# How to stop doomscrolling — and what to do instead? (w/ Katherine Cross)

An episode of [How to Be a Better Human](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1544098624), 8 Sep 2025, 40 min.

Audio: https://sphinx.acast.com/p/open/s/67572b3b2dd88df13220eb3b/e/6883a606f6d4262b07840482/media.mp3

Is it effective to engage with politics on social media — and what does it take to make actual change? Katherine Cross is a researcher on online harassment and the author of Log Off: Why Posting and Politics (Almost) Never Mix. She shares why she believes social media is “anti-political” and how virtual engagement will not achieve the necessary political work for us. Katherine and Chris also discuss the limitations of short-form content in conveying decades of geopolitical strife, why our lives would be better off without social media, and the guardrails platforms could utilize to help users engage with posts critically and to slow down viral misinformation. Follow Host: Chris Duffy (Instagram: @chrisiduffy | chrisduffycomedy.com) Guest: Katherine Cross (Website: ischool.uw.edu/people/phd/profile/kcross1) Links Log Off Why Posting and Politics (Almost) Never Mix Subscribe to TED Instagram: @ted YouTube: @TED TikTok: @tedtoks LinkedIn: @ted-conferences Website: ted.com Podcasts: ted.com/podcasts For the full text transcript, visit go.ted.com/BHTranscripts Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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