Facebook was founded in 2004, though it was not the first social network. Google was founded in 1999, but it was not the first way to browse the collection of websites in the early stages of the Internet. Apple’s iPhone was created in 2007, but it was not the first smartphone. Twitter was founded in 2006, but it was not the first way to send messages to your friend about your eating habits.

While it might seem hard to believe, the tech companies currently on top in their respective markets have not always been here. And our current algorithmic feeds don’t have consume the way we read the news or catch up with friends. In fact, based on countless research, relying on algorithms that feed into our small echo chambers could be harming not only ourselves but our society. And there is a way to fight back.

The debate over the dangers of echo chambers has been explored and debated for nearly 20 years, from Kelly Garrett’s Echo Chambers Online article in 2013, Peggy Orenstein’s “I Tweet, Therefore I Am” book in 2012, to countless psychology papers in the dawn of the Internet age that described some early harms seen in “Internet addicts”. But the COVID-19 pandemic, with its ensuing isolation protocols, exasperated the decline in civility and trust. As Adam Serwer of The Atlantic describes, “Americans deepened their parasocial attachment to social-media platforms, which foment alienation and rage. Hundreds of thousands of people plunged into an alternate mental universe during COVID‑19 lockdowns. When their doors reopened, the mania did not recede. Conspiracies and mistrust of the establishment—never strangers to the American mind—had been nourished, and they grew.”

The siloed nature of algorithmic news feeds leads to echo chambers, and misinformation from nefarious sources steadily rose among the headlines and news pushed to users. Kelly Garrett described this phenomenon, “Termed selective exposure, these politically motivated decision-making processes are not limited to traditional sources of political information but extend to other venues as well.” Personal identity is likely to be distorted based on the over-exposure to one-sided arguments and beliefs, whether religious, scientific, or political. And over time, as Adam Serwer described, it leads to conspiratorial thinking and incorrect assumptions about the world.

Breaking free of the algorithms pull toward echo chambers and closed-minded thinking takes diligent practice, willpower, and time. But we can utilize the tools to help assist our minds instead of relying on our, often overburdened, willpower. Apple, Microsoft, and Google have created digital programs to help curb our use of technology.

Apple’s Screentime, as well as Microsoft’s Family Safety and Google’s Digital Wellbeing, allows users to create time constraints on nearly every application. While there is a way to circumvent the time limits imposed, a judicious use of a passcode that is provided by a trusted friend will help keep you focused on the ultimate goal of freeing your mind of the attention-grabbing and time-wasting moments on the social media platforms. Along with those tools, a judicious look at all the applications that are allowed to break through in the notification settings is a good way to limit their influence. It will help curb the distractions and sudden diversion of attention that can be inflicted. As my own personal experience can attest, it has allowed me to use these platforms with purpose, not as a distraction; to live life of real social and community connection.

Chris Hayes’ new book, The Siren’s Call, published in 2025, helps to elucidate the struggle between all of the ways our attention is manipulated and pulled in various directions. And at the end of his Atlantic article recently, he offers some hope on the struggle, "We don’t have to accept this. It does not need to be this way. We must use every tool and strategy imaginable to wrest back our will, to create a world in which we point our attention where we—the willful, conscious “we”—want it to go. A world where we can function and flourish as full human beings, as liberated souls, unlashed from the mast, our ears unplugged and open, listening to the lapping of the waves, making our way back home to the people we love, the sound of sirens safely in the distance.”

While it may appear difficult to change our habits, it is possible to pull away from the sirens of notifications and reconnect with our shared humanity. A way to create lasting habits to become less distractable with notifications is mindful meditation. It is a simple exercise that you can perform by yourself or through guided meditations available online or through some yoga practices. Honing into your inner self to gently change your mindset and focus away from the endless distractions to your breath or body is very freeing. For myself, it has transformed the way my sympathetic nervous system responds to distractions and stress.

As I progressed with limiting the endless scrolling of social media and regained the ability to live in the present moment with meditation, I found that my desire to learn and try new things became more apparent. I have added volunteer work into my daily free time, whether at the library or the local theater as an usher, started to pursue coding coursework to increase my cybersecurity skills in a rapidly changing digital environment, and added regular exercise often neglected due to artificial time constraints. And if others utilize these ways of breaking free from the siren’s call of distractions, I can envision a host of other activities that humanity can accomplish. Just try out the smartphone limitation tools and meditations for a week or so; you will be glad you did. And so will humanity, as we repair the divisions that social media algorithms have spawned.