Changing the Channel

Back in the 90’s, there was a television consumer watch group that monitored and protested various shows. I became aware of this group, when they went after professional wrestling and an ugly battle played out between religious fundamentalists and the highest rated program on cable television. As usual, when some group becomes offended, they make a huge fuss out of it and as a teenager, I just couldn’t understand why they didn’t change the channel. I mean, they had the power in their hands. If you don’t like it, just watch something else.

Obviously, that situation is a bit more complex than I made it out to be, but the point of this blog is to talk about the power to change the channel. A power that each one of us has to choose the content that we consume, whether that’s television, video games, music, books, or even the internet.

About a month ago, I found myself worn down by the internet. A few years ago, I moved my blogs to what is referred to as the IndieWeb. I was inspired by the desire to bring back a more personal web in a world where social media is the internet for a lot of people. At first, it seemed like an escape from that drama and negativity that the mainstream internet had become, but over time I watched as the same problems, rage, and chaos descended upon the IndieWeb. That negativity I mentioned? Oh yea, it came out in full-force and the fun-loving, nicer spot on the web quickly became the weaponized alternative web.

Some of the spots I used to visit were once filled with discussions of people’s personal lives, pets, job struggles, and favorite movies, but they are now filled with political content of some form. If it’s not politics directly, it’s the politics of a corporation. All day long, the content that comes out of these spots is almost entirely negative. Sure, folks are being tracked less and there are no ads, but it’s still the same negative ranting you’d find on any social media platform. It’s rage baiting commentary that is offered rarely without proper research.

I mention this, only because I think I was only mildly aware of what a toll this was taking on me. I had convinced myself, since I was not reading the news or engaging with internet mobs, things weren’t so bad. These were good people, just frustrated with the world.

The problem was; by reading the complaints, I was taking on these people’s problems. I was feeling like I was part of the problem or needed to fix the problem. And all day long, I’d open up my RSS feed and just hope that what I found wasn’t a complaint about “this corporation did this,” “this app does this wrong,” or “I can’t support this anymore.” It was exhausting.

Once I took a step back, I found myself spending more time on the mainstream web. I started paying for a YouTube Premium account and even opened up an Instagram, and surprisingly, I noticed over several weeks my hatred of the internet began to dissolve some. Sure, I was frustrated with the algorithm and ads on Instagram, and I do have to spend time marking some YouTube Channels “Do Not Recommend” but I actually deal with both of those things less than I did when muting folks and keywords on Mastodon.

And… I found folks who aren’t so negative. I began diving into some YouTube Channels and blogs that cover action movies, specifically ones from the 80’s and 90’s, and except for the occasional jerk comment on a post, things are positive! People just want to chat and review their favorite movies and enjoy their hobbies. No one is streaming into the void about this celebrity or that billionaire, instead, they just chat movies and I like that. And that’s when it occurred to me, I had changed the channel.

As I began exploring new hobbies, and different people discussing different topics, I changed the channel to something I would rather watch/read. Nothing is perfect, I mean, I’ve gone down several roads with YouTubers/Influencers that turn out to be sketchy, but overall, I have enjoyed the internet significantly more the past month, than I have in the past year. And I’m using the online tools that are supposed to be the problem with the internet to do so.

The one thing I learned is that the internet itself is not broken. Society, people, and how we communicate is broken. How we choose to use a tool, like the internet, is up to each one of us, and if we are finding that it is negatively affecting our mental health, then it’s time to change the channel or maybe even step away. You have that power.