How to Make the Internet Less Depressing
Like button messed up the internet. Social media and comment sections have taught us to express negative feelings with words and positive ones with likes. Thus, the negative is described in detail in the comments and answers, and the positive is described in the form of a number. Scrolling through it all or accidentally bumping into what you are posting is tiresome. The solution is simple.
Designer Frank Chimero blames social media for the lack of a “Dislike” button . Of course, the “Dislike” button will cause a lot of problems, as is the case on Reddit, where the “cons” hide valuable comments. So there is only an opportunity to please or an opportunity to explain what you dislike.
As I wrote elsewhere, the internet needs a dislike button that doesn’t really do anything . But as Chimero points out, you have a more immediate personal solution:
Every time you click “Like”, please leave a positive comment.
Looking back, it’s obvious, isn’t it? Many people are already doing this. You can, like me, laugh at their silly comments. You might even want your older relatives to stop commenting “God, honey!” on your Instagram, and just hit your heart. But these people are doing everything right! They seem to really enjoy the Internet because they spend their time in a positive way .
You can leave positive comments without being silly. Think about what you liked about the post and say it. Ask a friend where he has this beautiful hat or what he does on vacation. Tell them how much their little observation in life means to you. Or, you know, write something that will direct your mind to express joy and appreciation.
This original poster makes it better
Even if you are like me, a ghoul who is annoyed by the empty answers from my loved ones, you still prefer them to negative answers. When you post something meaningful or funny, you want people to enjoy it. And the number next to the heart doesn’t really deliver that. It’s like playing Super Mario for glasses.
When someone compliments you, you feel good, you remember it, you can even tell a friend that you were given a good compliment. When someone says something nice (or something unpleasant) to you, you can remember it for years. Nobody remembers likes with love.
The next time you like it, imagine how you would react personally and give it in writing. Give them the opportunity to immerse themselves in real thoughts and feelings. Compliment them – empathy or agreement – with words they can remember.
It makes you feel better
The more time you spend leaving these positive comments, the less time you spend on negative ones.
I have a terrible habit of joining angry mobs on Twitter. I see some hateful, fanatical tweet and I just need to respond with denial or disdain. I try to only do this with people who really deserve to feel bad. But it doesn’t make me feel very good . Even when everyone is having fun joining the bunch, there is a lingering aftertaste of poison. And I’m not getting anywhere. This behavior is so common that getting “correlated” with more replies than likes has become a shorthand for a famous terrible tweet.
But this shitty river of negativity triggered the opposite behavior based on positive responses. On Prompt Twitter, someone asks an open-ended question and invites everyone to respond. Positive comments are added to the tweet. Everyone loves to share their opinions, but this time they are on the same side as the person who made them. Everyone spends their time positive.
You start a real conversation
“It’s not going anywhere,” Chimero says, “but a compliment can go a long way.” He can start a conversation, a real exchange of opinions, which will rip you out of your usual pattern of searching and consuming.
Independent disconnection experts continue to argue that social media makes us lonely, but this is only true if we only produce and consume, not interact. Moms, aunts and grandfathers are doing everything right by using Facebook to keep in touch and constantly chat with their distant friends and family. Fans reply to celebrity tweets. YouTube commentators share personal stories underneath an old music video . Lifehacker commenters tell me how great this post is.
You take a pleasant or meaningful moment, expand the space that it occupies in your mind, and transfer it to new moments. Small, mundane, commonplace choices that make life better.