We just gotta face it. We all became addicted to doom scrolling/click bait articles to survive 8 years of trump. Heck, probably a few new alcoholics and other addictions. How else could we survive this. His election and Hillary’s acceptance was at best devastation. Much more than 5 stages of grief. Maybe ten stages. Just add doom scrolling as one of them.
So, to survive we searched for articles for confirmation bias that we weren’t crazy and had fellow travelers in our grief. We also found anything that would somehow bring an end to trump. Anything to supported our grief, rage, or to wage a verbal war against the right. Argued with anyone from the right we could find in the hopes of ending the insanity. And the trump era was and still is insane.
We Click bait on articles that rage about the right, feeling sad , feeling defeated. Still stories of trump, now desantis, florida and whatever the next rage topic will stay at the top of trending stories. Just reviewing some of the trending stories, just plain depressing at times.
I’m not talking about the news stories. We gotta be informed and not bury our head in the sand. It’s the rehash of a news story ten times over and staying in the trending feed that feeds the click bait habit. How many times do you need to read about trump’s eventual demise, only to find the next day, trump, trump trump. And desantis is dead in the water. Guy is a certified jerk. We all know these thing why saturate our-selves with this crap.
And for those of you that are not addicted(just not buying it) Save the article so when you see the light, help is there.
Reader warning- Not suggesting Daily KOS change their algorithms. It’s working great. It’s us the readers doing it to ourselves.
Here are my eight steps to recovery(12 is too many, just ran out of ideas)
I’m a recovering doom scroller. I admit it. First step to recovery. Admit it. I found Daily KOS as a refuge from the MSM. Stopped watching MSNBC after trump won. They got it so wrong and it’s the same there as everywhere. Let’s raise the anxiety so you “stay tuned”. I was glued to MSNBC. How did that help me. Nada, bupkis…anxiety beyond my eyeballs. I used to think the Washington Post was actually a liberal retreat from MSM crap. After bopping between KOS and the Post, found I was wrong there too. Unfortunately it’s still the “best MSM you can get” from the MSM.(As opposed to none)
On KOS you can find positive stories, political news, helpful news and articles. My favorite is good new roundup. But it disappears from the trending stories by mid day some days due to a lack of “recommend” I am guessing. (my hidden agenda, that good news round up is #1 on trending articles, wasn’t supposed to stay hidden, oops). Seems some KOSers tend to recommend the doom scroll stories and click bait. Go figure.
I also like abbreviate pundit, keeps me informed, but not overwhelmed. Hence brief.
I read KOS articles whenever posted. Went thru a bit of withdrawal when he went on vacation and cut the cord from the nets. He really needed the sanity break.
Here are my recommended steps to recovery from doom scrolling.
1 Accept you are doom scrolling, no higher power stuff needed, just admit it’s making me unhappy/depressed. I really want to feel happy, it’s a crazy challenging world right now. I need some hope.
2 Seek out articles that make you feel better before signing off KOS. Certainly read the real news stories of the day. They usually don’t make you feel better, but gotta be informed. Ukraine stories actually are the slow triumph of good vs evil. Lots of heartbreak for Ukraine, but they persist in spite of oppressive evil. Hope! (Kudos to Markos for focusing on Ukraine, can’t find this coverage in MSM)
3 Don’t click on the click bait that just rehashes the news of the day. Once is enough. It’s just digging a hole to rehash it again and again. It’s just political porn. It is what it is.
4 Don’t click on the click bait that are just fantasies of trump/right wing demise. False hope. Do click on articles that are reality based hope of trump/right wing demise. Feels good to read, but it’s a long slog till it actually happens. Temper the hope.
4 Just avoid any trump, desantis, whatever,,, that gives you absolutely no new info about these nefarious bums. You know it. Why get into a rage again. trump is a certifiable anti-social jerk and a “nasty” bully. He loves it when he gets into your head. He must know somehow??? Noooooo
5 Don’t click “recommend” on click bait. Feeds the addiction. DO click “recommend” on news and articles that actually make you feel better/hopeful or better informed. Or articles that help you find ways to take action to create change. We need hope we can rebuild a post trump nation.
6 Read, recommend, create articles that help rebuild hope, humanity, kindness, human connection to others. It’s never just political.
7 Find ways to communicate with your “right” neighbors and relatives that avoids politics/religion and demonstrates that you are a caring kind human, willing to help and support anyone who needs help. Make room for everyone on the boat. Just save them from Brain on Fox. It’s a painful death. Oh the screaming.
8 Find ways you can effect change in a post trump world. Vote, support local candidates, be politically active in ways you are comfortable. But as always, be sure you vote.
Even I can’t write an article without mentioning trump. We got a long way to go.
My 2 cents for the day. Have a positive and kind day.
(reader warning… just click on what you want..or I might get banned, oh no, or maybe have to comp the lost revenue, just in case, please donate to Daily KOS, my bad)
(note, my previous post got 1 “recommend”, that was the best rating I should have received. None might be even better. OOPS. I did get comments and helpful tips, thanks to all)