I don’t use social media apart from fb to occasionally post photos of my dog and/or kid. (I still don’t understand the attraction of twitter or instagram.)
As for what to do about it… while my undergraduate degree is in physics and computer science my graduate degrees are in history and law, which I found extremely fulfilling. I recommend reading more history. The context that learning about history provides is (IMHO) invaluable.
Well put. Sometimes the medium DOES form the message. Comments: To prevent total absorption into the matrix during peak 2020, I imposed a sanity filter. On any given day I'd just unplug, sit outdoors looking at the trees, sky, animals etc. just to remind myself that all of reality was not contained in The Feed. Likewise, I found it helpful to filter the feed by unfollowing, blocking or muting all those that I knew had obvious agendas that would hinder the flow of info useful for living my life in the real world at the time. (This included those aligned with my own politics) Which leads me to an observation and perhaps advice: I think many see their feed choices as unchangeable rather than something that can/should be adjusted. Soc. media can, ( I would say ought to) be used like a telescope on a tripod: Able to change focus and direction and to be able to adapt to the current issues that are relevant to you. If North Korea is an issue you change direction to deliver that info and block out all else. (Same with pandemics, wars, elections etc.) Make the feed fit your needs, not the other way around. There is a spoon. Be brave, bend it to your will. (Yes, I know this is not as wonderfully meta as your observation but it helps to remind ourselves that we do have the ability to make changes, even to The Feed.)
Can't say I entirely get what you're saying, but I am going to pay more attention to "tokens" and stimulation, because I think you're really on to something.
I don’t use social media apart from fb to occasionally post photos of my dog and/or kid. (I still don’t understand the attraction of twitter or instagram.)
As for what to do about it… while my undergraduate degree is in physics and computer science my graduate degrees are in history and law, which I found extremely fulfilling. I recommend reading more history. The context that learning about history provides is (IMHO) invaluable.
Well put. Sometimes the medium DOES form the message. Comments: To prevent total absorption into the matrix during peak 2020, I imposed a sanity filter. On any given day I'd just unplug, sit outdoors looking at the trees, sky, animals etc. just to remind myself that all of reality was not contained in The Feed. Likewise, I found it helpful to filter the feed by unfollowing, blocking or muting all those that I knew had obvious agendas that would hinder the flow of info useful for living my life in the real world at the time. (This included those aligned with my own politics) Which leads me to an observation and perhaps advice: I think many see their feed choices as unchangeable rather than something that can/should be adjusted. Soc. media can, ( I would say ought to) be used like a telescope on a tripod: Able to change focus and direction and to be able to adapt to the current issues that are relevant to you. If North Korea is an issue you change direction to deliver that info and block out all else. (Same with pandemics, wars, elections etc.) Make the feed fit your needs, not the other way around. There is a spoon. Be brave, bend it to your will. (Yes, I know this is not as wonderfully meta as your observation but it helps to remind ourselves that we do have the ability to make changes, even to The Feed.)
Can't say I entirely get what you're saying, but I am going to pay more attention to "tokens" and stimulation, because I think you're really on to something.