Thread by @baekdal

We have seen many people in the media argue that we should stop using social media because it's bad.

I'm reminded by this post by my friend @avinash ... look at the video.

https://twitter.com/avinash/status/1291444404155068418

When was the last time the front page of the NYT made you feel this type of joy?

My point is not to defend social platforms. There are problems on them within specific things. Problem they need to do something about. But newspapers are no substitute for all the amazing things that happen on social channels every day and all the joy it gives us.

And, as a media analyst, having studied the effects of news avoidance, news fatigue, and how news affects people's mental health, following wonderful people on social channels is really important in lifting people back up again.

Especially now.

Here is an example. When you wake tomorrow morning, instead of starting by reading the latest news headline, try skipping the news, and watch this video of a guy traveling with his cat.

And then an hour afterward, think about how you now feel.

I can promise you that you will feel better because you didn't start your day with anger, anguish, nor did you feel outraged by whatever idiotic thing some politician just did.

Feeling outraged is the worst way you can possibly start your day.

In fact, if you stopped reading the news every morning and then only looked at it at specific times later in the day (and only for a limited time), your mental health would dramatically improve.

I'm not saying this because I don't like the news. As a media analyst, I consider news and journalism to be a highly essential part of society. I consider it to be something that is extremely important, and something we should strive to do better at all times.

But I truly worry when I see journalists argue that news should be only form of media people should have.

News only looks at a very specific part of life, a part that is dominated by political problems, crime and anger.

But this is not what the world is really like.

Hard news Journalism is extremely important. But do not ever think that this type of journalism is the only thing people should see.

News is important, but it does not, in any way, represent life as a whole.

What people need to learn, though, is to use different channels for different things. I don't understand anyone who uses Facebook to read about news, because that just idiotic.

Why use a channel optimized for low-intent micro-reactions to read about things that outrage you?

Instead, when I use social channels, I use them for specific things.

On YouTube and Instagram, I do not follow any hard news channels. Instead, I define YouTube as my sanctuary away from the news. It's what turn to when I need to de-stress as a media analyst.

So I see this:

I personally don't use Facebook anymore, but that's mostly just because my friends there are only posting memes (total waste of time) ... but my mom, who owns a knitting store, uses it hundreds of time per day to engage with Facebook groups filled with people who knit.

Twitter is what I use for work. This is where I publish shorter media commentary (like this one) and engage with people in the industry.

So design your media consumption to work for you rather than against you. That's true both for social media and for traditional media.

BTW: In case you are interested, here is an episode I made about news fatigue: baekdal.com/podcast/episod…