Advice from a recovering doomscrolling addict

I typically avoid covering big political stories in Kinda Brief because frankly I’m not the best person to be getting news on that topic from. This is a newsletter about being both personally and professionally Very Online™️. There are times of course where being even slightly online means seeing a lot of conversations about politics and big news stories. Like right now for example. So I thought it might be useful to share my own journey staring into the void of the internet and how I learned to do something more productive than just waiting for it to stare back. 

2020 as a Social Media Manager

Like many humans on the planet Earth, 2020 was one of the most emotionally challenging years of my life. It was also one of the most professionally demanding years of my career. Back then I was running social media at Patreon, which in retrospect was an absolutely wild company to be at during the first years of the pandemic.

Lockdowns drove more creatives and their fans to digital monetization and content distribution. By the end of March 2020, we could already see the impact of this shift at Patreon. We’d been gearing up for a big showing at SXSW that year (RIP the panels I was going to host), and quickly pivoted our programming into a livestream show that evolved into a weekly creator showcase livestream (I was one of the rotating hosts, streaming live from my living room). More creators, more fans, more community management and promotional work shifting to social. For the first few months, it was actually a lot of fun. The sense of purpose was a good distraction from the uncertainty and fear of the physical world. My apartment didn’t feel as small when I was digitally connected to this big community of artists and their fans. 

As the year went on, that digital window on the world became more complicated. As a social brand manager, you help your company “read the room” knowing when to pull back or pivot your content strategy. Sometimes, the dominant conversation on a platform or with a particular audience is too important for you to keep posting regularly scheduled brand content. When everyone was suddenly more online in 2020, that became even more important. I felt like I didn’t just need to be informed about 2020’s many significant news stories and social conversations, I had to be in the weeds of how everyone was talking about all of it online across different platforms. I felt obligated to doomscroll. 

Let’s pause to define the term real quick. According to Urban Dictionary, doomscrolling is “when you keep scrolling through all of your social media feeds, looking for the most recent upsetting news about the latest catastrophe. The amount of time spent doing this is directly proportional to how much worse you're going to feel after you're done.” I think a lot of us did this in 2020, but the double whammy of feeling personally and professionally obligated to keep scrolling hit me hard. 

I’m better now. Thanks to therapy, supportive partners, and honestly being able to eventually take an actual vacation, I got to the point where I was able to make some changes. I’m much better now at making sure I balance staying informed with protecting my silly mammal brain from overstimulation. So given the election year of it all, I thought I’d share a few of my tips to help you responsibly avoid the doomscroll. 

On the Media Guide to Breaking News

Before we get into some tips, I want to share this amazing resource from On The Media, The Breaking News Consumer's Handbook. I saw several folks recirculating it this past weekend and have a sinking suspicion that we’ll need to reference it again before the year’s over. 

What to do when you feel the doomscroll set in

First, let’s check in on our goals. We want to avoid doomscrolling specifically, not avoid being informed. It’s actually easier to put down social media when I know I have a routine of quality news consumption that’s going to keep me informed. Figure out what mix of sites, podcasts, newsletters, etc. gives you that base level “okay, I know what’s going on” feeling. Then when things get overwhelming, you can feel okay shutting out the news for a bit because you know you’ll come back to your routine. You’ll learn what you need to know eventually, it’s okay to take a break. 

The trap of doomscrolling is it feels like doing something more than it is. So once you’ve got your routine for staying informed set, I recommend committing to taking action. One way to fight back against overloading your brain with info about how bad things are is to actually take steps towards making a positive change. This can be simple stuff like reaching out to friends, or more organized efforts like volunteering. One thing I did this year to fight my election related anxiety, was sign up with Postcards to Swing States. Basically they’re sending me a bunch of postcards for voters in swing states, and a list of tested messages that encourage people to turn out to vote. Turns out handwritten postcards are good for getting folks to the polls. Over the next few weeks every time I start to get overwhelmed, I plan on sitting down to fill out a few more cards. Find something outside of social media you can actually do. 

This brings me to my next recommendation. Have hobbies and activities where you use your hands. You think putting on your favorite movie will be a good feel good distraction, but unless you have way more discipline than me, you end up with your phone in your hand scrolling while you watch. This is why you need to keep your hands busy. Video games can work, but get another device for them (push notifications on your phone work against you here). Reading is an option, but again opt for a paper book or a device without notifications. Get into cooking, gardening, sewing, puzzles, scrapbooking, anything that keeps your hands busy is the goal. Bonus points for hobbies that require you to do some research. Then when you do have your phone in your hand, you’ve got the option to browse recipes or vintage dress patterns instead of looking at the news. 

This is probably not groundbreaking advice, but a reminder to check in on your scrolling habit isn’t gonna hurt. I know a lot of folks are scared and stressed out by the political climate in America right now. Project 2025 is absolutely terrifying, but working my brain into a state of paralysis reading about it constantly only helps the people looking to turn that plan into reality. It's too easy to resign to the worst possible outcome if you force feed yourself nothing but bad news about the world. Even hard when you drown yourself in the anxiety about it from strangers on the internet. 

We have to look away from the horror show sometimes to see the joy worth fighting for in the world.