Maria Ressa said something in a podcast the other day that stopped me in my tracks:
Fear, anger, and hate are the three things that make posts blow up on social media.
Let that sink in. The most viral content—the stuff that spreads the fastest, gets the most engagement, and keeps people glued to their screens—is designed to provoke fear, anger, or hate.
And that’s not an accident.
The Algorithm Doesn’t Care About You
Social media isn’t a neutral space. It’s not just a digital town square where people are sharing ideas and connecting. It’s a finely tuned machine designed to manipulate your emotions for profit.
The more outraged, anxious, or reactive you feel, the more time you spend scrolling, engaging, commenting, and arguing with strangers in the comments. And the longer you stay, the more ads you see. The more ads you see, the more money the platform makes.
You are not the customer. You are the product.
What Is This Doing to You?
If you’re constantly consuming content that makes you angry, afraid, or resentful, what do you think happens to your mindset?
- You start seeing the world through a lens of negativity and division.
- You become more reactive and less thoughtful.
- You feel exhausted, overstimulated, and on edge.
And here’s the kicker: this spills into every area of your life.
You’re shorter with your spouse.
You’re distracted at work.
You’re restless, irritable, and discontent without even realizing why.
Not because something is actually wrong in your life—but because you’ve been feeding your brain a steady diet of outrage.
What Does This Have to Do with Your Business?
I don’t know—maybe nothing. But I care about you as a human, and the ripple effect of how you show up in the world matters.
Your leadership, your relationships, your ability to think clearly, your resilience—all of these things shape not just your business, but your entire life. And if the content you’re consuming is constantly keeping you in a reactive, fear-based state, that’s going to impact more than just your mood.
You Get to Choose
The thing is, you are not powerless in this. The algorithm might be engineered to exploit your emotions, but you are the one choosing what to engage with.
- You can choose to unfollow accounts that constantly stir up negativity.
- You can choose to stop doom scrolling before bed and start reading something that actually adds to your life.
- You can choose to pause before reacting, instead of being emotionally hijacked by the latest controversy.
This doesn’t mean disengaging from the world or ignoring real issues. It means being intentional about what you consume and recognizing when your emotions are being manipulated for someone else’s gain.
So, here’s my challenge: audit your inputs.
Over the next few days, pay attention to what you’re consuming—news, social media, conversations. Ask yourself:
- Does this make me feel informed or just inflamed?
- Is this helping me grow, or is it just making me mad?
- Am I consuming this intentionally, or am I being manipulated into a reaction?
Because what you feed your brain shapes your reality. Choose wisely.