24 Aug 2020

The more I watch the news, the more I want to completely delete my social media, turn off the TV, and focus on life as it is in front of me. I want to read more books, talk to people face to face, and experience more things in person and not through a screen.

The saying goes, “If you don’t watch the news, you’re uninformed; if you watch the news, you’re misinformed,” and that quote applies more and more to todays journalistic atmosphere where being first is more valuable than being correct. Many today jump to judgment over a out of context piece whether it’s a quote or a video clip. Rather than take the time to read an article or research a topic, many read a click-bait headline and nothing more and I’ve been a perpetrator of that myself but with all the hundreds of legitimate and illegitimate news sources out there, no one knows which is truly unbiased anymore so it’s almost more enticing and better for your mental health to live in ignorance to world events than to be constantly wired in to every single event, especially when the ones you’re likely to see have been given the limelight due to an underlying political agenda.

I can see why the country rural lifestyle is enchanting to people. Having grown up in the city, being constantly surrounded by people, news, and the inability to truly disconnect to achieve relaxation, I welcome the idea of staying in a rural area away from people, appliances, and especially social media. I deactivated my facebook a few months ago and I feel my mental state has improved as has my overall mood, despite current events. While social media did wonders to connect people around the world and make information so readily available, I think it’s also led to massive amounts of depression, addiction, and decline of moral values. Having information readily obtainable may be nice in some instances but the constant connection to everyone everywhere seems to have unintended negative consequences.