I’ve noticed the same thing about the news. When I don’t follow the news I am happier and less anxious. Yet, it doesn’t feel right to be ignorant of what is going on in the world. How does one balance their own happiness versus being informed? “Ignorance is bliss” is a saying for a reason I suppose.
Same thing here. I’ve ended up with two places I exclusively check for news: AllSides [0] and a satirical news source of my choice.
AllSides helps me frame big events from multiple perspectives. I’ve always had a hard time seeing these perspectives, so having someone else do it for me helps.
The satirical site introduces me to assorted current events with a bit of lightheartedness. If it seems important enough, I’ll do a quick search to learn what the “real” news is.
With this setup, I am not as well-versed in all current events. However, it’s much less draining, and it also takes less time out of my day!
I suffer from this conundrum too. One thing I did observe is that people who don't actively follow the 24/7 news and social media cycle are still are fairly aware of important major events (Ukraine, COVID, etc), as it would be hard to be completely ignorant without living under a rock, so maybe it doesn't have to be a binary thing.
