How News and Social Media Shape Your Reality Through Emotion
TLDR - News and social media often use fear and emotion to capture attention, stamping lasting impressions into your subconscious. This influences how you perceive topics like politics, wars, and social issues, reinforcing deep-rooted beliefs. By recognizing these emotional tactics and choosing where to direct your focus, you can regain control over your reality and avoid falling into a fear-driven mindset.
How News and Social Media Use Emotion to Influence Your Subconscious
News and social media are powerful tools that shape the way we view the world, and they do this by targeting something deep within us—our emotions. More specifically, they often focus on fear because they know that when we’re in a heightened emotional state, our attention is more focused and our subconscious is more impressionable. Fear is one of the most effective emotions for creating this state of hyper-focus, and it’s a tactic that news outlets and social media platforms frequently use to ensure we keep listening, watching, and engaging.
Why the News Focuses on Fear
When you're afraid, your body and mind naturally go into a heightened state of awareness. This makes you more receptive to the information being presented. News outlets understand this psychological response and use it to their advantage. By delivering the news in a highly emotional manner, particularly focusing on fear, they capture your attention and leave a lasting impression. This emotional experience gets stamped into your subconscious, influencing how you feel about the topic now and in the future.
Your subconscious, which stores emotions tied to past experiences, will later use these emotional memories to determine how you react the next time the same or a related topic comes up. If you've been conditioned to feel fear or anxiety when hearing about political events, wars, or social issues, your brain will automatically trigger those emotions when similar topics are presented in the future, reinforcing your perception of the world as a negative or dangerous place.
The Role of Emotion in Shaping Beliefs
The subconscious is heavily influenced by emotions, especially when paired with sensory information. When you watch or listen to the news or scroll through social media, you're bombarded with emotionally charged stories, images, and videos. This sensory overload, coupled with the emotions being generated (fear, anger, outrage), strengthens the impact of the message and engrains those emotions into your subconscious.
This is why political views on both the right and the left are often so extreme and deeply ingrained. Both sides are exposed to emotionally driven messages that continually reinforce their beliefs. News outlets and social media platforms, aware of the emotional triggers that resonate with their audiences, amplify the emotional tone to keep viewers and readers engaged. Over time, this constant emotional reinforcement molds and solidifies the subconscious beliefs of the viewer, making it difficult for them to perceive the world in any way other than what has been stamped into their subconscious.
Why It's Critical to Digest Information Unemotionally
Given how emotion influences your subconscious, it’s essential to learn how to digest news and information without becoming emotionally entangled in the delivery. When you allow yourself to be swept away by the emotions of the news anchor or social media post, you’re not making your own decisions. Instead, you're falling for fear-driven tactics that stamp someone else’s emotions and beliefs into your subconscious, creating a reality based on what you’re being fed rather than one formed by your own independent thoughts.
Steps for Digesting News and Information from Social Media:
Stay Aware of Emotional Triggers: When you watch the news or scroll through social media, pay attention to how the information is being presented. Are you feeling fear, anger, or anxiety? If so, step back and ask yourself why the story is being delivered this way. Is it to inform you, or is it to manipulate your emotions?
Separate Emotion from Information: Focus on the facts being presented and try to strip away the emotional layer. For example, if you’re watching a story about a war, focus on understanding the situation without letting the fear-driven language affect you. By staying neutral, you can make decisions based on logic, not emotion.
Ask Yourself: Is This Information Actionable? Most news stories are designed to create emotional reactions, but not all of them require you to take action. Before diving into an emotional response, ask yourself: Is this something I need to act on?
For example, should daily updates of war or conflict in a distant country consume your focus if you have no immediate action to take? You may feel a sense of obligation to stay informed, but does that justify the fear and anxiety these stories can produce in your mind on a daily basis?Recognize the News’ Focus is Selective: It’s important to remember that the news and social media only focus on a small fraction of what’s happening in the world. Currently, the media is highly focused on conflicts like the Russia-Ukraine war and the Israel-Hamas conflict. However, there are countless other wars, crises, and issues happening around the globe that get little to no coverage. Why are only certain events being highlighted? It’s possible that hidden motives influence what the media chooses to emphasize, which is why it’s crucial to understand that the stories they select may not be the full picture.
Choose What You Focus On: Instead of letting the news and social media dictate your focus, you should be intentional about where you direct your attention. By choosing what to focus on, you’re taking control of your reality. Is it necessary to continually engage with fear-driven topics that you have no control over, or could your time and energy be better spent on something actionable, productive, and positive in your own life?
The Power of Focus in Creating Your Reality
Your focus is a powerful tool in shaping your reality. What you focus on, whether it's good or bad, positive or negative, becomes your reality because your subconscious uses your focus to determine what is important. If you’re constantly exposed to fear-driven news, your subconscious will start associating the world with danger and negativity. This creates a mindset that views the world as a threatening place.
On the other hand, if you focus on positive and actionable things in your life, your subconscious will start associating the world with opportunity, growth, and well-being. It’s impossible to keep up with all the bad things happening in the world, so why not focus on what you can control and what brings you joy? Choose to create a reality that supports your mental, emotional, and physical well-being.
Conclusion: Take Control of Your Focus
The news and social media thrive on emotion because it draws in attention and keeps people engaged. However, if you allow them to manipulate your emotions, you’re giving up control of your focus, your subconscious, and ultimately, your reality. Be mindful of how you digest information, recognize the emotions being used to shape your perception, and decide whether those emotions are serving you or simply creating unnecessary fear.
Remember, you are in control of where you focus your energy. By intentionally directing your attention toward positive, actionable areas of your life, you can create a reality that’s not dictated by fear or manipulated by external forces but one that reflects your true values and desires.
Reflecting Thoughts
If you are extremely right or left-leaning, is that because it is your decision or because of the news and media you choose to focus on? If you took time to listen to news from the other side, would that impact the emotions you feel on specific topics?
How much of the information you hear on the news is actionable? How much of it is fear-based? Could your energy be better spent focusing on something positive and aligned with your goals or desired future?
How much do you focus on elections? Do you already know who you are voting for? Outside of voting, how much action will you take? Should you keep up with the daily news and drama if the only action you're taking is voting and you already know your choice? What impact is this having on your mental health?
Are your daily emotions being influenced more by what you experience personally or by what you consume from the news and social media? How might your perspective shift if you limited your exposure to fear-driven news and focused more on your immediate surroundings and personal interactions?
When you hear a news story, do you pause to question whether it’s presenting a balanced view, or do you accept it as the full truth? How could challenging the information you receive help you form a more independent and well-rounded opinion?
Do you find yourself focusing on topics that bring stress and anxiety without any clear action to take? Could redirecting your attention to areas of your life where you have more control lead to a greater sense of peace and productivity?
How often do you discuss news or social media topics with others, and are these conversations filled with positive solutions or reinforcing fear and negativity? What impact do these discussions have on your mood and outlook?
If you took a break from consuming fear-driven media, how would that change your perception of the world around you? Could this help you focus on more constructive, empowering aspects of your life and future?
Are the emotions you feel about current events based on your own experiences, or are they largely influenced by how those events are framed by the media? What steps can you take to ensure your emotional reactions are truly your own?