You wake up. Something is trending. Maybe a tragedy happened in your backyard or a disaster is occurring halfway across the world. Either way, it follows you. No matter what app you open or who you talk to, it's going to be in your face.
When we live every day trapped in a cage of intertwining bars of online news, it gets exhausting. So, how do we cope?
Despite being in a world with more choices than ever before, it feels like we can’t choose what we see when we open our phones. You didn’t mean to open the news app first thing in the morning, but then again, didn’t you do that yesterday? And the day before?
We exist in a digital age where content is controlled by what’s trending — whether it be good or bad. The difference between what spreads a funny video and anxiety-inducing news is an algorithm controlled by billions of others feeling the same way.
Why does negative news proliferate so much?
People have an innate bias toward negative news, according to a study by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The study found we’re more likely to interact with negative news than positive news. As a result, those headlines and stories get pushed more and more through sensationalism.
This feedback loop makes us believe the world is constantly in a bad place. We already live in a generation where hope for the future is at an all-time low, and it doesn’t help that what we interact with the most is proof of our worst fears.
How do we escape this? Our lives depend upon this revolutionary connection provided by the internet, but those same pathways carry words and pictures that further darken the light in our eyes.
People have to learn how to live their lives again. This doesn’t mean a complete disconnect from technology or reducing your screen time back to Victorian times; instead, we need to find solace in our own existence and learn to live in conjunction with the lives of others.
If we’re so preoccupied with the rest of the world, we neglect the world we carry every day. There’s going to be good and bad following the rising and setting of each sun, enough distress that it doesn’t make sense to invite more.
This isn’t a call for mass apathy in the world. Having the ability to read and hear about what’s happening halfway across the world in seconds has changed and saved lives, raising awareness for events and people we otherwise wouldn’t know about.
But we also need to remember that at the end of the day, the only one who’s going to take care of us is ourselves. It's important to be kind to your mind and remember that, sometimes, it’s OK to start your day with something other than a devastating headline.
Andres Arguello is a UF English and psychology senior.
