The internet doesnt really spark any joy. Sure, the stuff can be funny but I mostly feel dread knowing that for me to have this cat meme I have to watch others suffer.
Maybe prune your feed a bit, block the communities you dread.
So it's either be uninformed or miserable.
I've struggled with that dilemma before, but in the end I think it's not really an either/or. Sure, it's easy to 'stay informed' by reading about upsetting shit on social media but it's not the only or the best way.
Encountering upsetting and infuriating headlines and news stories at random among more 'fun' content adds to the background stress of modern life "don't relax, a horrible thing is just sound the corner!". And memes or posts about stuff often simplify complex events and emphasises the emotional horror of the events.
I don't always suceeed, but I've tried to keep away from communities and sites that share politics / world events, but then spend a specific time each week actually reading articles and deeper dives on these issues. When I read a real article, that adds nuance and historical context I'm not less horrified or angry, but it's in a calmer and more productive sense than just "aaaa the world is fire and everything is awful".
You won't be able to avoid being informed about the bad stuff, it's in your face every day.
Keep the feeds open that give you hope we'll survive it all, and the strength to do what you can. And the cute sweet stuff that gives you a joyful reason to go on.
You already know to avoid the fascist propaganda, and you can head on over to the factual sites or turn on NPR whenever you feel up to a dose of grim reality.
Well, yeah. But that's a consequence of [gestures broadly at current events] IRL, not the Internet.
The world, and most of the things in it are not black and white.
Tbh its mostly U.S. news that make me lose sanity because i have to watch our allies speedrun fascism. And i know we are following suit (Germany and i would say most western countries).
The suffering in palestine should not be ignored , especially because we hold so much power in the war on palestine.
What the hell cat memes are you looking at bro? I don't think I've ever seen one that mandates "you must watch X number of people suffer before viewing this meme". That just sounds...utterly unhinged. I've got a TON of cat memes I could send you and you don't have to watch anyone suffer for them. Totally free.
Maybe he is hallucinating cats on the posts
there’s some good stuff in the various c/internetisbeautiful/ communities
Yup. The most satisfying beauty is found in nature.
What I've found helpful, specifically to the threadiverse is to occasionally scroll through all and find communities that sound fun, interesting, or uplifting to subscribe to. And otherwise browse by Subscribed. Makes it a more pleasant, less doomscrolly experience.
It's not perfect. This is still a pretty niche place so that's not a huge amount of content. And it doesn't solve the problem of the vast, soulless modern internet as a whole. But still, it makes one thing a bit nicer, and that's not nothing.
The Internet is a big place. There are lots of cat memes that don't depict any suffering at all.
People talk about echo chambers a lot, but I've found it nearly impossible to keep politics and general doom content out. I'm rapidly losing my interest in the Internet as a whole simply because it seems to bring mostly pointless suffering to myself.
My lemmy client lets me filter out posts based on words or phrases.
I found my mood improving when I started filtering out the clickbait and doom.
Don't sell the Internet short. It also brings a lot of pointless suffering to others as well