Why Can't We Stop Doomscrolling?

How Technopoly Warps What We Consume

There’s a strange contradiction in the way we consume media today. We watch shows we hate, refresh news feeds that stress us out, and engage with content purely to criticize it. This isn’t a glitch in the system—it’s the system working exactly as designed.

Platforms don’t care if we love or hate what we see—they just care that we’re watching. And nothing holds attention like negativity. The result? A culture where “hate-watching” is the norm, doomscrolling is a daily habit, and criticism has become more engaging than the content itself.

The Rise of the Anti-Fan

We’ve entered an era where being a fan isn’t about enjoying something—it’s about obsessing over its failures. Entire online communities exist to pick apart bad writing, lazy storytelling, or ideological missteps. And the more people complain, the more engagement these franchises generate.

Hate-fueled consumption isn’t limited to entertainment. News operates on the same logic. Political partisans follow their ideological opponents closer than their own side, just to stay mad. Headlines are written to provoke reactions, not inform.

This all makes perfect sense in a technopoly, a term coined by Neil Postman to describe a society where technology doesn’t just shape culture—it dictates its terms. In a technopoly, engagement is the only currency that matters, and efficiency trumps depth. The market rewards whatever keeps us clicking, not what’s good, true, or meaningful.

How Technopoly Warps Our Pursuit of Happiness

This environment conditions us to confuse attention with value. If something trends, it must be important. Think back to a few weeks ago when we discussed how certain types of stories dominate the news cycle, making events feel more frequent than they actually are. If a topic dominates our feeds, it must matter. Most of what we consume, however, doesn’t leave us happier, wiser, or more fulfilled. It just keeps us watching.

Historically, happiness wasn’t about being endlessly entertained. The classical idea of happiness—one embraced by the Founders—was tied to virtue, self-discipline, and the pursuit of excellence. Today, we’re encouraged to pursue not virtue, but engagement.

Entertainment used to be a means to an end—a way to enrich life, reflect on deeper truths, or share communal experiences. Now, entertainment is the end, and we consume it passively, often in ways that make us more cynical.

Breaking the Cycle

Technopoly thrives on passivity, but breaking free is possible. A few ways to start:

• Choose What You Engage With—And Why: Before clicking, watching, or doomscrolling, ask: Is this enriching, or just keeping me occupied? Algorithms reward what we consume—so be intentional.

• Stop Hate-Consuming: If something frustrates you, stop watching. Refusing to engage with media that thrives on outrage sends a stronger message than endless critique.

• Curate Your Inputs: Follow people and platforms that inform, challenge, and inspire—not just those that provoke.

• Reclaim Leisure as More Than Distraction: Entertainment should add to life, not just fill the gaps. Seek out media that encourages thought, creativity, or genuine enjoyment.

The Choice is Ours

Technopoly isn’t going away, and the attention economy isn’t changing overnight. But the most powerful shift happens at the level of personal habit. We don’t have to be passive consumers in a system designed to keep us reacting. We can choose to engage differently. More intentionally. More meaningfully.

If happiness is more than just distraction, then our media habits should reflect that. And maybe, just maybe, the most subversive act in a technopoly is simply refusing to play along.