Worklife with Adam Grant How to stop doom scrolling — and have a better experience online with Jay Van Bavel
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Sep 10, 2024 Jay Van Bavel, a professor of psychology and neural science at NYU, dives into the intriguing world of online behavior. He reveals how negative news captures our attention more than positive stories, driven by our brains' negativity bias. The conversation explores the toxic impact of doom scrolling on mental health and the need for curating uplifting content instead. Jay also discusses finding common ground in divisive times and highlights insights from his book, The Power of Us, showcasing the potential for unity online.
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Doom Scrolling and the Attention Economy
- News interwoven with social media creates an attention economy.
- Negativity and outrage drive engagement, leading to a depressing doom cycle.
Evolutionary Basis of Negativity Bias
- Negativity bias is observed in children and primates.
- We are predisposed to react strongly to negative information, even from a young age.
Upworthy's Headline Experiment
- Upworthy A/B tested headlines and found negative ones consistently outperformed positive ones.
- This highlights the inherent human tendency to engage more with negativity.
