News and Social Media Addiction Undermines Purposeful Living

Key Quotes

"98 percent of news and social media is just pure entertainment. No, I just made that number up. Let's be clear, but I think that's a true number. I think it's real, I think it's based in reality based upon my own experiences and those who I know consume all of this as much as I do and more."

The speaker, Jeff Sanders, argues that the vast majority of news and social media content serves primarily as entertainment rather than providing actionable information. He acknowledges that this statistic is an estimation but believes it reflects the reality of consumption habits based on personal experience and observation.

"The goal of this is to acknowledge reality and then if you decide for yourself that there is a harmful consumption habit going on in your life and you can change and you want to change and you believe that if you changed you'd be better for it, then I'm all onboard with that. That's my goal. Personal growth is the goal."

Jeff Sanders emphasizes that the primary objective of this discussion is to confront the current reality of media consumption habits. He advocates for personal growth as the ultimate aim, encouraging listeners to assess their own habits and make changes if they believe it will lead to improvement.

"The mindless nature of social media and news updates is what makes them pointless and even dangerous. The bad habit, I'm using the word habit very much here, but the bad habit of this is what this is. The mindlessness is the underlying current here of saying we're just doing something because we've always done it as opposed to I am choosing to do something because I am seeking something specific."

Jeff Sanders identifies "mindlessness" as the core issue with social media and news consumption, labeling it a dangerous bad habit. He contrasts this with intentionality, stating that mindless engagement stems from habitual behavior rather than a specific purpose or a search for particular information.

"If you want to go deep, if you want to really learn something, you're not going to learn anything in a five-second news clip. Not going to learn something from a quick little hit. You're going to learn something, grow in something, be informed in something by going deep."

Jeff Sanders asserts that true learning and deep understanding cannot be achieved through brief media consumption like short news clips. He posits that meaningful knowledge acquisition and personal growth require a more in-depth approach to information gathering.

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"The second strategy is one where you are still logged in, so it's not quite as hardcore, but it changes the way you behave. And this is something I did years ago, long before the apps were deleted. This is probably five, six years ago now, and this strategy for me, which has worked like gangbusters, this is such a phenomenal recommendation, especially if it applies to you: Do not engage, just listen."

Jeff Sanders introduces a strategy for managing social media use that involves remaining logged in but refraining from active participation. He describes this as a less extreme approach than deleting apps, which he found to be highly effective in changing his own behavior.