Checking in on online media usage

Sunday, May 4, 2025

The latest Neverpo.st roundtable asks: “Is the internet driving you to the brink?”

Mike points out that a first Trump admin, followed by Covid, and then another Trump admin, has turned many people’s online brains into mush.

How do you keep up or stay informed, without driving yourself insane?

A dozen years ago I tackled this problem, taking an information fast and reading The Information Diet by Clay Johnson.

Things have gotten away from me over the past few years, but recently I have been leaning more into RSS and trying to read more blogs. I am way better at not reading a ton of international news everyday, preferring more local sources that impact my life more directly. Quitting Twitter a couple years ago had helped. I still post on Bluesky and Mastodon, but not very much. One of the feeds I fight is YouTube, which while it can be a great source of educational material, also traps me in endless UK drill reactions or nostalgic movie reacts. (A lot of evenings in March — a very packed and stressful month — were whiled away watching people cry over films from the nineties).

Anyways, like meditation practice, every once in a while you have to go back and re-up. What I mean is: most meditators will plateau in their practice, lose motivation or intensity over time. And that is why they periodically go on retreat, a time of intense practice with others, which reminds them why they practice in the first place, “re-upping” their dedication to practice. The same goes for maintaining mindfulness around your info diet. Periodically we just need to check in with our friends. This episode of Neverpo.st was that for me.

So, in the interest of transparency, here are my phone usage numbers (go to Settings > Screen Time and tap See All Website & Activity on your phone to see your numbers)

Long form