I feel like everyone I know has split into one of two groups: The first group is chronically online, perpetually consuming news, and increasingly isolated from the real world. The second group is sick of the constant sky-is-falling sentiment on social media and news media and has increasingly disconnected from their computers and phones.
The second group (more disconnected) is much happier on average than the first group (chronically online). The most chronically online people I know have gone through cycles of being convinced that Trump was going to cause nuclear armageddon to believing that COVID was going to kill or debilitate everyone they know, to thinking that economic collapse is imminent and nuclear war is inevitable, and so on and so on. It never ends, and as soon as one crisis fizzles out they're on to the next one within weeks.
The author of this article clearly fits that description. Here is her description of the pandemic:
> During the early days of the pandemic, when we were all locked down and obsessively monitoring our sense of smell, there was nothing else to do but worry and work. Well, some of us could make banana bread, but medical and other frontline workers most certainly could not. And with so many businesses shutting down, the fear of being fired was real. Those who did not lose their jobs worked like hell to keep them; those who lost their jobs and then managed to find new ones did exactly the same thing.
Anyone paying attention to the job market knows that the COVID closure fears were real, but short-lived. The economy immediately swung in the opposite direction, with hiring sprees everywhere and wages being driven up spectacularly in response to the increased demand. Characterizing that period as "everyone being afraid of losing their jobs" can only be done if you view everything through a heavy filter of cynicism. It's like the positives disappear from memory and only the most negative things can persist.
That said, this is a real problem. People like to blame Facebook or specific social medias, but honestly websites like Reddit or smaller communities like HN are some of the most persistent in spreading this type of world-is-collapsing narrative. It drains people.
The second group (more disconnected) is much happier on average than the first group (chronically online). The most chronically online people I know have gone through cycles of being convinced that Trump was going to cause nuclear armageddon to believing that COVID was going to kill or debilitate everyone they know, to thinking that economic collapse is imminent and nuclear war is inevitable, and so on and so on. It never ends, and as soon as one crisis fizzles out they're on to the next one within weeks.
The author of this article clearly fits that description. Here is her description of the pandemic:
> During the early days of the pandemic, when we were all locked down and obsessively monitoring our sense of smell, there was nothing else to do but worry and work. Well, some of us could make banana bread, but medical and other frontline workers most certainly could not. And with so many businesses shutting down, the fear of being fired was real. Those who did not lose their jobs worked like hell to keep them; those who lost their jobs and then managed to find new ones did exactly the same thing.
Anyone paying attention to the job market knows that the COVID closure fears were real, but short-lived. The economy immediately swung in the opposite direction, with hiring sprees everywhere and wages being driven up spectacularly in response to the increased demand. Characterizing that period as "everyone being afraid of losing their jobs" can only be done if you view everything through a heavy filter of cynicism. It's like the positives disappear from memory and only the most negative things can persist.
That said, this is a real problem. People like to blame Facebook or specific social medias, but honestly websites like Reddit or smaller communities like HN are some of the most persistent in spreading this type of world-is-collapsing narrative. It drains people.