Navigating News and Social Media Consumption in 2025
We think we need to “find the balance” in how much news we consume these days. Much like we’re bombarded with increasingly distressing headlines, we’re equally bombarded with admonishments to disconnect from everything to avoid burnout and overwhelm. Don’t go on Instagram or Facebook, don’t watch the news, stay off your phone. The calls to practice self-care are almost as stressful as the reasons we need self-care in the first place!
I see it differently. I feel it is unreasonable and unrealistic to ask someone to stop checking the news and social media altogether. It’s understandable that you want to stay connected and updated about what is going on in the world (for better or for worse). Also, our phones these days are so entwined in our lives (again, for better or for worse), that it can seem like an impossible task.
One of the roots of the problem is that the way news is forced onto us can be shocking, aggressive, and even nonconsensual. How many times have you been not even looking at your phone when a breaking news alert pops up? Or you’ve been trying to find fun fandom content on Tumblr or tutorials to fix a leaky faucet on Reddit, and every other post you scroll past contains blaring headlines about the latest awful/awesome/outrageous thing that has happened in the world? All those things add up to become an intense cacophony of information that no human could possibly process, which leads to the burnout and overwhelm.
So what can we do about it if we don’t want to be overloaded with information but we also don’t want to completely disengage?
I am here to invite you to only consume news when you give your explicit consent by actively seeking it out. Instead of letting news pop up every time we open our phones, we can take back control and design it so we have to exert effort to encounter it. Create spaces online that give you dopamine (my go-to is Pinterest, where I’ve curated my feed so it only shows me soothing things like beautiful wallpaper and pictures related to my brand vision board) or that make you feel hopeful (think of the Mr. Rogers quote about looking for the helpers and seek out accounts and threads that show people doing good in the world). Turn off news-related notifications. Unfollow or mute accounts that regularly post news-related content. Filter out words related to current events. Create separate social media accounts to follow political-related content. Then only look at this content when you are clear that you want to.
How do we know when we’re “clear” and that we “want to” consume news? The intentional question I always ask myself is, “What does this bring me?” I use this question as a compass or guide to pause and check in with myself about how I’m feeling emotionally and in my body. I notice what I need and what I have the capacity for in that moment, and what I don’t have the capacity for. This is a practice in mindfulness.
Doing it this way is not necessarily easy. Mindfulness will take more thoughtfulness and effort. Scrolling your feed is mindless and easy, but I include the news and social media as “mood-altering substances” in the DBT PLEASE skill from Marsha Linehan. It can be harmful constantly wading through a sea of content that we don’t choose. If you take a more active role in curating what we’re exposed to, the lack of harmful content may present the opportunity to notice and check in with yourself.
In my psychotherapy practice, I specialize in self-confidence, which I define as being able to listen to yourself and trust yourself. So here’s an opportunity to practice that. Explore what it’s like if you pause and listen to yourself. What do you hear? What do you notice? Create a space of quiet where you can listen to yourself and make a decision to say yes or no or not right now or maybe this news source but not that news source. Ask yourself, will this bring me stress and heaviness in this moment, or will it bring me awareness and motivation?
A few days ago, I performed a small experiment with myself. Some mornings, I listen to a short podcast episode, around 8 minutes, that gives updates on the news of the day. On one particular morning, I noticed that after listening to it, I was so cranky with my people for like two hours. I was irritable, impatient, and judgmental. I didn’t like it. So the next day, I asked myself, “do I want to listen to this podcast that keeps me informed or do I want to do something different?” I chose to put on music during my morning routine instead, and I felt regulated. I missed the news that morning, which was okay, because I listened to myself about what I needed in that moment and I made a decision. On another morning, I might make a different decision. The point is, I listened to myself and trusted myself.
If you’re feeling overwhelmed by the constant influx of information and you need help creating a quiet space where you can listen to yourself, I would love to help you do that. Reach out to schedule a consultation today.
Avalon Psychotherapy offers online therapy in Georgia. We are also happy to offer individual relationship counseling, young adult therapy, life transitions therapy, and individual DBT therapy.