Does anyone feel the gap between social media and reality? Not the trend of creators editing polished and unfiltered video clips together, but the cognitive discrepancy that calls reality itself into question. What is true anymore? Even in 2026, for many people without a full-time online career, social media comment sections, online discussion hubs like Reddit, and everyday life can still move like parallel lines.
The media on social media
Starting with a quick audit: Can a one-minute video tell the whole story? No. Can an algorithm curate your feed? Yes. Can comment sections filter out venting and bias? No (although that filter is handy). Can ordinary people stop infodemics (unfiltered information overload)? Not really, but we can choose not to spread misinformation further. Can we prevent creators from chasing views and engagement? No.
If most problems are beyond our control, what is there to worry about?
Algorithms curate everyone’s feed, comment sections look like public venting channels, and many creators are incentivized to prioritize drama over truth. Misinformation, along with each brand’s positioning and angle, may be more immediately concerning.
The real problem is that the chaos systematically erodes our attention spans and skews our perception of reality. As we get used to this culture, critical thinking and information processing seem less important.
Selective attention
Because the algorithm is designed to retain users, it is incredibly easy to manipulate the feed by training it on what to push. If you are tired of AI news, for example, you can quickly scroll and watch videos on other topics, whether it’s spirituality, lifestyle, or fun memes—anything unrelated to AI. And just by swiping past any video mentioning AI at first glance, your entire feed will change within minutes. My experience on TikTok shows that in just 5 minutes, the majority of my feed is already filled with skincare and onion boil.
Visually and cognitively, this creates a new world, and your sense of importance and urgency will change. The intense fear that AI will cause human extinction, as if it is imminent, will fade once you focus on how to make vegetable pickles. The brain won’t feel danger when eating. So when you watch cooking videos, your brain interprets, “Hmm, we are looking at food; we must be safe now.”
But does a change in feeling actually affect the level of danger or the predicted probability of a massive existential threat? No.
Algorithm makes your world
Social media has millions of accounts and pieces of content. But we watch only a tiny portion of it. The algorithm does not choose and push posts for you based on logic or what is good for your health. It pushes them based on your watch time and engagement.
Using the previous news example, if you watch all the AI-related news, you might think that is the whole world, or at least your assessment of its significance is skewed. Then, this reinforces itself. If you comment on AI-related news, or just finish watching some videos, the algorithm pushes more for you. Whether you engage or not, the platform might mistake your passive attention for interest. Unless you manually adjust your interests, you’ll see AI-related content every time you log into your app.
What really concerns me is that when the news is about survival (and packaged with such suspense and drama), it triggers our instinctive urge to “find out more.” Because we think that if we keep fixating, we will have certainty. To keep ourselves safe, we tend to lock in on the very topic that stresses us when we are already stressed.
Meanwhile, in reality, your life goes on. Tomorrow, corporate drama still plays out, supervisor continues micromanaging, Union strikes happen again, best friend asks for help with the wedding, favorite show just renewed, the person you have crush on ask you out, and grocery and gas prices keep fluctuating…
Which one is reality, then?
What is Brief? An ongoing series of quick, bite-sized brain snacks. Alternating weekly, there are three evidence-based empirical facts or three research-informed reflective notes across three topical pillars.
