Limiting internet

[jbsoonerfan]

I am needing to step away from some of what I would call "negative" things on the internet. Seems as though no matter where I go it is a bunch of junk that ends up just making me mad. The climate today is terrible and I want to rid myself of the negativity. We did away with cable and I have basically stopped watching TV and I do not turn on the news at all. I don't want to be a hermit and have no idea what is going on in the world around me, but I can't handle some of the things I see and read. I have found myself getting upset and being in a bad mood over things I see on the internet that have no direct impact on my life at all. This site is honestly the only one I visit that I would call my "happy place". I can talk about fishing, family or whatever and not have any negative reactions. That being said, are there any sites you guys visit that reports just the news without having to wade through the nonsense?

 

 

I would do away with internet all together but I'm afraid you guys would miss me.

[MN Fisher]

1 minute ago, jbsoonerfan said:

That being said, are there any sites you guys visit that reports just the news without having to wade through the nonsense?

I only go to NPR for the news - we did away with cable years ago, only time we watch TV is with owned or NetFlix discs.

 

2 minutes ago, jbsoonerfan said:

I would do away with internet all together but I'm afraid you guys would miss me.

"He loves us...he really loves us" ?

 

We'd miss you too, JB

[CountryboyinDC]

None that I've found.  WSJ is about the closest, but it's pretty impossible to get away from hysteria and propaganda.  

[jimmyjoe]

   I share your sentiments exactly. I feel like a passenger on a runaway train with a bridge out ahead. I can't stay on and I can't get off.

   Not a good feeling.          jj 

[Nelson Delaney]

If more people would follow suit perhaps some of today’s BS would stop. 

[Michigander]

I can relate. I stopped watching TV in 2003 and deleted all my social media in 2012. My life is better for both of those choices.

 

I find that Axios is a refreshing news platform, they tend to just report what happened rather than giving a narrative. I do listen to NPR in the truck but they've been going downhill for a while and are too left leaning sometimes.

 

Other than that, I get information from podcasts and tend my Google news feed like a digital garden.

[QUAKEnSHAKE]

No such thing as just news, none, they all are biased.

[GaryH]

7 minutes ago, QUAKEnSHAKE said:

No such thing as just news, none, they all are biased.

 

Your 100% right. There's no true news today just opinions. I can't watch without getting in a bad mood.

[Jigfishn10]

@jbsoonerfan I have basically evolved into a minimalist lifestyle. 

I have slowly removed the "clutter" that is not needed in my life and only do/use/consume what is needed.

This runs the gamut from fishing, internet, social media (I'm only on this one and don't hang around long before life gets in the way again), foods I eat, to people I do and do not associate with as well as how I workout.

It's a process to weed out and "declutter" but it's been making a huge difference in my life. 

I hope you "find" what you're looking for to get you in that happy place you sound like you need.

Good luck!

 

EDIT: BTW - You'll be missed...?

[J Francho]

My internet experience is completely the opposite, though it's more about controlling my response to what I see than what I'm actually seeing. 

[DitchPanda]

I don't watch news because its way to skewed one way or the other. I generally read what happened without getting to far into the political weeds then I listen to guys at my work argue one side against the other...from there I take there personal agenda left or right crap outta the equation and formulate my opinion based on fact and the very few good points being made. I generally fall in the middle somewhere...you know the area where fact still exists.

[Bankc]

I've developed a hybrid approach.  I cut out social media.  Don't want it.  I prefer to think of my family members as the good and decent people they used to be, and not the radicalized wackadoos they've slowly become in the last 15 years.  It's easier to do if I limit my exposure to them and consciously steer their thoughts and conversations towards positive things.  On social media, I have very little control over all of that, so I avoid it.  But in person, I have more control.  Plus, if I leave when an uncomfortable topic comes up, it makes an impact in real life, where on social media, no one notices you left.  

 

As for news, I scan briefly each day, but I immediately turn the channel or close the window if I get the slightest hint of bias or anything that will enrage me.  Basically, if I can tell the journalist has an opinion, I'm gone.  Gimme facts, not speculation.  I can speculate on my own if it need speculating.  

 

As for forums, I tend try my best to avoid any with a toxic community.  If someone goes off online on something that makes me mad, I try to avoid it, and remind myself how lucky I am that I don't have that much hatred in my heart.  Even a measured reply will do more harm than good.  Just realize they have issues and you're not there to fix them.  Forgive, forget, and move on like it never happened.

[bowhunter63]

I dumped good old Facebook. I come here and a little on MeWe. They have a few bass fishing groups that are pretty good. The news out there will drive you nuts if you let it. I’m just looking forward to what there gonna hit on this spring . 

[12poundbass]

3 hours ago, jbsoonerfan said:

I don't want to be a hermit and have no idea what is going on in the world around me,

Being a hermit isn’t all that bad. The world will keep turning if you don’t have a clue what’s going on in the world. It tends to spin a little better actually. Try it, I promise you’ll like it. I’ve gotten so sick of all the bull? I tell everyone as long as a deposit goes in my account every other Friday I don’t care what’s going on. It’s sad it’s came to that but it isn’t all that bad. 
 

 

[TnRiver46]

4 hours ago, Nelson Delaney said:

If more people would follow suit perhaps some of today’s BS would stop. 

Nah they been printing BS since the first printing press 

4 hours ago, jimmyjoe said:

   I share your sentiments exactly. I feel like a passenger on a runaway train with a bridge out ahead. I can't stay on and I can't get off.

   Not a good feeling.          jj 

I think they have meds for that! 

4 hours ago, GaryH said:

 

Your 100% right. There's no true news today just opinions. I can't watch without getting in a bad mood.

It’s been that way for a looooooong time 

[J Francho]

8 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

Nah they been printing BS since the first printing press

I disagree.  The only reason they print it in the first place is people lap it up, especially when it suits the narrative.  I digress, this treading verboten wasser.

[Bankbeater]

I check out the local news, and some national sites.  I read the headlines, but rarely do I read the entire story.  

[slonezp]

NewsNation

[throttleplate]

stopped facebook going on 2 months now, same with twitter. Stopped watching world news and local news and dont read the newspaper or online paper but do read up online my sports teams but not to the degree i did in the past. If i see a political snippet on a sports site i turn my eyes away from it and forget about it in a few seconds.

 

I get all my tv shows and movies from torrents avoiding all commercials. When i listen to the radio in the car and the top of the hr news comes on i turn radio off for a few minutes. I have no idea what is going on in politics and dont want to know, maybe in a few months a year? i will take a look but right now and since november 15 2020 i am cold turkey from the BS and my mood is soooooo much better and i am a happier person.

[Bluebasser86]

I've unfollowed so many people on FB, from both sides of the line. I'm not here for it.

 

If I watch TV, it's usually a cartoon or science show with my kids or a show with my wife. Swapped all my emails over to my Google account from Yahoo so I can avoid all the negative news they post all over. They never show anything positive, ever. I don't need that in my life. If the world is going to end tomorrow, I'm going to enjoy today.

[N Florida Mike]

I quit watching all Tv “news”.  We still have basic cable but I probably watch the insp. channel 90 % of the time to catch the westerns. I watch mountain men and the swamp people shows and thats it for “ reality “ shows.

I listen to our talk news radio station and can stomach about 5 minutes before I get mad and turn it off. Ive been off facebook for years, much better off. I do get drawn into you tube videos and comments... Im really trying to limit that.

I have enough trouble with MYSELF, to worry about things I can’t change. Tired of being lied to. I figure if something real actually happens, I’ll eventually find out!?

 

[livin2fish]

18 hours ago, 12poundbass said:

I tell everyone as long as a deposit goes in my account every other Friday I don’t care what’s going on. It’s sad it’s came to that but it isn’t all that bad. 

Same with me.  I have a choice whether or not I get upset over something I watch, so therefore I do not watch the news nor do I view anything on the internet where one person can attack another person without consequence.  

[DanielG]

News bias chart. The top center is the most middle of the road.

 

https://my.lwv.org/sites/default/files/leagues/wysiwyg/[current-user%3Aog-user-node%3A1%3Atitle]/mediabiaschart_com2018.pdf

 

Remember when:

I can remember long ago... while watching Walter Cronkite and Huntley and Brinkley on the evening news. One of them, I don't remember which network, tried a 2 minute segment at the end of each broadcast. Printed in big capital letters at the bottom of the screen said "COMMENTARY". It was an actual event when it happened. A selected reporter would give his viewpoint on a news item of that day. People talked about it for a long time, wondering if it was appropriate. They experimented with it  for a long time then abandoned it. There was much debate over it's place in the news. Anyone remember when this happened? It was long ago.

[N Florida Mike]

They should separate news from spin and opinion.

All the spin started when news became 24 hours a day stations.

It used to be local news at 6 , national at 6:30, and local news at 11. That was it, except for 60 minutes which was more on the opinion side I thought.

When news stations started being 24 hours is when they had to come up with stuff to fill in the time. That’s when fact became opinion and opinion became fact.

Im sure it’s much deeper than that but that’s where it seemed to start...

[jimmyjoe]

1 hour ago, DanielG said:

One of them, I don't remember which network, tried a 2 minute segment at the end of each broadcast. Printed in big capital letters at the bottom of the screen said "COMMENTARY". It was an actual event when it happened. A selected reporter would give his viewpoint on a news item of that day. People talked about it for a long time, wondering if it was appropriate. They experimented with it  for a long time then abandoned it. There was much debate over its place in the news. Anyone remember when this happened? It was long ago.

 

   Yes, I remember it. We all wondered why they were doing something like that. If only we could have seen the future .........                           jj