[kcoddington]

There has always been filler entertainment that caters to the lowest denominator. The new medium types just allow for more of it. Maybe I'm in a very small minority, but I only consume HN and a heavily curated YouTube account.

I don't even see most of the viral content unless somebody else shows me. Anf since I don't have an account with most social media sites, they have to show me directly on their own devices. I also filter on all email with the word 'unsubscribe' and route it appropriately.

The short of it is: do better at filtering with allow listing or aggressive block lists. Consume content you search for. Or accept the fact that an algorithm will spoon feed you 99% filler.

[bluGill]

I am still mad that I had to give up facebook because of the garbage. It was and is a great way to see what my old school friend's kids are doing (we never were close, and I've moved a long way away so I wouldn't call, but I still go back to visit every class reunion and seeing those pictures helps have something to talk about). However all the garbage has made the platform useless and I gave up. I spent a year trying to block it all, but I wasn't making progress.