Your Algorithm Isn't Evil, It's Just Bored: A Guide to 'Glimmer Hunting'
First, Let's Be Honest: You're in a Toxic Relationship with Your Feed When you catch yourself endlessly scrolling through your news feed, emerging drained and disheartened, you're not just indulging a bad habit; you're entangled in a spectacle by design. This phenomenon, widely known as doomscrolling , isn't a personal failure but a consequence of how social media algorithms hook our attention. The experience can be likened to falling down a 'scroll-hole', a place where time bends and the exit seems just a few swipes away yet ever elusive. Our brains have a built-in 'negativity bias', a primordial quirk ensuring that threats (i.e., negative news) have a VIP pass to our attention [1] . This bias explains the velcro-like grip that bad news holds over us. Engaging with this content feels almost reflexive, as our brains try to process and react to threats, albeit perceived ones through our screens. By understanding this, we can start to depersonaliz...