Discussion Forum > How do you consume media
I try to avoid the news as much as possible. 99.99% of it is useless. Anything very important, you will hear about through other means anyway.
March 25, 2016 at 21:40 |
Don R
Don R
Ah-ha, I was trying to figure out the article that convinced me for my previous post. I finally found it: http://www.aaronsw.com/weblog/hatethenews
March 25, 2016 at 21:46 |
Don R
Don R
I agree with Don R on the whole. However just so that I have some vague idea what other people are talking about I keep the Home page on my browser as Google News.That gives me a page's worth of headlines and short summaries which I scan rather than read. If I feel like it (which I rarely do) I can bring up the whole article.
For queues I read my Pocket list.
For queues I read my Pocket list.
March 25, 2016 at 22:03 |
Mark Forster
Mark Forster
I do it Mark's way. An added benefit is by the time I hear about something terrible, the calmer heads have begun to prevail, and there are more facts.
The downside is when there is news that is urgent and important to me, like this weekend's ice storm. Even then, my family, who pay more attention to the weather for various reasons, will tell me.
The downside is when there is news that is urgent and important to me, like this weekend's ice storm. Even then, my family, who pay more attention to the weather for various reasons, will tell me.
March 25, 2016 at 22:54 |
Cricket
Cricket
I find RSS is great for this (eg. http://feedly.com ). I have about 12 blogs and news sites in there. I check it once in the morning and once in the evening for about 5 minutes per time. It's easy to scan headlines and dig in deeper when something interesting comes up. Feedly in particular lets you check on iOS, Android, and Web. I have no fear of missing an article, so I don't feel compelled to always check. I know it will be there waiting for me that night, or even in two days if I'm just busy and don't have time. I can't imagine my life without it.
March 26, 2016 at 3:18 |
flight16
flight16
I think your question is unintentionally double-ended. Even if you had time to watch or read the standard news outlets from end to end, to become acquainted with everything in the news, you won't get good quality news in the right proportion. You'll get a lot of pre-sanitised knee-jerk news which is heavily localised, heavily customised to the outlet and massively disproportional to normal life.
I tend to check in on three or four news sites every few days, a couple of which are skills related, and that keeps me up to date with the stuff of interest. Anything urgent or dramatic will invariably become known anyway. It feels like just the right balance - I know what's going on that's important to know but I'm not being hammered with endless stories on the same theme or wasting time on news filler. That would be the news equivalent of slumping in front of the telly and watching whatever's on.
I think you're doing the right thing by keeping it at arms length and not letting your devices present it to you just because they can. I've got a friend who does that, he has hundreds of RSS feeds on Feedly and can never stay on top of them; not only that, when he sends me a link to something in the news I'm usually already ahead of him and aware of it! He spends more than an hour a day on them, I spend maybe 30 minutes a week on mine.
Chris
I tend to check in on three or four news sites every few days, a couple of which are skills related, and that keeps me up to date with the stuff of interest. Anything urgent or dramatic will invariably become known anyway. It feels like just the right balance - I know what's going on that's important to know but I'm not being hammered with endless stories on the same theme or wasting time on news filler. That would be the news equivalent of slumping in front of the telly and watching whatever's on.
I think you're doing the right thing by keeping it at arms length and not letting your devices present it to you just because they can. I've got a friend who does that, he has hundreds of RSS feeds on Feedly and can never stay on top of them; not only that, when he sends me a link to something in the news I'm usually already ahead of him and aware of it! He spends more than an hour a day on them, I spend maybe 30 minutes a week on mine.
Chris
March 26, 2016 at 3:54 |
Chris
Chris
- I catch BBC news headlines on radio or tv 3 or 4 times a day.
- Occasional visits to BBC News app, tailored to 'my news'.
- Buy the 'i' newspaper on a Friday only, and read it in licks and bites over the next few days (sometimes I'm still reading it by the following Friday).
- Occasional visits to BBC News app, tailored to 'my news'.
- Buy the 'i' newspaper on a Friday only, and read it in licks and bites over the next few days (sometimes I'm still reading it by the following Friday).
March 26, 2016 at 10:02 |
Neil
Neil
I use the following service that sends me an email only when a breaking story is big enough to trigger a siren graphic at the top of The Drudge Report:
http://www.drudgesiren.com/
I've used it for years to remain aware of only the biggest breaking stories even if I completely avoid other forms of miscellaneous world news for a time.
The site's description:
"DrudgeSiren.com is a companion site to The Drudge Report that provides e-mail and SMS alerts whenever "The Siren" appears at the top of the page. You'll be notified first when breaking news happens.
We can alert you on your e-mail and even your phone. We automatically visit The Drudge Report every 10 minutes and send alerts when a siren is present. We are careful not to send duplicate alerts if the siren is active for a long period of time."
http://www.drudgesiren.com/
I've used it for years to remain aware of only the biggest breaking stories even if I completely avoid other forms of miscellaneous world news for a time.
The site's description:
"DrudgeSiren.com is a companion site to The Drudge Report that provides e-mail and SMS alerts whenever "The Siren" appears at the top of the page. You'll be notified first when breaking news happens.
We can alert you on your e-mail and even your phone. We automatically visit The Drudge Report every 10 minutes and send alerts when a siren is present. We are careful not to send duplicate alerts if the siren is active for a long period of time."
March 28, 2016 at 14:42 |
Michael B.
Michael B.
flight16: I love Feedly, but don't check it as often as you. Often several days go by, sometimes a week. There's a very different feel when you see 100 articles in a week, compared to 20 in a day. 20 is seductive. I can read them all! Miss nothing! 100? Have to be selective.
March 29, 2016 at 21:07 |
Cricket
Cricket
With the development of smart phones it is easy to be always connected and being overloaded with data and not given enough time for reflecting on what you have consumed.
For a start I am trying not to consume any news on my phone. This is to prevent the news from following you around. (It does however make queuing quite boring.)