May Understand, but Cannot Relate: How Do News Avoiders and Doomscrollers Perceive Each Other?
https://doi.org/10.22394/2074-0492-2024-2-78-96
Abstract
This article examines two opposing media consumption trends—news avoidance and doomscrolling—through the lens of media environment and societal fragmentation. News avoidance refers to the conscious limitation of economic orsocio-political content consumption to maintain emotional well-being, while doomscrolling is defined as compulsive and excessive attention to negative news. The study is based on 91 semi-structured interviews with individuals exhibiting these media consumption styles. News avoiders and doomscrollers demonstrate the ability to understand each other’slogic through reflection on their own experiences and interactions with their social environment. However, both groups criticize the opposing media consumption style. Doomscrollers view news avoiders as passive and under-informed, whereas news avoiders accuse doomscrollers of addictive behavior. The interviewsfrequently reveal normative judgments about the necessity of consuming or avoiding news. Additionally, both groups perceive each other as more vulnerable to misinformation: news avoiders are associated with ignorance, while doomscrollers are seen as prone to believing false or biased media reports. A commonality between the two groups is anxiety about the future. The differences in news consumption volumes are explained by varied approachesto managing anxiety and assessing the usefulness of information. Thus, doomscrolling and news avoidance can be considered two sides ofthe same coin. However, these opposing media consumption styles contribute to furthersocietal fragmentation, widening the gap in awareness of current events.
Supporting agencies: The results of the project “Russians’ Daily Social Practices under Exogenous Shocks”, carried out within the framework of the Basic Research Program at the National Research University Higher School of Economics (HSE University) in 2024, are presented in this work.
About the Authors
A. D. Kazun
National Research University Higher School of Economics
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Anastasia D. Kazun — PhD in Sociology, Senior Research Fellow at the Laboratory for Studies in Economic Sociology, Associate Professor at the Faculty of Social Sciences
Moscow
D. V. Petrova
National Research University Higher School of Economics
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Daria V. Petrova — Research Assistant at the Laboratory for Studiesin Economic Sociology
Moscow
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Review
For citations:
Kazun A.D., Petrova D.V. May Understand, but Cannot Relate: How Do News Avoiders and Doomscrollers Perceive Each Other? Sociology of Power. 2024;36(2):78-96. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.22394/2074-0492-2024-2-78-96
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