7 Signs Your Social Media Feed is Poisoning Your Brain

By Alex Buscemi, Editorial Manager at Builders

Our social media feeds are not neutral. They are run by sophisticated algorithms, which are basically recipes that give a computer step-by-step instructions on how to solve a problem or complete a task. Social media algorithms are programmed to track our likes, comments, and the time we spend watching videos, and then feed us more of what keeps our thumbs moving. 

In practice, these algorithms have sorted us into highly personalized echo chambers, where we primarily see the content that aligns with our values and interests. We are given a small slice of the big picture, but since it’s all we see every day, it can become easy to mistake that sliver of reality for the only one.  

These echo chambers ensnare us so subtly, we often don’t even realize it’s happening. But if we look closely, there are signs our feeds are warping our sense of reality. 

Here are seven of these signs to watch out for. 

1. You are only exposed to one point of view

How many times have you heard someone say, “Who in the world voted for X candidate? Everyone on social media said they were voting for my guy.” Hell, maybe even you’ve said it. That’s because our personalized social media bubbles are opaque: many of us rarely, if ever, see perspectives that differ from our own. And when we do, it’s usually through the lens of a like-minded influencer who has cherry-picked the other side’s most unhinged takes (a practice called “nutpicking”). Sometimes you will be fed content straight from an influencer on the other side, which can make it seem like you’re getting a 360-degree view, but the algorithm is similarly nutpicking. Which brings us to our next sign to watch out for…

2. You are certain everyone on the other side is evil, stupid, or both

Because we are only exposed to the spiciest opinions held by a select group from the other side, we are not given an accurate picture of what most people believe. A Republican sees a left-wing tweet screaming, “All cops are bastards!” They don’t see the reality: only a small minority of Democrats feel this way. Meanwhile, a Democrat sees a right-wing tweet bemoaning that immigrants are “poisoning the blood of our country,” while the reality remains invisible: the vast majority of Republicans support legal immigration. This leads us to believe that the other side is composed entirely of cult-like fanatics, not human beings with nuanced views. 

3. Everyone is pissed off about everything, all the time

So why does social media prioritize the worst-faith, most rage-inducing content? Because that’s the content that keeps us glued to our screens. Our brains are wired to pay close attention to perceived threats: the cavemen who were good at this spotted the jaguar in the brush before it pounced and survived, passing those genes on to us. Today, we’re probably not on the lookout for a 500-pound cat, but we’re still on alert for existential danger. So when someone posts a video about how “All Republicans hate gay people” or “All Democrats hate America” we tend to pay close attention, because such sentiments, while deeply untrue, threaten our very way of life. And we respond to these posts with anger, feeling we must fight back to defend ourselves. 

4. The people you follow offer simple explanations to complex problems

Here’s another sign your social media feed is in need of a good scrubbing: The content places one baddie at the center who can be blamed for everything. The problems we face — from inflation to crime — have many tangled causes, but these answers don’t travel as well on social media. Why? Because they don’t make us feel anything. They’re harder to process, and the brain prefers ease. A villain story, however, gives us somewhere to place our anger. It flatters the reader: you see things clearly in a world full of sheep. This is why false stories are 70% more likely to be retweeted than true ones — they tell us one group, one hidden hand engineered all of our problems on purpose. Prices went up because they wanted us poor. The crisis happened because they planned it. This is what nearly every modern conspiracy theory has in common: it takes something genuinely distressing and complex and hands you one face to blame.

5. Claims show up without sources

Pay attention to whether the accounts you follow back up their claims. Do they say where the shocking statistic, image, or screenshot came from? We often fail to ask ourselves these questions — scrolling has an almost hypnotic effect where it lulls us into being passive consumers. Instead of delving deeper to understand the source or context for a particular piece of information, we accept it as true and move on to the next one. The fix is to make a concerted effort to substantiate these claims ourselves. A quick search often knocks down the most outrageous content in seconds.

6. You've stopped being curious and started only wanting to win

Think about the last time you encountered a post you disagreed with. Did you try to understand their point of view? Or did you sprint to the comments section to start an argument with strangers — not to understand them, but to win? Of course, much of the content we’re fed is worth disregarding entirely (see numbers 1-4), but even good-faith arguments can devolve into ugliness when we seek to win rather than understand. Watching our side “own” the other is so much more satisfying, which is why the algorithm feeds it to us. But when we become less curious and ask fewer questions, we allow opportunistic influencers to replace the true image of the other side with a cartoon villain.

7. You feel worse after scrolling, and you scroll anyway

A healthy information diet occasionally leaves us informed, amused, or moved. A poisoned one leaves us tense and anxious, yet we keep coming back for more. That’s because once we begin to feel we’re under threat, continuing to search our environment for threats feels like we’re protecting ourselves, even if the threats are wildly exaggerated. If social media feels like a compulsion we hate but can't stop using, then it’s steering us rather than serving us. This isn’t to say we should avoid bad news. But if we feel terrible about the world and ourselves all the time, taking a step back and refocusing on the levers we can pull (a bill we can vote for, a cause we can support) will do wonders for our mental health. 

How to fix your feed

If any of these signs landed close to home, the good news is that our feeds are fixable. Here are some tips. 

Follow accounts that disagree with you in good faith. Look for writers and thinkers who are thoughtful and honest, even when you don't share their conclusions. And when they don’t share your conclusions, ask questions (“what made you feel this way?”) rather than immediately chambering a rebuttal. 

Cut out the poisonous influencers. If an account is making you more mad than informed, if they offer easy solutions to complex problems, look for the button that says you “aren’t interested in this post.”

Follow people outside of politics and hot takes entirely. Chefs, historians, comedians, woodworkers, birdwatchers. This will remind you that most of life happens outside of the culture war.

Lastly, notice how you feel after scrolling. If you feel like crap all the time, build some distance between yourself and the app. Remove it from your homescreen. Set a timer and log off when the alarm sounds. Open your front door and, as the kids say, “touch some grass.”

Don’t let the algorithm bully you. Your feed is something you can curate. And the sooner you start treating it that way, the sooner it starts working for you, not the other way around. 

Alex Buscemi can be reached at abuscemi@buildersmovement.org (opens in new tab)

Art by Matthew Lewis