Second Cup: Less clickbait. More curation.

Take charge of your time on the Internet

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.
Good Morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Today's tip is to maintain a list of online content
you'd like to enjoy, because, especially in these anxious times,
we can all benefit from less clickbait and more curation

(00:25):
and our electronic reading and viewing when you need a
brain break. It can be fun to read an article
or look at other content online, but it's easy to
get lost in the black hole of mindless scrolling. You
start by reading an article that interests you, and then
you follow one link after another. Much time can pass

(00:45):
before you realize that you didn't plan to spend your
whole morning looking at running scorts or catching up on
every detail of the British royal family's life these days,
in particular, you are definitely not planning to wallow in
the details of how many face smasks. A hospital in
rural Kansas has the sort of thing that's scary but
that you personally can do nothing about. Yet somehow that's

(01:09):
exactly what you've been doing. So how do we avoid
taking the clickbait? In a recent newsletter from Character Lab
psychologist Dan Willingham, suggested creating a list of links to
content you really would like to enjoy on the Internet,
including web pages, YouTube channels, and podcasts. I think this
is a great idea. I'd recommend getting a little more

(01:30):
granular and including links to specific articles, specific videos, specific
podcast episodes, and so on. Just create a simple word
document on your hard drive or a Google doc where
you can store the links. Another option is to use
the notes app on your phone. Maybe you can call
the document worth Reading or something more cheeky, like avoiding

(01:50):
the rabbit Hole. Then, any time a friend sends a
link to an article she thinks she'd like, or you
see a recipe you want to check out, or you
hear about a Ted talk you want to watch, just
pop the link into your document. When you want some
light entertainment. You have a ready supply of content that
you actually want to peruse. You can steer clear of

(02:10):
clickbait and aim for content that's truly engaging. You don't
need to let algorithms dictate your Internet consumption. You can
curate your own viewing in a thoughtful way, and once
you've used the links, just delete them so your list
is always fresh. Right now, my list includes yo Yo
Ma's Songs for Comfort project poems by Tracy K. Smith

(02:33):
on the Poetry Foundation website. Emily austers Ted talk about
things parents should consider before going back to work in
a New York Times article with writer's descriptions of books
that bring them comfort. And yes, there are some cute
photos of royal children. This doesn't all have to be
high brow, but if you're aiming to spend less time

(02:53):
scrolling mindlessly, you might want to try this too. Curate
your internet use by creating a document of links you
really do want to explore. You'll probably be less anxious
and more informed too, and maybe saved some money from
not doing so much online chopping. In the meantime, this
is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making the

(03:15):
most of our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to hear
from you. You can send me your tips, your questions,
or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook
and Instagram at Before Breakfast Pod that's B the number

(03:37):
four then breakfast p o D. You can also shoot
me an email at Before Breakfast Podcast at i heeart
media dot com that Before Breakfast is spelled out with
all the letters. Thanks so much. Should I look forward
to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a production of

(03:58):
I heart Radio. For more podcasts from i heart Radio,
visit the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever
you listen to your favorite shows. H