Opinion: Opinions are overrated

If, like me in recent years, you consume most of the news through social media, a recent discovery had me thinking… maybe so much opinion flooding into our minds isn't actually a good thing for our general state of mind. Sort of obvious when written, but perhaps a trap many of us have fallen into over the years.

The process started at the beginning of this year after watching the social media landscape change in front of our eyes (again - having gone through a similar process at the beginning of 2024, though much more worryingly this time).

As a long term Twitter (X) user, I used to follow many of my interests there, as well as keep up with news and contacts on a daily basis. It was a morning ritual, often the first thing (looking back, it wasn't an ideal way to start the day). Since Twitter was sold in October 2022, like many, I've watched it change to become what X is now, and it no longer felt like the generally positive space I enjoyed. At the same time, I watched people I followed for news slowly (and quickly) move away.

I first moved to Threads when it launched in July 2023, and with patience watched it develop into something much more compatible for following the interests and news I care about. The elephant in the room though was the same reason I left Facebook and WhatsApp years ago, its owner, Meta and the way they exert their hold over their users across all their platforms. Meta are very aware of the power they hold, always providing just enough utility to its users with a service, but unapologetically exerting that power (and network effect) to prioritise their greater company mission. Often the way we see it as users is through the decisions made on the products/apps/services In our hands. More often than not user agnostic product decisions, for example, forcing the algorithmic 'For You' feed as a default view when loading the app.

Spending time on Threads never sat right with me, especially when there were other options available. Then, as we watched Meta change its policy on their fact-checking program at the beginning of January 2025, we were reminded of the power they hold, to make user agnostic decisions. That was the end for some Threads users, including me.

Alternatives following were Mastodon and Bluesky, of which trying both in 2024 and again more recently still don't quite have the network effect/pull to bring in communities and news outside of wider tech circles, and hence for me aren't currently viable options. With Bluesky's explosive growth over the past few months, maybe this will change in time.

There are some exciting developments with ActivityPub and ATProtocol around the corner; this idea of an open standard, decentralised, transferable social network (Mastodon and Bluesky are built on top of each protocol respectively). A new idea like Surf.social (made by Flipboard) coming soon. However, none are quite ready to be my go-to resource for news and for following interests, like Twitter once was.

And so it brings me to February 2025, a Twitter refugee, a reluctant Meta user, and now a (perhaps) overly committed and sensitive soul looking for a way to stay up to date with the news, in a moderately balanced and healthy fashion.

And so rolls in an overlooked option from the past, Apple News+.

I've been using Apple News+ solely for my news consumption for almost a month now, and aside from it doing a good job of a news aggregator and staying on top of interests, it's surprisingly given me a calmer existence in the process, a major perk I wasn't expecting.

I believe it all comes down to opinion. Perhaps too much opinion. The opinion of all the accounts and people you inevitably pick up and follow as part of staying up to date with the news through a social media platform. Some opinion is of course good. Well structured opinion pieces from professional journalists are insightful and thought provoking. Constant conflicting opinions and discourse in smaller, ephemeral formats less so; they disrupt a mindset more than we're aware.

I may be the first person to say this, particularly this year, but news consumption through general news outlets is actually quite a peaceful existence. (Update: perhaps even more peaceful is to follow Matt D'Avella's recent challenge of no news for 365 days)

Like with a lot of things in life, balance is a difficult-to-find but rewarding state to find ourselves in. For now at least, my news consumption is more balanced (until something else changes). However, now with the benefit of awareness that too much opinion might not be good thing for our health.

Written by a human