That approach makes up a large part of the world in which we now live. It is also one reason why things are as messed up as they are. On the other hand, whether or not to read the news has become a major mental health issue, so I'm not going to blame anyone who avoids it.
this post was submitted on 12 Feb 2026
345 points (97.0% liked)
Showerthoughts
40441 readers
367 users here now
A "Showerthought" is a simple term used to describe the thoughts that pop into your head while you're doing everyday things like taking a shower, driving, or just daydreaming. The most popular seem to be lighthearted clever little truths, hidden in daily life.
Here are some examples to inspire your own showerthoughts:
- Both “200” and “160” are 2 minutes in microwave math
- When you’re a kid, you don’t realize you’re also watching your mom and dad grow up.
- More dreams have been destroyed by alarm clocks than anything else
Rules
- All posts must be showerthoughts
- The entire showerthought must be in the title
- No politics
- If your topic is in a grey area, please phrase it to emphasize the fascinating aspects, not the dramatic aspects. You can do this by avoiding overly politicized terms such as "capitalism" and "communism". If you must make comparisons, you can say something is different without saying something is better/worse.
- A good place for politics is c/politicaldiscussion
- Posts must be original/unique
- Adhere to Lemmy's Code of Conduct and the TOS
If you made it this far, showerthoughts is accepting new mods. This community is generally tame so its not a lot of work, but having a few more mods would help reports get addressed a little sooner.
Whats it like to be a mod? Reports just show up as messages in your Lemmy inbox, and if a different mod has already addressed the report, the message goes away and you never worry about it.
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
Same. Not like my socially anxious ass that bursts into a panic attack at the slightest in person disagreement who lives in a deep red state in a medium sized town an hour away from the nearest major city can do much.
Average median voter.
And why innocent people are being murdered in the street and why we don't have auto emission standards anymore and why the FDA is abolishing disease research.
I oftentimes find myself being ahead of mainstream news on certain topics.
They’ll give a bite size explanation of said topic. When I already learned this from the day before.
I can’t say that the information differs a lot, it’s more that mainstream media gives a very brief and sometimes incomplete version of the story (time constraints).
OP, this habit is exactly how old people fall victim to propaganda on facebook.
See funny picture and move on. 3 days later the topic comes up. You're not sure why, but you feel like whatever thing/person/group is bad. No facts needed, just vibes.
Thank you for pointing this out to me, I've been falling into this habit.
Agreed. The Qanon message boards even have a pinned thread, instructing users how to warp reality (public perception) with "meme magic". They create tons of extreme-right memes that end up on Facebook.
Newsvibing?
Hilarious as it may be, depending on where your memes are from, you may be more informed than others
You know how starring directly into the sun for too long leads to pain, damage, and blindness? Even just being exposed to it directly for too long can lead to burns, dehydration, and delirium. Best wear sunglasses, move into the shade, avoid spending too much time exposed, and drink more water.
This has been a metaphor, thanks for reading!
This is.. painfully.. accurate. Well done!!
Ha, you felt this so strongly that you reported it for being "painfully accurate".
No?
Meta for what?
I don't play multiplayer games so I'm out of the loop.
Metaphor. As in like English language
English language
Yes yes, the unholy abomination resulted from linguistic orgy.
What is it meta for?
OK I just got the joke, I love it
"News" is a very nuanced thing. Any news report already biases the facts, often without trying: different newspapers can state the same event in unique ways. And memes completely remove the nuance. So they are no longer "news", they are a one-off joke about some complex thing in real life.
Don't get me wrong I am the same as you, many news items I first hear via memes. But this is no way to learn about the world. I worry that our ability to digest and understand nuance is atrophying, at least in North America where I'm from.
I would say our ability is being digested by current tech, specifically LLMs, and that disengaging from/relating to one another more directly is a crucial first step in slowing or reversing that process
Agreed. Small talk seems insignificant but it's real. Meeting folks who are different than you and seeing how they view the world is important. The public square and all that
In glad that you acknowledge the problem, because it really is dangerous. Memes are often totally detached from reality, misleading sometimes by intention or at least through hyperbole. As a format they leave no room for nuanced or fully rounded thoughts.
That said, memes can be fun if you are aware of the context and understand what is true and what is not. At least, before taking away relevant information from a meme, check the story from a proper news site, for example Reuters.
That's ok because 59% of people who share an article don't read it either.
It's probably much higher for that specific article
67% of statistics are made up on the spot.
Looks like that article is based on a single study from 2016. Not saying it's not applicable, but these days the number could be much lower or (more likely) much higher. I'm also not sure the echo chamber effect is related to this, as you can just as easily say people will read what they already agree with (especially since it's a time investment) and that leads to the same problem.
If everyone is doing the same then you have a better grasp on the popular zeitgeist than any news pundit.
What did you think had happened when Lemmy when full beam meme?
Sometimes this happens to me as well. Usually when a celebrity does something news worthy that is how I discover it. Or when sports things happen.
I will say though that, while you are probably right that only learning about news through memes is not a good way to be informed, the other extreme (obsessing over every headline) is probably bad too.
As unsolicited advice I’d recommend finding a few long form journalism sources and following them to get a better feel for the news. Doing the over time I have found that i am informed without the hysteria that often comes from 24 hour news cycles.
It's a dangerous way to be a human...
Like, you're coasting on "nothing catastrophic has happened to me yet"
And eventually, you're gonna get blindsided by something big.
memes about the sun exploding begin appearing on your feed, but you only find them 7 minutes after the sun exploded
Whelp, guess I'll die.
“nothing catastrophic has happened to me yet”
I don't know anyone who refuses to READ news who isn't also a fucking idiot.
There's probably worse ways to get information of the world.
It is ok to skim headlines, but it is a good thing to read a newspaper article in depth, to truly become knowledgeable.
~~truly~~ become more knowledgeable.
Newspaper articles and news media in general have biases and editors with agendas. One should read multiple reports and apply critical thinking imo.
Headlines are written to mislead you. Don't skim headlines.
I used to do the same thing by reading the comics only in the news. I was much happier then.
Well that was back when Ronald McDonald and Ronald Reagan were "butt-buddies". They hadn't invented the word "gay" back in the 1960s.
By the 1980s, ol' Ronnie was giving McDonnie his ecconomics to trickle out of the side of his mouth.
I think a lot of people are doing that. That's kind of how we revived the far-right everywhere.
Really, your probably still getting plenty of information without all the stress.