<story><title>Facebook quitters report more life satisfaction, less depression and anxiety</title><url>https://boingboing.net/2020/02/10/study-facebook-quitters-repor.html</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>Angostura</author><text>So read something like The Economist or the paper version of the NYT?</text></item><item><author>sykick</author><text>The problem as I see it is that it is almost impossible to be informed enough to hold people accountable.  In the U.S. at least the news is almost always of the form:  “ Person from party A (which you are a member of) destroys person from Party B”.  Or, “Party B seeks to destroy Issue C”.&lt;p&gt;There is virtually no nuance in the reporting.  There’s no dissection.  For example, the situation with Syria is quite complicated as Turkey, U.S., Russia, Kurds, and Assad all have conflicting goals and desires.  Yet all of the reporting I’ve seen on this conflict has been absurdly reductionist and used to garner support&amp;#x2F;hatred toward the party in power by the adherents&amp;#x2F;adversaries of said party in power.&lt;p&gt;I understand the desire to have an informed populace but I think that is no longer possible.  It is too easy to sway large swaths of the public.  Witness the rise of anti-vaxers and other thoughtless beliefs.  Even if I tried to be relatively informed it wouldn’t matter because the vast majority of the people are not psychologically prepared to withstand the pressure of subtle, sustained propaganda.&lt;p&gt;I have resigned myself to the fact that the republic is dead in the sense of what the ideal of a republic ought to be.  I too avoid news and social media.  I don’t count this website to be what I call social media since there is no identifying information about myself on here and none of my friends knows about my posts on this website.</text></item><item><author>anderber</author><text>I absolutely understand what you&amp;#x27;re saying. But part of me feels an obligation to be informed to hold those in power accountable. If everyone follows the advice of avoiding the news, what effect would that have in our Govenment?</text></item><item><author>INTPenis</author><text>What gave me the most satisfaction is quitting the news. Incidentally I don&amp;#x27;t have or use any social media either. Except imgur and sometimes among the funny memes I get news.&lt;p&gt;But I&amp;#x27;m afraid for people I meet who always remind me of all the awful things they&amp;#x27;ve seen in the news. I&amp;#x27;m aware of none of this until someone tells me.&lt;p&gt;And yet my life is the same as everyone elses. Not knowing what is going on, living in a country with a high standard of living and personal safety, doesn&amp;#x27;t affect me at all.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>sjtindell</author><text>The NYT I definitely now class with all the rest. In my opinion The Economist stands alone as the only publication I can trust to be nuanced and informative.</text></comment>
<story><title>Facebook quitters report more life satisfaction, less depression and anxiety</title><url>https://boingboing.net/2020/02/10/study-facebook-quitters-repor.html</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>Angostura</author><text>So read something like The Economist or the paper version of the NYT?</text></item><item><author>sykick</author><text>The problem as I see it is that it is almost impossible to be informed enough to hold people accountable.  In the U.S. at least the news is almost always of the form:  “ Person from party A (which you are a member of) destroys person from Party B”.  Or, “Party B seeks to destroy Issue C”.&lt;p&gt;There is virtually no nuance in the reporting.  There’s no dissection.  For example, the situation with Syria is quite complicated as Turkey, U.S., Russia, Kurds, and Assad all have conflicting goals and desires.  Yet all of the reporting I’ve seen on this conflict has been absurdly reductionist and used to garner support&amp;#x2F;hatred toward the party in power by the adherents&amp;#x2F;adversaries of said party in power.&lt;p&gt;I understand the desire to have an informed populace but I think that is no longer possible.  It is too easy to sway large swaths of the public.  Witness the rise of anti-vaxers and other thoughtless beliefs.  Even if I tried to be relatively informed it wouldn’t matter because the vast majority of the people are not psychologically prepared to withstand the pressure of subtle, sustained propaganda.&lt;p&gt;I have resigned myself to the fact that the republic is dead in the sense of what the ideal of a republic ought to be.  I too avoid news and social media.  I don’t count this website to be what I call social media since there is no identifying information about myself on here and none of my friends knows about my posts on this website.</text></item><item><author>anderber</author><text>I absolutely understand what you&amp;#x27;re saying. But part of me feels an obligation to be informed to hold those in power accountable. If everyone follows the advice of avoiding the news, what effect would that have in our Govenment?</text></item><item><author>INTPenis</author><text>What gave me the most satisfaction is quitting the news. Incidentally I don&amp;#x27;t have or use any social media either. Except imgur and sometimes among the funny memes I get news.&lt;p&gt;But I&amp;#x27;m afraid for people I meet who always remind me of all the awful things they&amp;#x27;ve seen in the news. I&amp;#x27;m aware of none of this until someone tells me.&lt;p&gt;And yet my life is the same as everyone elses. Not knowing what is going on, living in a country with a high standard of living and personal safety, doesn&amp;#x27;t affect me at all.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>ghostpepper</author><text>This is the answer. Journalists cannot work for free, and trying to run a newspaper entirely supported by ads creates perverse incentives.</text></comment>