Stating that the phenomenon of ‘bad news addiction’, which is used to keep reading bad news on social media, came to the fore especially during the coronavirus pandemic, experts underline the need to be aware of dangers in advance as a requirement of the survival mechanism. Noting that in some, contrary to this situation, news avoidance behavior occurs, Assoc. Dr. Gül Esra Atalay said that both situations are obstacles to the right to receive accurate information and that it is absolutely necessary to fight.
Üsküdar University Faculty of Communication Journalism Department lecturer Assoc. Dr. Gül Esra Atalay made an assessment on bad news addiction.
“Bad news addiction” came to the fore during the pandemic process
Noting that the concept of bad news addiction is used to “continue reading bad news on social media”, Assoc. Dr. Gül Esra Atalay said that this concept came to the fore especially during the coronavirus pandemic. Stating that bad news addiction is not actually a new phenomenon, Assoc. Dr. Gül Esra Atalay, “There is a well-known saying in journalism: ‘If there is blood, it makes the headlines.’ This phrase is used to express that news about scary, bad, dangerous topics always attracts attention. The concept of ‘doomscrolling’, which has been used as ‘bad news addiction’ or ‘disaster scrolling’ in Turkish, is actually related to the same phenomenon.” said.
Constant bad news can increase worry and anxiety…
Emphasizing that our need to be aware of dangers in advance, as a necessity of our survival mechanism, especially in periods of anxiety, fear and panic, Assoc. Dr. Gül Esra Atalay said, “Therefore, we use social media to get as much information as we can about the issues that cause anxiety, fear or panic and to prepare ourselves. This behavior has two possible consequences: By reading the bad news, we can rejoice that we and our loved ones are well and safe, so we can take pleasure in seeing our advantageous position by making a comparison. On the other hand, we can increase our worries and anxiety by constantly reading bad news.” he said.
Negative news gets a lot of attention because it attracts attention.
Stating that negative news is used to attract attention from the point of view of news organizations, Assoc. Dr. Gül Esra Atalay said, “Because news organizations are essentially profit-making structures, they prefer to use the news that can attract more attention of the readers and get more clicks as much as possible. Presenting any news in a sensational, alarming, and frightening way as possible is also used to attract the attention of the readers. The reader who is addicted to bad news may specifically seek out such news or may not stop reading when encountering such news.” said.
Social media algorithms are also effective
Stating that the most important reason for this phenomenon to become so widespread today, Assoc. Dr. Gül Esra Atalay said, “Algorithms in social media channels in order to improve the user experience and keep users on the platforms for a longer period of time, imprison us in filter bubbles by constantly revealing similar content that we are interested in and read. Therefore, it is not difficult to predict that algorithms will prefer negative news that no one can ignore, to more positive news. Bad news addiction is fed by this choice of algorithms and affects individuals.” she said.
Avoidance behavior may also occur.
Assoc. Dr. Gül Esra Atalay said that unlike bad news addiction, avoidance behavior can be seen in some people. Assoc. Dr. Gül Esra Atalay continued: “Due to bad news addiction, individuals may perceive the world they live in as a worse place than it is, and their anxiety and worries may increase. But of course, getting addicted to bad news isn’t the only reaction individuals have in the face of alarming events such as pandemics, terrorism, war, or the like. The opposite can also be the case. There is another reaction conceptualized as ‘news avoidance behaviour’. As seen in the Reuters Institute for Journalism Studies’ Digital News Report for 2022, readers in many different countries specifically avoid seeing news about negative topics such as war or pandemics. This avoidance behavior is increasing as trust in news organizations decreases. This is another way of dealing with fear and anxiety: When there are negative developments in the world or around us, we close our eyes and withdraw into our shells…”
Both situations need to be dealt with
Emphasizing that both bad news addiction and news avoidance are not ways of learning about what is happening in the world we live in, gaining information and establishing a healthy relationship with the news that serve to organize our lives in the light of this information, Assoc. Dr. Gül Esra Atalay said, “Therefore, they constitute an obstacle to our right to receive accurate information. Therefore, it is necessary to deal with these situations.”
It’s important to be aware of bad news addiction
Referring to what needs to be done while fighting this struggle, Assoc. Dr. Gül Esra Atalay said, “If we think that we have become addicted to bad news and that we cannot stop ourselves from reading negative news on social media, it is even very important to realize this. Knowing that this situation will increase our anxiety and that it will not benefit us, acting with this awareness every time we turn to this behavior is an important first step to get rid of this addiction.” said.
Developments can be followed on the websites of news organizations.
Assoc. Dr. Gül Esra Atalay concluded her suggestions as follows:
“While consuming news on social media, trying to focus on news on more than one topic related to the agenda instead of clicking on posts about similar topics, if necessary, making our news consumption in digital media from the websites of news organizations instead of social media channels, so that we can reach news on a wider variety of topics is another measure we can take. If we cannot stop swiping our screen to read bad news while we are on social media, limiting the time we spend there by determining screen times for social media platforms on our mobile devices, thus breaking away from the chain of disaster news fed by algorithms may allow us to see the world in a more realistic way.”
Source: (BYZHA) – Beyaz News Agency
