The good news
What if there were a pipeline into your day, a series of emails or posts or feeds that had nothing but nice things, positive feedback and encouragement coming your way?
Amazingly, you could build something like that in just a few minutes and have it forever.
If the bad news (comments, drama and controversy) is simply manipulating you into a certain state without productive effects, consider turning it off.
There’s no obligation to help someone else’s business model. No requirement that the device in your pocket change your mental state for the worse. And no upside to allowing media companies to make a profit by dumping trash on your front yard.
There’s a growing body of data that shows that the growth of smartphones has also led to a significant decrease in optimism and life satisfaction, particularly among young people. But it’s not the phone that’s the problem, it’s the way attention is manipulated by the companies that create the apps on our phones.