Use a strategy I call “Mute and Move On” to stay sane on social media.
Et tu, Medium? I thought we were better than this. But I guess, sooner or later, the negative content cycle comes for everyone.
Yesterday, it came for my ‘For You’ feed.
Suddenly, because I write online about Germany, Europe and travel, I was inundated with hot takes like, “Why Americans Hate Europe Now” and “I Went to China, Here’s Why I’ll Never Go Back.”
Did I click and read to find out the basis for such generalizations? I did not. I certainly did not comment and attempt to argue with the authors. Why? Well, the first and most obvious reason is that life is too short to waste my time on low-effort bullshit. I am interested in and happy to read articles that are critical of things and places I like – but they need to be specific, nuanced and not topped with obvious clickbait.
The second reason is that these kinds of content creators are looking for exactly that. They are desperate for attention. And, in an attention economy, even negative attention is worth a lot. The best way to combat clickbait, AI slop, and trolling in any form is not to engage with it – starve it of the attention it seeks.
Medium has a built in tool for training its algorithm on what it should and shouldn’t show you. Click the ‘thumbs down’ button and mute the author and any of the topics listed that you want to see less of.
Most other platforms have similar options. But they only work if you use them.
Mute and move on.
Stop feeding the trolls (and ragebaiters, bots, and AI slop addicts)
Content creators and platform designers have known for a long time that emotional reactions – mostly anger – get the most engagement. It is why trolls exist and how the internet dictum not to feed them evolved.
I still see too many real people arguing with obvious bot accounts on BlueSky. It is not even a human being! You can’t change its mind. Mute and move on.
Use the same strategy for clickbait, AI slop, and the obvious algorithm-gaming “Hey, Substack..” kind of posts.
Even if you have previously been diligent about curating your timelines, you may start to see more anger-baiting headlines, posts and short-form videos. That’s because many creators and influencers have discovered that aspirational content no longer gets the clicks that it used to. In this real economy, no one wants to see your latest Anthro haul, or whatever.
But, we still click on things that make us mad.
Tiktok star Audrey Peters, the creator profiled in the Vulture article linked above, found that ordering excessive amounts of expensive food deliveries were enough to get people going.
“When she published her first video in April, in which she ordered four separate meals for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert, the 760 comments were a mix of shock and despair, calling her wasteful and out of touch. “People were calling my manager and being like, ‘Oh my God, so many people are making videos about it, do you care?’ And I’m like, ‘No, this is exactly what I wanted.’”
Unfortunately, some people will go to more disturbing and potentially dangerous lengths in the quest for going negatively viral.
Some fans have noticed a trend among lifestyle and parenting vloggers posting videos of their children in unsafe situations – children in moving vehicles standing or being held on the laps of adults, riding on boats in open water without life jackets, to name a few examples.
Viewers often feel compelled to respond, because who can watch vulnerable children in danger and just scoll on by? Sadly, I believe it is a mistake to think these people are acting out of ignorance. They know exactly what they are doing.
The best way to discourage this behavior is to stop rewarding its creation. If you want to see less child endangerment on your timeline, don’t engage with it.
No comments. Definitely no shares, retweets or linking it elsewhere.
This is why you won’t see me linking the creators I mentioned above. I have seen all of these examples myself, but I refuse to reward them for bad behavior.
Related
- The State News. The dark side of social media: Negative content cycles, impacts viewers.Amy Cho. Nov. 24, 2024.
- Cosmopolitan. “Angry clicks are still clicks.” How rage bait took over social media and made some creators billionaires. Jade Biggs. December 2025.
When your ‘For You’ is really not for you
If it sounds like I am saying you have to train your social media like you’re training a dog, I guess I am.
Some people might suggest that I spend less time online. And they have a point.
But I believe that social media and the internet and online publishing are valuable and can be preserved as a way for underrepresented voices to be heard. There is a lot of great writing on Medium and Substack (and other platforms). There are a lot of talented videographers on Tiktok and YouTube. But they are at risk of being drowned out by a tidal wave of crap.
It doesn’t have to be that way.
When you first join any social sharing platform, you have to curate your feed. And sometimes that means you just disregard entirely what the native algorithm tries to feed you.
I did this with Substack by making my default feed the one that only shows people I follow. (Do this by going up to the little selector at the top of Notes and choose ‘Following” instead of “For You.”) I find new content and writers there primarily by reading what those people (real people!) are liking and sharing. Trust me, if you just look at what gets promoted by Substack itself, you will quickly lose faith in humanity.
I did the same with BlueSky and, now, will have to see if there is a way to change my default feed on Medium.
Take the time to search for topics that interest you, follow writers (or vloggers or posters) whose work resonates with you, and engage and interact sincerely.
You will be rewarded with genuine inspiration and connection–and possibly lower blood pressure.
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