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Digital Hygiene

Lately I've grown concerned with how social media affects me. In particular, modern social media, where the content you see is determined algorithmically, has become worrisome to me. I've come to believe it's a drag on my mental, emotional, and intellectual health, for the following reasons:

The problem then, was how to limit my exposure to algorithmic feeds, while also remaining connected to the world. The opposite danger from being overstimulated is being underinformed. Being a trans leftist, I have good reasons to be politically motivated, and that means staying informed on what's going on in the world. I also really do enjoy a lot of the content I consume, from the comedy and the memes to the long-form video essays. So the solution can't be to completely unplug. Here is the middle path I'm currently trying out:

The RSS reader is my solution to the infinite algorithmic feed problem. Using an RSS reader allows me to create a finite feed, populated only by the newest content from sources I have specifically chosen to receive updates from. In other words, it gives me control over what I see, rather than an algorithm. If I find a particular source to be overly sensationalist, untrustworthy, or needlessly anxiety-inducing, I can remove it from the list. If it's useful or entertaining, I can add it. And once I reach the end of the list of new content, the feed is empty. It doesn't immediately populate with similar content "I might like." I'm just done. I'm all caught up for the day.

I hope and expect that this new paradigm will help me stay both informed and unburdened by excessive noise. I also hope that I'll stick with it -- I've tried similar things in the past and always turned back to social media as an escape from my life. But with my mental health in a better place now, hopefully that won't be necessary.

Update from 05-10: dear god am I really this pretentious

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News Feed Eradicator

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