Unplug

Submitted by Niels on October 25th, 2023 at 8:56 PM

This post is written for people who have felt overwhelmed by the recent sign-stealing story and/or those who in general are feeling overwhelmed when consuming media and social media content these days. 

 

I am a Michigan fan and alum who has passed the love of his alma mater to his children. I have greatly enjoyed rooting for the program with my family.

I am also an academic physician (psychiatry/economics) whose work has focused on the impact our 21st century digital ecosystem has had on our minds and society. 

I co-authored a law review paper on this for policy makers 

https://scholarship.law.unc.edu/nclr/vol100/iss2/4/

and even started an organization dedicated to helping people adapt to the digital world we now live in

www.dialecticfound.org

So you might think I would not be such a sucker for this story, the epitome of the click-bait and take industry.

But you would be wrong, I got sucked in.

Just as doctors make the worst patients, it took me about a week of going down the sign stealing story rabbit hole before realizing that I was following the same bad habits I've dedicated much of my work to stopping----namely becoming beholden to the vagaries of a silicon ecosystem whose rules and information flows our minds haven't evolved to handle. 

So I wanted to share the advice I gave myself.

I don't mean to sound pedantic. You can (and will) do whatever you want.

Rather I simply want to share the things that I have learned in my work (and own experience) in the hopes it might resonate with one or more of you.

It can be summed up in one word:

Unplug. 

There is no good that can come from following this story right now.

One of the misconceptions about the lure of social media and other online content is that it's about feeling "good", but that's not really true.

It's about arousal and FOMO. 

Arousal because that is what drives rewards, makes us doomscroll and schaden-scan. 

It is overwhelming in terms of the volume (and intensity) of takes, from people or bots (yeah, they've been active on threads related to this stuff) 

It also makes you click ever more frequently, with regular stories being released that might be "the one" that conclusively provides the entire story once and for all.

It makes it impossible to think about the entirety of the situation, instead pulling in a variety of directions, with (for most of us) a natural lean towards content that defends or even acquits the program, because that's part of our tribal DNA.

It wants arousal-driven clicks so that we might get drawn away from our physical reality.

I don't mean to imply that you shouldn't think about this story or talk about it with others. You can confront uncomfortable (even depressing) potential outcomes without having to engage in a world of trolls, polemicists, and bad faith 

You can tell people when asked to comment on the most recent story on site X: 

"I've tried to hold off on following this until more comes out, and when it does I'll do my best to look at it through non-homer eyes"

Rather, it's about allowing you to have your own thoughts and (for most of us, I suspect) embrace the ambivalence which is both healthy and extremely hard to do while following these stories online.

Even limiting your clicks to checking in once daily, or even weekly, at set time(s) will allow you to keep abreast of the story without being sucked in. 

I know that it's tough because of the desire to communicate with other fans and close ranks when being attacked from all sides (again, a vestigial trait of our species), but from my experience (and research) there's not much lost if you limit yourself or even unplug entirely for a short while.

 

 

 

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Comments

Catchafire

October 25th, 2023 at 9:07 PM ^

Unplugging is hard to do..

I am extremely plugged into all things Michigan:

1. Reddit

2. Instagram

3. YouTube

I can't hide from cfb news.  I open any web browser and it's in the front page.

I feel for the players, fans, staff and to an extent Stallion.  This is a witch hunt.

Joined: 09/30/2009

MGoPoints: 27938

Midukman

October 26th, 2023 at 8:51 AM ^

Why I never joined. I have no social media accounts outside of Facebook and stopped accepting friend request due to the drama. Social media is poison. One good deed gets 5 likes, A bad deed get 50k. Unfortunately with all that’s being hurled our way it’s easy to click and find out more than you bargained for. 

Joined: 09/13/2018

MGoPoints: 15906

hammers

October 25th, 2023 at 10:23 PM ^

Thank you sir.   I’ve been self medicating and since the I’m all out of wine; I’m also going to stop drinking and go to bed.  
 

Can’t quite remember when I heard that advice before ….. 

Joined: 01/05/2009

MGoPoints: 1095

Lumpers

October 25th, 2023 at 10:44 PM ^

Thanks Doc! And my college aged son  at UDub started unplugging last summer before his senior year of college.  Its amazing how much better he is now mentally. His daily routine, outlook is refreshing!

i know Jim from growing up with him in a2 and i can guarantee he is in fort schembechler mode. All outside l noise is exactly that…. This stuff is fueling this team and they will just continue to open a can of whoop ass on each opponent until the season is over. 
 

cant wait for The Game on thanksgiving weekend! 
 

go blue and peace be with you!

 

Joined: 10/28/2008

MGoPoints: 741

SD Larry

October 25th, 2023 at 11:01 PM ^

Thanks Doc.  You had me when you said you passed your love for Michigan to you children and enjoy rooting for the program with your family.  Same here and my daughters have completely bought in.  I'll try following your advice for a bit.

Joined: 10/05/2014

MGoPoints: 40982

trueblueintexas

October 25th, 2023 at 11:44 PM ^

Are you really connected when a quick post by a "formerly close friend" is the only update you get vs. an actual conversation?

I've watched parents miss countless endearing moments with their kids because they were sucked into social media. 

There have been multiple studies showing the amount of time spent on social media directly correlates with a persons view/outlook on life. More time = more negative. Less time = more positive. 

When all is close to being done and you look back, will you say you wish you had spent more time on social media or be grateful you used your time appreciating the amazing world around us?

I choose happy. 

Joined: 11/10/2008

MGoPoints: 36653

mazeblu85

October 25th, 2023 at 11:48 PM ^

Thank you for this sound advice.  You helped me see into a blind spot that was developing with an increasingly obsessive need for information.  
 

Gonna just slow it down a bit…

Joined: 11/24/2018

MGoPoints: 175

umfan83

October 25th, 2023 at 11:53 PM ^

This is a great post....but seriously do you have the conclusive outcome of this story or shall I move onto the next thread?

But seriously thanks for sharing.  I've been doing this for years.  Any time there is an obsessive news story that involves a team I root for, I always go way too far down the rabbit hole.  It completely consumes me...I've wasted entire work days refreshing message boards and twitter looking for more news.  If I do have to step away from my phone or computer I get that FOMO feeling but also a twinge of excitement that I get to catch up on what I missed.  It's not healthy behavior and in the back of my mind I know that, but the compulsion continues.  My reward system is all jacked up from years of this. 

The worst thing about this particular story is that its a negative story.  Usually when one of these events happens its something like "my team might sign/trade for this superstar" and even if they don't get them you don't mourn what you never had.  This is more like "I need to figure out whats going on and how bad this is so I can either get past it or feel relieved".  Much worse.

Joined: 03/10/2012

MGoPoints: 8466

huntmich

October 26th, 2023 at 2:09 AM ^

Great advice, and I appreciate the wisdom and knowledge.  It's probably a good thing for me. I rode the social media and always-on news cycle hard from 2004-2017. Early in 2017 I decided that enough was enough and deleted Facebook and Twitter, but I still used message boards (reddit and mgoblog primarily) a lot. When Reddit hoarded their API earlier this year,  I still used r/cfb but otherwise I was down to the two news sources I use, WSJ and the Washington Post, plus mgoblog.

 

This story cuts reddit out entirely now. I also avoid my two news sources as well, except for when something gigantic happens.

 

I think I'm going to revert back to short term dopamine spikes like Polytopia that aren't as damaging to my mental health.

 

Thanks doc.

Joined: 10/18/2015

MGoPoints: 18173

JYgoblue

October 26th, 2023 at 8:31 AM ^

Amen. I have deleted X (for now) and rely more on this forum and news sources for any relevant facts. The doom scrolling was doing horrible things for my anxiety. All over a game being played by 18 year olds. It is not worth it. 

Joined: 10/26/2023

MGoPoints: 17

St Joe Blues

October 26th, 2023 at 8:46 AM ^

My answer to most of the digital blather?

Objection! Speculation.

You can tell people when asked to comment on the most recent story on site X: 

"I've tried to hold off on following this until more comes out, and when it does I'll do my best to look at it through non-homer eyes"

I've taken this same view with the prediction market (Latest "Your Favorite Sport" Draft being one of the biggest). I asked myself does anyone ever go back and compare Mel Kiper's predictions with what actually happened? What happens if he's wrong? What happens if he's right? Will his prediction affect who the Lions select? Is there ANY grounding to this speculation? It's only purpose is to elicit emotion in me to click on the article so Mel gets paid. Give me news and facts.

Joined: 01/08/2017

MGoPoints: 33795

Soulfire21

October 26th, 2023 at 9:32 AM ^

In general, I have greatly reduced my social media usage, and it has resulted in me feeling significantly better.

Instead, I've filled my time where I would be endlessly scrolling with books and Duolingo.

I am still online, probably too much, but reducing my Facebook/Instagram usage by about 90% has felt good. I never installed Tik Tok and deleted my Twitter after Elon took over.

This was mostly earlier this year. I am still on Reddit too much, but you have to start somewhere.

I think this advice is good regardless of signgate.

Joined: 03/18/2010

MGoPoints: 22716

1989 UM GRAD

October 26th, 2023 at 10:12 AM ^

Thanks for this!

This is exactly what I've been trying to do with this story...and how I've tried to approach many other situations.  

Too much rush to judgment.  Too much time spent speculating.  Too much effort being invested in all of the different scenarios.

I'll just wait until all (most?) of the facts come out...and then decide how I feel and what I want to do about it.  

As for social media, I pretty much use just Facebook.  I only check Twitter when something interesting (like Will Smith punching Chris Rock) happens...which makes me want to see what people are saying.  

Joined: 03/08/2012

MGoPoints: 1530770

lmgoblue1

October 26th, 2023 at 11:33 AM ^

Thank you. I actually implemented this yesterday because the night before I lost it with a co-worker who was trolling me relentlessly. I did my best to understand what he was doing but I still got emotionally involved. So I told my wife no more and I feel all the much better for it. The truth will out and when it does will handle it one way or another in the meantime let's not forget this is a very great year and enjoy it so much. Go blue!

Joined: 10/27/2012

MGoPoints: 12403

BlueHills

October 26th, 2023 at 2:13 PM ^

A few years ago the marketing rep for my studio said, "You should be active on social media."

So I signed up. It had very little socially redeeming value; it's mostly garbage, and the stuff that wasn't garbage was toxic waste. It made me unhappy and aggravated. I quit after a couple of weeks. 

Joined: 10/31/2010

MGoPoints: 7468