Right now, Americans are consuming countless hours of news and political commentary each day. For some, reading the news is the first thing they do in the morning. For others, it’s the last thing they watch before bed.
No lie: Staying on top of the news seems useful because our nation’s leader, the ultra-rich, and the authors of Project 2025 are working overtime to dismantle democracy and decency.
Someone needs to keep watch.
Your Attention Is Profitable
At the same time, you’re probably aware that the companies designing the apps and websites that keep you informed often have an underlying mission of making as much money as possible. They track your every click, scroll, and “like,” analyzing your activity and adapting content so you’ll stay engaged even longer.
It’s Hard To Look Away
Neurologically speaking, media companies deliberately give you the same hormonal high as pulling a lever on a slot machine. If you feel hooked to the news cycle or your phone, it’s not you. Corporations’ strategies to manipulate you are working.
The biggest issue here is that while corporations profit from your concern, they don’t want to empower you. If they urged you to take action, you’d have to leave their app. Taking action is a threat to their profit model.
Information=Disengagement
Researchers and policymakers in the European Union have increasingly raised alarms about the mental health effects of media corporations’ “attention economy.”
Experts are concerned about the data-backed correlation between media learning algorithms and users’ resulting overwhelm, emotional exhaustion, compulsive use, and disengagement.
At AoCC, we’re seeing the effects in real time: In the last four three months, our subscribers’ actions have decreased by 48%.
This doesn’t mean you’ve stopped caring. We know how important it is to be informed. If you’re stuck in an exhausting cycle of over-informed inaction, there’s another way.
My Challenge to You: Make a Swap.
You don’t have to stop reading, watching, or listening to news. Instead, I want to challenge you to swap out one hour a week. If that’s too much, how about 15 minutes?
Here’s what it can look like:
Idea 1: Instead of starting your day reading the latest news commentary, start by opening the latest Checklist (it’s always on our homepage) and taking the top three actions. That would take you about 15 minutes.
Idea 2: Instead of looking at the news before bed, open the Checklist and thank people doing responsible things with their power by signing our Acts of Gratitude section. This can give you (and them!) a boost of hope.
Idea 3: Instead of venting with like-minded friends, stop the conversation spiral and ask: “What are we going to do about it?” Discuss how to take a concrete action together, like making a group donation to a cause.
Idea 4: Can’t make a time swap yet? Switch to a browser like Opera or Firefox that blocks all ads (and thus revenue to media companies).
Help Us Help You
Here at AoCC, we have no algorithm beyond our brains and hearts. Real humans tally the actions you report to us without collecting personal data. We note which Checklist actions get the most reported actions as being the most important to you.
Next time you take an action, can you help us out by clicking, “I did this!”? Thank you!
TL;DR: Make the Swap
Action interrupts the cycle. Participation restores our sense of agency. If we look over the course of U.S. history (and certainly world history), we know that change is shaped by the people who actually show up in ways big and small: They refused to give up their seat. They took time out of their lives to register voters. They refused to go silent on issues that mattered. They (and we) act with optimism and the awareness that change requires both time and consistency.
If you want to deepen your commitment to taking action, join me for the upcoming class, Empowered Resistance to gain new tools and inspiration for this moment.
And let’s make the swap together. Like that old country song, let’s have “a little less talk and a lot more action.” Our nation is waiting for you and me to show up.
In Solidarity,
Jen Hofmann
Founder and Director
Americans of Conscience
You’ve pointed out one of my key frustrations: tons of news articles about a bad thing happening, but almost none telling you action you can take to fight it. When Trump got elected, I spent so much time looking for how I could take action, only to find thinkpieces on how he got elected, peoples’ cries of despair, and at *most* articles telling you how to cope with only one entry being “take action,” and no entry points to actually taking action. Took me forever to find anything giving me steps into taking action. I’m really glad this site exists, it’s exactly what I need. Updates followed by action.
I always try to take at least one of the recommended actions on the checklist and usually I take many. It makes me feel good to actually do something instead of just complaining about the awful state of our democracy. I write to my senators and reps (national, state) regularly about any and all issues of concern to me most of which I hear about by listening to and reading the news or the checklist. I also participate in many marches, rallies and demonstrations (some weekly) against this administration’s policies and actions and I contribute money to various causes. I zoom regularly with a group of politically like minded friends and we regularly discuss actions that we can take. I think it is important to stay informed and then always take action.
I really appreciate your good news and actions I need to try! Our protests have not been enough!
If it’s any consolation, some of us may have taken fewer actions on this site but did take others not listed. I tend to sign Women’s March, Ultraviolet, and Color of Change petitions–I know that’s not as good as calling or writing, but it’s something. I also traveled a lot in the US over the last 5 weeks, and there were American tourists everywhere, so some of your followers may have been spring breaking or attending graduations and/or weddings, etc. I also volunteered as an immigration court observer last week, so didn’t take other actions. Perhaps some of your other regulars were also doing on-the-ground activism or donating to causes not listed, etc.