As of 1 Jan 2021 I haven’t visited a news website. I never watched TV news anyway (I don’t have broadcast/cable). Sometimes the news drifts through from the radio, and if someone sends me a thing I’m not religious about not opening it. But, basically, no news. I haven’t missed it at all, and I do feel better. I have little clue what’s going on in the world and I don’t really care. What was I going to do about it anyway? I still browse social media. I’ve 90% switched to Mastodon from Twitter, which is just nicer. Simpler. More personal. HN is my main ‘browsing to kill time’ site, and I’m looking forward to an upcoming holiday so I can break this habit a little. Though I do now realise it’s all or nothing. You’re either in, in which case you are in, or you’re out. That’s why making it a resolution-style quitting — I remember the date — really helps. I’m on a run now, and I’d ruin that by visiting one news site even once. All temptation has now gone, thanks to time. The news cycle is relentless and mostly pointless. Ditching it has absolutely been a benefit to my mental state.

hcurtiss 3y ago
You're presently on a run and pinged HN? No judgment, but that strikes me as notable.
- jen729w 3y ago
  On a run as in an unbroken streak. Of not visiting news sites. I am not jogging, no. That would be weird.
Loquebantur 3y ago
Any authoritarian regime would love a populace with such self-absorbed opinions devoid of any regard for consequences in the long run. Awareness of events with geopolitical consequences might not immediately affect your diet or whatever you "truly" care about. It sure as hell is a world of difference when it comes to making judgements that span more than a couple weeks. Living in a state of relative decadence, when circumstances allow for life to become seemingy routine and change a scarcity precipitates times when that is very different.
- jen729w 3y ago
  If the news presented me the “events with geopolitical consequences” it might be a different story. Let’s visit my reputable local paper’s home page. I live in the capital of Australia so this should be fairly geopolitical. - New economic partnership between my country and my territory. Fine. - ‘Party bonfire explosion lucky not to kill someone.’ - 200 new homes planned for a suburb up the road. - Gossip on some agency moving to some other place. - Commentary on an upcoming vote. I know how I’ll vote, I’ll vote ‘yes’ because I’m not a racist. I don’t need the news for that. - A pub changes ownership after 38 years. I’ll remind you that I’m on the front page of the Canberra Times. - Rugby news. I feel geopolitically informed and much calmer. Thank you.
boppo1 3y ago
>I’m looking forward to an upcoming holiday so I can break this habit a little. Please share your method.
- jen729w 3y ago
  I’m only taking my phone, no iPad or laptop, and it’s an iPhone Mini, so it’s not that comfortable to read on. So that’s a statement of intent up front: I will not be ‘reading the internet’ on this holiday. Also we’ll be taking trains through Malaysia and Thailand so that will occupy the parts of my brain that usually want a little ‘hit’ from the internet. The path to long-term success involves replacing the habit with another. Because you’ll always have those interstitial moments when the urge to check HN comes up. If you leave them empty, you’ll want to fill them eventually. So, have a good book on hand. Or learn to take walks round the block. Or something else. I personally find that I’m all-or-nothing. I can’t just ‘check HN twice a day’. That doesn’t work for me. And ‘checking HN’ soon devolves to ‘also checking Reddit’ because, screw it, while I’m here… and so they all have to go. I’ve had success in the past, yet here I am again. If at first you don’t succeed…

hcurtiss 3y ago

You're presently on a run and pinged HN? No judgment, but that strikes me as notable.

jen729w 3y ago
On a run as in an unbroken streak. Of not visiting news sites. I am not jogging, no. That would be weird.

Loquebantur 3y ago

Any authoritarian regime would love a populace with such self-absorbed opinions devoid of any regard for consequences in the long run. Awareness of events with geopolitical consequences might not immediately affect your diet or whatever you "truly" care about. It sure as hell is a world of difference when it comes to making judgements that span more than a couple weeks. Living in a state of relative decadence, when circumstances allow for life to become seemingy routine and change a scarcity precipitates times when that is very different.

jen729w 3y ago
If the news presented me the “events with geopolitical consequences” it might be a different story. Let’s visit my reputable local paper’s home page. I live in the capital of Australia so this should be fairly geopolitical. - New economic partnership between my country and my territory. Fine. - ‘Party bonfire explosion lucky not to kill someone.’ - 200 new homes planned for a suburb up the road. - Gossip on some agency moving to some other place. - Commentary on an upcoming vote. I know how I’ll vote, I’ll vote ‘yes’ because I’m not a racist. I don’t need the news for that. - A pub changes ownership after 38 years. I’ll remind you that I’m on the front page of the Canberra Times. - Rugby news. I feel geopolitically informed and much calmer. Thank you.

boppo1 3y ago

>I’m looking forward to an upcoming holiday so I can break this habit a little. Please share your method.

jen729w 3y ago
I’m only taking my phone, no iPad or laptop, and it’s an iPhone Mini, so it’s not that comfortable to read on. So that’s a statement of intent up front: I will not be ‘reading the internet’ on this holiday. Also we’ll be taking trains through Malaysia and Thailand so that will occupy the parts of my brain that usually want a little ‘hit’ from the internet. The path to long-term success involves replacing the habit with another. Because you’ll always have those interstitial moments when the urge to check HN comes up. If you leave them empty, you’ll want to fill them eventually. So, have a good book on hand. Or learn to take walks round the block. Or something else. I personally find that I’m all-or-nothing. I can’t just ‘check HN twice a day’. That doesn’t work for me. And ‘checking HN’ soon devolves to ‘also checking Reddit’ because, screw it, while I’m here… and so they all have to go. I’ve had success in the past, yet here I am again. If at first you don’t succeed…