Re: Input diet
A few days ago, Manu posted about his internet input diet where he shared his thoughts concerning what he consumes online, who is getting his attention, and how much?. He wrote:
The topic of who is getting my attention these days is something I’m spending a lot of time thinking about. Because time and attention are a precious resource, one we probably take for granted way too often. A resource that’s been abused by the modern economy to the point where people seem unable to focus anymore, with the sole goal of selling us crap we likely don’t need.
For example, he told about his RSS feed, which was flooded by new posts, just after a short break from the online media. This was expected, given his widely known appearance on IndieWeb, but it was overwhelming. So Manu decided—in a follow-up post—to clean up the feed by removing most blogs, keeping only those whose authors are in regular touch with him.
He also mentioned a post from another blogger, Kay, who pointed out a very interesting social behavior by referring to a quote:
The internet amplifies the power law – a few get most of the traffic, but the long tail is where culture lives. – Tim O’Reilly
All the time we watch and listen to the popular guys, and in return these popular guys sell us a lot of bullshit and advertisements—What a gift for fans and followers!!. Moreover, we amplify their actions as well as moral/immoral behaviors by following them. It's an indication of a toxic relationship.
Recently, I felt the same about both topics. I managed to cut myself out of the influence of most of the public figures, especially the modern-day influencers and celebrities. But, my RSS feed is still flooded. I unknowingly developed a bad habit of subscribing to any feed I came across, without considering the consequences. So, now I decided to remove the feeds of popular news channels and blogging platforms, and to keep only the feed of People & Blogs I like.
Seeing a clean feed reader gives peace of mind.