How to redesign your feed to receive the news you need
I don’t need to know you to know your morning routine. Or at least the first two steps. I think it is safe to say that the first thing you do in the morning is pick up your phone. We are all guilty of it; 84% of Americans say they check their phones within 10 minutes of waking up, according to Reviews.org. The second thing you do is probably go on social media. It is hard to imagine phones without social media since the two are tightly woven together. Social media is likely one of the biggest reasons we spend so much time on our phones. Reviews.org states 46% of Americans even claim they are addicted to their phones.
Social media isn’t just the way of our lives, it’s the way of our news. According to the BBC, in the United States, a majority of people (54%) get their news from social media platforms like Instagram, TikTok or Facebook. Social media has brought forth a revival in how news is delivered. News can be immediate and anyone can join the conversation.
While most news outlets have their own social media pages promoting articles or teasing short clips of their broadcasts, there is also a large community of everyday people commenting on current events using their personal profiles. These users focus less on delivering news and instead voice opinions about what is currently happening in politics. These posts create a conversation where more people can comment or create their own posts in response, allowing for multiple perspectives.
So, what happens when the people with the most presence on social media don’t join the conversation? The reality is that no one can force others to produce content that they don’t want to. However, the frustration is valid. It can be disheartening to see social media content creators, or anyone in an influential position, not address major political issues and events, knowing that their voice could reach millions of people.
However, viewers have different, but equal, power. Just as influencers don’t have to make political content, users don’t have to support creators who have the luxury of avoiding political topics on their pages. They have every right to disengage from those creators as a way of showing they don’t support silence in a political climate that needs action.
Social media is like a global democracy; the power is in the hands of the viewers. They ultimately decide who has a platform on social media, and if they decide that one person’s platform is not serving them how they wish, then they can just as easily take that person’s influence away.
But how do you effectively make this statement to influencers? The most obvious answer is to stop liking, commenting or sharing their content. The less active you are on their page, the less often they will show up on yours. Your likes are digital votes, and why would you vote for someone you don’t like?
If that doesn’t stop the videos, you can always unfollow them, but take it one step further and find creators that you do enjoy and follow them instead. There is a reason it is called a for you page. Your feed should fit your needs, but sometimes those can change over time, so it’s okay to do a quick following detox and reset who is going to pop up on your feed most often. But, make sure to follow other creators who fulfill what you want to receive from social media to ensure content you like will appear on your feed.
Make sure to look beyond social media, especially if politics is your main concern. While social media is a great way to discuss current events, there is no requirement for creators to fact-check what they say. Not only does this mean misinformation can be spread, but single-sided arguments can both intentionally and unintentionally leave out information needed to know the broader context of an issue.
When getting information from social media, make sure to investigate where it is coming from- is it being posted by a reputable news source, a journalist themself or is it someone with no background in journalism? Sometimes a little extra research is needed to confirm the information posted online. It’s best to verify what you see on social media with reputable news sources and be purposeful with what news you are consuming by looking for it on your own. This way, when the discourse on social media starts, you already have some background knowledge.
Sometimes the best answer isn’t just to disengage from influencers, but to take a break from social media altogether. The only way to not let social media dictate our lives is to not let it have the power to do so in the first place. Something often forgotten in the rush to post everything online is that our lives were never supposed to be lived through our phones.