How to filter through the noise

During this unsettling time many people are keen to know the latest coronavirus news and information, and with our smartphones, we can find out in just the touch of a button. 

But with the rise of click-bait articles and fake news, it’s harder than ever to decipher what is true. We take a look at the ways in which you can filter through all the noise: 

• Reliable sources  

When searching the internet for news, make sure you’re reading from a reliable news platform such as the BBC or the Guardian. You will often see Facebook friends sharing news from unrecognisable sources and often these stories contain misinformation, so before you believe what you are reading, see if any other news outlets are reporting the same thing. 

•  Mute 

The mute function on Twitter is a great tool and can filter out any key words within tweets that you no longer want to see. Whilst you may not want to completely mute ‘coronavirus’, it is a good option if you’d rather the homepage be less cluttered and it can help your mental wellbeing if you are seeing positive tweets instead.  

•  Choose your news 

There is such a thing as too much news. The BBC and Sky have rolling news channels, standard channels, such as ITV and Channel 4, have regular news bulletins and it can be tempting to watch them all the time so that you are fully up to date with the pandemic. But without realising, it can affect your mental health and wellbeing and cause stress and anxiety.  

Therefore, why not choose just one news bulletin to watch a day? It could be the morning, afternoon or evening news programme, but by watching one it will help you digest the latest goings on easier and cause less panic.  

•  Talk it through 

Naturally, your family will want to talk about COVID-19 so do keep communication flowing but try and limit it to a set time, such as over lunch or dinner time when the family is all together. Try and keep the chats positive and don’t focus on the negative too much as this may cause worry. 

The self-isolation period we are all having to endure will be testing for many of us but by limiting your news in-take it will ensure we are only digesting news that we need to which, in turn, will help our overall mood and keep our relationships with one another positive and strong.