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We Can't Stop Checking the News Either. Welcome to the New FOMO (wired.com)
An anonymous reader shares an article: Countless studies have shown that social-driven FOMO (fear of missing out) stems from a person's primitive desire to belong to a group, with each snap, tweet, or post a reminder of what separates you from them. This other type of FOMO, the all-news, all-the-time kind, is new enough that nobody has really studied it much, yet of the half-dozen experts in sociology, anthropology, economics, and neurology I spoke to, all quickly recognized what I was describing, and some even admitted to feeling it themselves. "We scroll through our Twitter feeds, not seeking anything specific, just monitoring them so we don't miss out on anything important," says Shyam Sundar, a communications researcher at Pennsylvania State University. This impulse could stem from the chemical hits our brains receive with each news hit, but it could also derive from a primitive behavioral instinct -- surveillance gratification-seeking, or the urge that drove our cave-dwelling ancestors to poke their heads out and check for predators. In times of perceived crisis, our brains cry out for information to help us survive. Maybe this alarm stems from steady hits of @realDonaldTrump. Maybe it's triggered by left-wing Resistance types. Or could it be #FakeNews, ISIS, guns, police violence, or street crime, all propagated through our social media bubbles with headlines that are written specifically to grab our attention? This feels like a processing problem. "One thing we learn about human beings: We're meaning-making machines," Kross says. And social mania may be ideal for mainlining breaking news, but it's not great at providing meaning and context.
>> "We scroll through our Twitter feeds, not seeking anything specific, just monitoring them so we don't miss out on anything important," says Shyam Sundar, a communications researcher
Seems like multiple levels of fail are in play here.
"This impulse could stem from the chemical hits our brains receive with each news hit..."
Uh, news? That's a laugh. The only thing being passed around these days is bullshit, which the masses obviously love to puff, puff, pass.
"In times of perceived crisis, our brains cry out for information to help us survive."
Those of us still armed with brains and common sense are crying, because its become increasingly frustrating to find a needle of useful information in a haystack world full of bullshit.
The article is stumbling on to something that goes far beyond the latest news cycle. We're a tribal species, and until somewhat recently our survival depended on forming cohesive bonds with like minded individuals. In the past, that was our tribe; we would cleave to the opinion of the group in an effort to ensure our survival.
Those of you with a sharp eye might notice this leaves little room for independent thought or free will. You aren't wrong.
In modern times those behaviors still exist, but they're expressed differently. As our communication technology has advanced it has allowed us to form these tribal bonds with people who are otherwise physically distant, but because of the distance we do not get the constant feedback we'd otherwise get from an in-person association. The end result is an almost obsessive need to stalk friends and family online.
You'll note, danger doesn't really enter into it except as an amorphous "force" driving the need for socialization.
Mod me down with all of your hatred and your journey towards the dark side will be complete!
I actually gave up on watching or checking the news every five minutes when it went from 'These are the important things you must know!' to 'Here's what you should be outraged about today!'. I don't need to be told what I should or shouldn't be angry/disappointed/worried about, I'm a big boy and I'll make up my own mind on that. I just want to be told what's happening in the most neutral way possible, but that's not possible anymore it seems so I gave up. I'll listen to local news for a the highlights, but that's about it.
My wife & I went camping this past weekend in southern Illinois to view the eclipse. The location where we were at had no service on our phones. No Facebook, no news, etc. I get the same thing in the area where I go hunting. It's actually very refreshing. I highly recommend it.
Taking guns away from the 99% gives the 1% 100% of the power.
But I wanted to post anyway.
I once made a comment to a co-worker about Trump's latest idiotic outburst, just assuming she was already aware of it. She had no idea what I was referring to. Then she explained to me that she didn't read any news, and had stopped paying attention to current events decades ago. She said that the result was less stress, and more time to spend on the important things in her life. As far as she could tell there were no negative consequences, since nothing in the news had anything to do with her life.
I'm moving in that direction. I've stopped looking at news sites and mostly stopped listening to news on the radio (other than the 5 min summary on my drive home). I originally had a fear of becoming 'uninformed' on the days current events, but honestly that hasn't happened. I hear enough to keep abreast, but don't dive into the latest outrage de jour and I've never been happier.