Hadn’t realized how reliant upon Reddit I’d become for news and interesting things until after it turned to shit and I quit it. I’ve rediscovered RSS for ex., using reader apps to scan sources directly and read without all the noise—that actually came from someone’s recommendation here in the comments. I’ve found several new sites with deep, knowledgeable articles and discussions, like https://theconversation.com/us (free! No ads! Also discovered through the comments here), and my engagement with articles and their sources has gone WAY up. I’ve stopped reading garbage comment sections, too, and I’m just feeling better mentally as a result, disengaging from the endless, low effort memes/jokes and the mean, toxic comments*. Anyone else?
(Thanks again, admins—really enjoying and appreciating how Beehaw is run!)
I wouldn’t necessarily say I am enjoying the internet more but I am using it less, especially the doom scrolling but to be fair I’ve hardly used much since April and have been watching Star Trek and reading since April instead.
I’ve noticed an improvement in my mental health overall and I really like how Beehaw operates Vs Reddit with the more polite discussions. Definitely has a positive impact.