This article was written by The Zillennial Zine’s spring editorial intern Ian Ferdock. Find him on Instagram at @ianferdock. If you would like to share an article with The Zillennial, send us an email at thezillennialzine@gmail.com.
Having endless information at your fingertips has become the hallmark of life in the 21st century. But at what cost? Many of us find ourselves habitually glued to a screen for nearly all hours of the day. Sometimes it takes the form of staring at your computer in an office or spending all hours of the night doomscrolling on TikTok. We are constantly bombarded by headline after headline on all our devices. News outlets produce constant alarmist rhetoric to have a fighting chance at grabbing our attention for more than 10 seconds. Granted, these days there are plenty of rational reasons to be alarmed but is everything we read as bad as it seems? The consistent negativity online, particularly from news sources, can be suffocating. That begs the question, how much news is too much?
I completely understand the inclination to check out when the continuous stream of information makes you feel as though you are drowning. To a certain extent, it’s a healthy reaction. We can only take so much. At the same time, however, there is a limit to how much you can responsibly remove yourself from your community. Instead, you must somehow find a balance between protecting your mental health and avoiding being uninformed. If you are too far removed from the news cycle, you jeopardize losing the ability to advocate for the issues that matter to you.
The Risk Of Being Uninformed
The primary responsibility of news outlets is to ensure that their readers are knowledgeable about current events. Naturally, if you tune them out then you will be less aware of what is happening in your local community as well as the country. Tempting as it may be to forget about it all, being uninformed does carry some genuine risk.
Policies can change in the blink of an eye, whether they occur at the local or federal level. Some of those changes may have no bearing on you, but others may impact you directly. It will always be in your best interest to stay current on the news to put yourself in the best position to be protected. Furthermore, if there is some sort of emergency, you don’t exactly want to be the last person to find out.
The Risk Of Being Misinformed
On the flip side of the coin, you don’t want to be misinformed either. There are more sources than ever before to get access to content and information. Sounds like a good thing, right? Well, not always. Part of the problem is the way influencers, with zero expertise, have begun to drive narratives and increase polarization. It isn’t just important to keep yourself in the loop. It is doubly important to ensure you are getting news from the right sources.
The best approach is to find reputable news outlets that prioritize high editorial standards and avoid the temptation of leaning into partisanship. Furthermore, it’s fine, and even healthy to rely on some level of skepticism. I’m not trying to argue that everything you disagree with is the “fake news media”, but at the same time, it’s not like every headline is baked in truth either. If you read something from one source that is questionable, do some fact-checking on your own. Keep digging through sources and aim to get a more complete view of reality. Trust your intuition and don’t be immediately satisfied with the first argument you see online.
Missing Out On The Conversation
Aside from the perils of misinformation, there are some benefits to Americans getting their news from a wide range of sources. Traditional media outlets that used to heavily rely on cable TV and newspapers at people’s front doors have steadily become less relevant. Consequently, there has been a heavy focus on spreading news on social media. Sometimes it’s even used as a search engine. This transition has certainly come with major consequences as previously mentioned. On social media, in particular, editorial oversight often goes out the window. Being first is more relevant than being accurate.
However, one genuine benefit of news being discussed on social media platforms is the increased opportunity to have conversations in comments sections or threads. Internet communities can often be toxic, and it is understandable to want to avoid that level of malice. At the same time, it is important to be a part of the dialogue. The only way to combat a deep political divide, like the one America is currently experiencing, is to talk about it. I’m not suggesting everyone should go out and be a keyboard warrior or compromise their beliefs. My point is that the moment you block everything out, valuable perspectives are lost. When you aren’t willing to engage with others or contemplate opposing perspectives, you limit your ability to learn and grow.
Protecting Your Mental Health
While completely tuning out the news isn’t always the most productive idea, I certainly understand the temptation. I am guilty of it too as I certainly don’t consume the amount of news content I once did. When chaos is always behind every click, it’s a fairly sane reaction to want to block it out. Sometimes, it’s also a necessity.
Consuming too much news isn’t good for you either and you have to be able to protect your mental health. We are what we surround ourselves with. If you constantly experience negativity, online or in real life, you’ll probably feel pessimistic at best.
As much as it is necessary to keep yourself informed, it’s also worth acknowledging that many news sources are more focused on driving web traffic than presenting facts clearly to their readers. That leads to overly explosive headlines which are designed to create fear. That said, there are always things worth being concerned about. I assure you I am very concerned about a lot too. Nonetheless, you have to be a bit tactful to read between the lines and determine what presents an imminent danger to certain communities as opposed to alarmist rhetoric.
How Much News Is Too Much?
The best way to answer the question, of how much news is too much, likely depends on the person. Not everyone will have the same capacity for bullshit. The best approach is trying to find a balance between being well-informed and not letting yourself go crazy.
When you can strike that intricate balance, your quality of life will improve dramatically. That way you still have the opportunity to find out about events that matter to you. Additionally, you won’t miss the opportunity to take part in important conversations when they are warranted.
For you, that may look like reducing the number of apps that can send you notifications. Or it may be setting aside only a few moments of your day to check in with the news. Maybe it even means only allowing yourself to consume certain content on specific days of the week. It’s also still healthy to force yourself to take a few days away from screens when you really need it.
Regardless of what approach works best for you, when you aren’t checking your phone every 10 minutes about the next craziest thing that has happened, you won’t consistently be overwhelmed. It’s just valuable to keep in mind that shutting yourself off from information isn’t the right strategy either. It is more important today than ever to promote the issues that resonate with you, and to do so you have to keep your place in the conversation. You can’t trust politicians to fight for you, and the only way you can fight for yourself is to stay informed. Ignorance may be bliss. But just because it’s easier, it doesn’t make it right.
Let us know in the comments below when you know how much news is too much!
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