[gonzobonzo]

People tend to do this justification behavior where they claim their dopamine hits are good for them/their health/society, when in actuality it's detrimental.

Almost no political junkie I know has changed their view on Trump over the past decade. They'll spend hours a day, sometimes hours a week, focused on him, but it ends up absolutely having no positive impact on their selves or their lives (usually a large negative impact).

Then I ask them about their local politicians, where they stand on certain issues, what their record is, what's been happening with their local government - and they have absolutely no clue. They can't even recall who was running in the previous local primary, or why they voted for who they voted for.

They're wasting countless hours on Trump and national politics because it feels good. Then they won't even spend a fraction learning about things that could actually make an important difference in their voting, because it's too boring for them. Even worse, many people will try to pass off these actions as being virtuous or being informed.

[the_af]

Um, I'm not from the US, so my comment was more general than that.

Politics exceeds politicians and specific partisan things. Politics shapes your life and that of your loved ones.

It's not simply about arguing online about stuff.

I'm my opinion one should be informed about local, national and world politics. Also history. What happens in the US unfortunately impacts my country (currently very directly; you are about to bail out Argentina, my country, just because Trump likes our president), so I'm paying attention.

[gruez]

>I'm my opinion one should be informed about local, national and world politics. Also history. What happens in the US unfortunately impacts my country (currently very directly; you are about to bail out Argentina, my country, just because Trump likes our president), so I'm paying attention.

What good does "paying attention" serve? Are you standing ready to send Trump a well timed tweet to get him on your side? Or maybe boycott US products? That's the problem with the 24/7 news cycle. There's "breaking news" happening all the time, and glued to your screen to stay "informed", but what does that actually do?

Moreover the OP isn't even against staying informed. He specifically points out the contrast being glued to some national issue that has no impact on his life, but isn't informed at all for any local issue that actually impacts his life.

[the_af]

> What good does "paying attention" serve?

I don't understand this position. What good does knowing anything about anything serve? What good does reading about history do?

I like being informed about the world and matters that affect me. Trump extending a lifeline to my disastrous government has implications for my life in our upcoming elections, and possibly beyond (they are saying the bailout comes with draconian "conditions"). I also care about more indirect ramifications and what it means for our sovereignty.

I like being informed about the world.

> He specifically points out the contrast being glued to some national issue that has no impact on his life, but isn't informed at all for any local issue that actually impacts his life.

You can and should be informed about both. There are no issues with absolutely zero impact in your life. Maybe they won't impact now, immediately and in a way that you notice, but in the longer term they will. Even as a trend for your nation.

Everything in life is political (just not about political parties, not sure why people conflate the two things).

PS: I've never used TikTok, I'm arguing out of principle. I do use Facebook and Instagram though. I swore off Twitter even before the Musk era, so I wouldn't know what's it like now (I imagine not good).

[matt_kantor]

How much time do you think people should invest in staying informed about politics?

The upthread discussion was about being glued to the 24/7 news cycle, which at least in the US focuses mostly on national political drama. If you're suggesting that people should spend most of their limited attention budget following that news cycle, then they won't have attention left for much else.

I don't think anyone in this thread would say that spending, say, 15 minutes a day getting caught up on political happenings is a bad thing. It only becomes harmful when it sucks up all of your attention (as it does for political junkies).