PART 1. “How do you know what’s going on in the world?”
How do I know what’s going on in the world?
This would have to be the most common concern people have when it comes to reducing their social media consumption or removing themselves from the platforms entirely.
And I get it. I understand the need to know shit. I also, like to know shit.
We want to stay informed to stay safe. Keep up to date, so we can stay involved in social conversations and debates. And keep up with the times so our opinions and views don’t become antiquated.
But it’s important to understand that the quantity of information that we need to consume in order to fulfil our social desires and the sheer amount of information we have access to everyday is worlds apart.
Ever since the internet became accessible to the public around 1993 it has been an ever growing orb of data. Back in 2010, there was a point in time when the internet had the perfect amount of information. Pegged as the ‘Golden Era of the Internet’ this was a very short time where the internet had everything we needed an nothing more. Users described the internet as ‘manageable’, ‘personal’ and ‘helpful’, people could use the internet to find one simple answer to one simple question which helped them with whatever task they were trying to achieve, or whatever problem they were dealing with. The internet was simply a helpful tool to find the answer to something.
As the orb of information has grown overtime, we have become very accustom to the idea that we need to know everything about everything that’s going on in the world at any given time. I’m here to tell you, it’s simply not necessary. Yes, it’s important to stay informed but social media is definitely not the only way to do that, and if anything it could be the worst source of news you have access to.
Remember when the only source of news you had was on the seven o’clock news? Or the Sunday paper? Or breakfast radio on the way to work? Those news sources brought you primarily local news stories, updates on major global events, key movements in the stock market, politics, deaths, marriages and the weekly crossword. Remember how you didn’t know every single detail about every single thing? Remember how, you didn’t die?
There is a fine line between being informed and consuming an excess amount of information on a broad range of topics leading to anxiety, stress or even depression. Being informed on the topics you are interested in or have concerns about is fine—it’s good and it’s healthy. Refreshing for updates on every news story everyday is not. Even if this level of news isn’t effecting your mental health, it’s still not necessary to stay informed.
Step back, block out the noise and define what your interests actually are.
What are the things I want to know about?
What are the things I want to keep up to date with?
What are the things that are important to me?
Once you have the answers to those questions, you can begin the process of finding resources that can provide you with that information, without the addictive components of social media.
There are heaps of free and paid news channel apps out there, but be picky… a lot of the mainstream media is designed for clicks, which leads to AI slop or articles that feel pointless or unfinished which makes for a frustrating user experience. Download a bunch, try them out, find out what you like. There are also plenty of websites and blogs that offer similar content—pin those to your homepage and try them out.
Some good ones for you might be:
- The Guardian
- ABC News
- The Financial Review
- Al Jazeera
Now that's you’ve defined what type of information you want to consume and chosen the apps that support that, head to part 2 to learn how to create the plan.