[bachmeier]

> We're fine, the trick is to remember to GET OFF THE INTERNET and remember that reality isn't the same as the Internet.

That works fine, except in the cases where the bad news reflects reality, or understates how bad the reality is. In that case it's like saying cancer isn't the problem, the problem is that you visited the doctor and listened as he told you bad news.

[tsumnia]

> That works fine, except in the cases where the bad news reflects reality

The issue is that the 24/7 Internet chatroom/forums shift the "bad news" target on a daily basis. Sometimes its war, others its natural disaster, others its a horrific crime, etc. If you've been only seeing bad news since Covid, then it makes you (read, made me) think the world's in a terrible place. I stopped spending allll my time in the 24/7 chatroom and when I say this IN the chatroom everyone thinks I'm completely unaware. I'm not. I just engage on other matters, like cheering on my buddies when they release something.

[dragonwriter]

The world is (and the US is) a measurably more terrible place than only a few years ago, and a big part of the reason is that, whether or not they remain online, people are helplessly detached from events; being blissfully ignorant is not substantively different in societal impact than being in a state of paralysis from oversaturation of a mix of real, mis- and dis-informaton, even if it is more enjoyable in the near term.

Shutting off the feeds (especially those that are becoming more extremely manipulated to produce ineffective rage, which is part of how the world is worse) may be an effective way to manage the near-term stress of the present combination of media and material conditions, but it doesn't do anything to actually address the material conditions. Heck, detachment and demobilization to reduce resistance to arbitrary exercise of power is a big part of what you are being manipulated for. It's not an accident that that works as stress relief; that's part of the design of the manipulation.

[tsumnia]

> The world is (and the US is) a measurably more terrible place than only a few years ago

I neither agree nor disagree (if that makes sense), but I certainly agree that being modern Internet has warped people's views on things. I hear it called a "screen detox" via my Spotify BetterHelp ads and while I never used that service, I get what they mean.

Back during Digg 4.0 last year, one of the core members of users referred to it as "trying to have a conversation while attending a riot". Its a lot of third parties and faceless usernames chiming in, and if you don't answer all of them the impression can get equally get warped about the original intent of the conversation. Even how the conversation gets steered after the original comment is interesting to see.

I just think Covid made us all "get on the same wavelength", then someone(s) tainted that through things like heavy Reddit moderation. Like, we were all doing our own little things, then "everyone" is refreshing Johns Hopkins' dashboard, wondering if they have enough toilet paper because of the Seuz Canal, or watching all of the protest/riots unfold in other states.

But what got lost was no one going out to things, saving/gambling their money on the next short squeeze, and not supporting local stuff. If anything, GET OFF THE INTERNET is my attempt at manipulation/psyop/marketing campaign. And, locally, yeah, we're offline, openly talking about what we see on the different platforms since Reddit and Twitter are politically skewed, and sort of remembering a time before the pandemic.

I go to Magic the Gathering events at my LGS now. Its pretty cool to meet the nerds in that "missing third space". We're still talking about tariffs and global conflicts. We're just doing it respectfully and not trying to ruin the game at the same time cause not everyone agrees. I can even tell when someone is fresh off Arena because they play some of those insta-win meta combos. I just make tribal decks, I don't have time to study all that.

[chasd00]

You can still read print media like WAPO, NYT, or WSJ. Stay away from opinion and editorial sections and you'll still be informed about what matters but not manipulated so much that it gives you anxiety.

[bachmeier]

Yeah, here's what Bezos wrote. I seriously doubt it ends with the opinion section:

> I’m writing to let you know about a change coming to our opinion pages...We are going to be writing every day in support of defense of two pillars: personal liberties and free markets. We’ll cover other topics too of course, but viewpoints opposing those pillars will be left to be published by others...

I'll leave it to others to make a decision on whether WAPO qualifies as a propaganda outfit.

[pixl97]

While those listed papers may not be outright fabrications, they are very much manipulated by what their billionaire owners want you to know.

Part of the problem here is you can only list a few papers that might tell you the truth at all, when in the past there was far more independent news organizations that would vie against each other. Now they need to check in with their shareholders first.

[suzzer99]

Every WaPo reporter and editor doesn't check in with Bezos before a story goes to print. Yeah, the owners steer some stuff and kill some articles, but for the most part there's still very good reporting going on at the major US papers. It's a convenient fallacy to handwave away all established journalism because billionaire owners are chipping away around the edges.

[pixl97]

>WaPo reporter and editor doesn't check in with Bezos before a story goes to print.

Reporters are at the bottom of the list, there is a pile of middle and upper management that does all this work for Bezos without his need to keep an eye on it.

All it takes is one phone call from him saying they need to be careful around a topic and that's it. Funds dry up for investigations into that topic.

Now, I never said 'throw away' journalism, I said to ensure you understand the bias of the paper in question. Just because WaPo isn't reporting on Bezos doesn't mean there isn't anything to report on said guy.

[chasd00]

late checking in on the conversation. I agree with you to a degree but it's better than the rage bait online. Also, with a physical piece of paper you can reach the end, it doesn't scroll forever. I was subscribed to the paper wsj for a while and that was my favorite part, i could reach the end.