Beautiful Virgin Islands

Tuesday, Jul 22, 2025

How to Make the Internet Less Depressing

How to Make the Internet Less Depressing

The like button ruined the internet. Social media and comment sections have trained us to channel our negative feelings into words, and our positive feelings into likes. So negativity is laid out in detail in the comments and replies, while positivity is compressed into a number. Scrolling through it all, or having it happen to something you post, is exhausting. The solution is simple.

Designer Frank Chimero blames this on social media lacking a dislike button. Of course, a dislike button would cause all kinds of trouble, as it does on Reddit, where “downvotes” bury valuable comments. So there’s only the option to like, or the option to explain that you dislike.

As I’ve written elsewhere, the internet needs a dislike button that doesn’t actually do anything. But as Chimero points out, you have a more immediate personal solution:

Whenever you hit “like,” leave a positive comment
Obvious in retrospect, right? Plenty of people already do this. You might, as I do, scoff at their inane commentary. You might even wish your older relatives would stop commenting “OMG cute!” on your Instagram, and just hit the heart. But those people are doing it right! They’re the ones who seem to actually enjoy the internet, because they spend their time being positive.

You can leave positive comments without being inane. Think about what you liked about the post, and say it. Ask your friend where they got that nice hat, or what they’re up to on vacation. Tell them how much their little life observation means to you. Or, you know, write something that directs your full intelligence toward expressing joy and appreciation.


It makes the original poster feel better


Even if you’re like me, a ghoul who gets annoyed at content-free replies from my loved ones, you still prefer that to actual negative replies. When you post something meaningful or funny, you want to witness people enjoying it. And a number next to a heart is not really going to deliver that. It’s like playing Super Mario for the points.

When someone compliments you, you feel good, you remember it, you might even tell a friend about the nice compliment you got. When someone tells you something nice (or something nasty), you might remember it for years. No one fondly remembers a like.

Next time you hit like, imagine what kind of reaction you’d give in person, and give it in writing. Give them real thoughts and feelings to absorb. Give them compliments—or empathy or agreement—in words that they’ll remember.


It makes you feel better


The more time you spend leaving these positive comments, the less time is left for the negative ones.

I have a terrible habit of joining angry mobs on Twitter. I see some hateful, bigoted tweet, and I just have to reply with a rebuttal or put-down. I try to only do this to people who really deserve to feel bad. But it doesn’t really make me feel good. Even when everyone’s having fun joining the pile-on, there’s a lingering taste of poison. And I’m not accomplishing anything. This behavior is so common that getting “ratioed” with more replies than likes has become shorthand for having a famously terrible tweet.

But this shit-river of negativity has triggered an opposite behavior, based on positive replies. On “Prompt Twitter,” someone asks an open-ended question and invites everyone to answer. The tweet gets ratioed with positive comments. Everyone loves to share their opinion, but this time they’re on the same side as the person who got them talking. Everyone’s spending their time on the positivity.


You start a real conversation


“A like can’t go anywhere,” says Chimero, “but a compliment can go a long way.” It can start a conversation, an actual back-and-forth, that breaks you out of the search-and-consume pattern.

Self-made experts on “unplugging” keep claiming that social media makes us lonely, but that’s only true if we only produce and consume and never interact. It’s the moms and aunts and grandpas who are doing it right, using Facebook to keep in touch and constantly chat with all their faraway friends and family. The fans replying to celebrity tweets. The YouTube commenters sharing personal stories under an old music video. The Lifehacker commenters telling me how good this post is.

You’re taking a pleasant or meaningful moment, expanding the space it takes up in your mind, and extending it into new moments. A small, mundane, banal choice that makes life better.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Japanese Prime Minister Vows to Stay After Coalition Loses Upper House Majority
Pogacar Extends Dominance with Stage Fifteen Triumph at Tour de France
CEO Resigns Amid Controversy Over Relationship with HR Executive
Man Dies After Being Pulled Into MRI Machine Due to Metal Chain in New York Clinic
NVIDIA Achieves $4 Trillion Valuation Amid AI Demand
US Revokes Visas of Brazilian Corrupted Judges Amid Fake Bolsonaro Investigation
U.S. Congress Approves Rescissions Act Cutting Federal Funding for NPR and PBS
North Korea Restricts Foreign Tourist Access to New Seaside Resort
Brazil's Supreme Court Imposes Radical Restrictions on Former President Bolsonaro
Centrist Criticism of von der Leyen Resurfaces as she Survives EU Confidence Vote
Judge Criticizes DOJ Over Secrecy in Dropping Charges Against Gang Leader
Apple Closes $16.5 Billion Tax Dispute With Ireland
Von der Leyen Faces Setback Over €2 Trillion EU Budget Proposal
UK and Germany Collaborate on Global Military Equipment Sales
Trump Plans Over 10% Tariffs on African and Caribbean Nations
Flying Taxi CEO Reclaims Billionaire Status After Stock Surge
Epstein Files Deepen Republican Party Divide
Zuckerberg Faces $8 Billion Privacy Lawsuit From Meta Shareholders
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
SpaceX Nears $400 Billion Valuation With New Share Sale
Microsoft, US Lab to Use AI for Faster Nuclear Plant Licensing
Trump Walks Back Talk of Firing Fed Chair Jerome Powell
Zelensky Reshuffles Cabinet to Win Support at Home and in Washington
"Can You Hit Moscow?" Trump Asked Zelensky To Make Putin "Feel The Pain"
Irish Tech Worker Detained 100 days by US Authorities for Overstaying Visa
Dimon Warns on Fed Independence as Trump Administration Eyes Powell’s Succession
Church of England Removes 1991 Sexuality Guidelines from Clergy Selection
Superman Franchise Achieves Success with Latest Release
Hungary's Viktor Orban Rejects Agreements on Illegal Migration
Jeff Bezos Considers Purchasing Condé Nast as a Wedding Gift
Ghislaine Maxwell Says She’s Ready to Testify Before Congress on Epstein’s Criminal Empire
Bal des Pompiers: A Celebration of Community and Firefighter Culture in France
FBI Chief Kash Patel Denies Resignation Speculations Amid Epstein List Controversy
Air India Pilot’s Mental Health Records Under Scrutiny
Google Secures Windsurf AI Coding Team in $2.4 Billion Licence Deal
Jamie Dimon Warns Europe Is Losing Global Competitiveness and Flags Market Complacency
South African Police Minister Suspended Amid Organised Crime Allegations
Nvidia CEO Claims Chinese Military Reluctance to Use US AI Technology
Hong Kong Advances Digital Asset Strategy to Address Economic Challenges
Australia Rules Out Pre‑commitment of Troops, Reinforces Defence Posture Amid US‑China Tensions
Martha Wells Says Humanity Still Far from True Artificial Intelligence
Nvidia Becomes World’s First Four‑Trillion‑Dollar Company Amid AI Boom
U.S. Resumes Deportations to Third Countries After Supreme Court Ruling
Excavation Begins at Site of Mass Grave for Children at Former Irish Institution
Iranian President Reportedly Injured During Israeli Strike on Secret Facility
EU Delays Retaliatory Tariffs Amid New U.S. Threats on Imports
Trump Defends Attorney General Pam Bondi Amid Epstein Memo Backlash
Renault Shares Drop as CEO Luca de Meo Announces Departure Amid Reports of Move to Kering
Senior Aides for King Charles and Prince Harry Hold Secret Peace Summit
Anti‑Semitism ‘Normalised’ in Middle‑Class Britain, Says Commission Co‑Chair
×