Pandemic FOMO: How Much News is Too Much?

Last week we were worried about the negative impact of cellphone overuse. Now we’re worried about staying employed, entertained and connected. It’s funny how a little pandemic shifts your opinion.

Employ mindfulness to your media consumption.. Source: Shutterstock

Device use during a pandemic resets the boundaries between what we think of as ‘appropriate’‘ vs. ‘problematic.’ In trying to decide about the impact of media consumption, I pay attention to how people use devices and what content they consume, not the amount of time or the frequency. What someone last week might have considered ‘overuse’ or ‘lack of personal boundaries’ now seems important if not desirable. The conditions have changed, but my basic premise hasn’t — it’s a question of quality, not quantity. What you consume is much more important than the amount of time you spend on a device. As we enter into social distancing and remote living to avoid contagion, it’s important to distinguish between useful and beneficial searching, scrolling and connecting and the content and use that causes anxiety and rumination on threat.

News Media Influences our Emotions

Media content of all kinds influences our emotions. This is no surprise when it comes to movies and TV. But it’s easy to overlook the impact of Twitter, Facebook and news sites like CNN. Reading lots of angry or fearful Tweets or worrisome news…