Ask HN: Are You Lost?
No structured answers yet. Check the HN thread for discussion.
one thing that has helped me has been to become less of a lurker in forums/social media spaces where they discuss topics on things i ACTUALLY enjoy.
seems obvious yet I've found to be the answer to "doom scrolling". When you doom scroll, you're looking for something to peak your interest but find nothing...
The crazy thing is, you ALREADY know what you like!
Music? Try to Engage with your favorite artists, musicians, fan clubs, album reviews, listening parties (bandcamp.com)....
Space photos? Look to forums, telescope videos, equipment youtube channels, star parties (irl)
Welding? Conspiracy theories? ...whatever interests you I guarantee there is more niche content out there than you could ever possibly scroll. More than you could ever connect with. But you must connect. (And if you do ever find the end, you can always be the fire starter for newer content!)
But you are correct, times are bleak and possibly getting bleaker. And that makes the algorithm happy.
That's why connection (as you said) is more important now than ever. So find a place you can connect
(HN is just ONE of the many places I do - random username and everything ;) )