Just as consuming a diet of junk food can lead to physical health problems, consuming a poor “media diet” can result in psychological issues such as:

  • anxiety,
  • anger,
  • and addiction.

Social media algorithms are designed to capture our attention by exploiting our vulnerabilities and feeding us content that elicits strong emotional responses.

To maintain mental well-being, it’s crucial to curate a healthy media diet by:

  • limiting social media use,
  • seeking information from trusted sources,
  • blocking manipulative content,
  • and engaging with more balanced and educational materials.

Using something like a read-it-later app can also help to separate an emotional reaction from the consumption of the information.

The development of personal AI agents can also help with this.