In a presentation yesterday I talked about the way that

1. Anxiety drives us to forage for more information

2. Foraging for information generates clicks

3. Clicks generate ad dollars

Therefore social media algorithms are, deliberately or otherwise, tuned to increase anxiety.

It’s not just *social* media. Here the @washingtonpost is trying to get me hooked on the same election tally obsession that gripped me for the better part of a week a month ago.

Refresh for updates!

There’s really no other reason for a live tally here. No states have backed alternative slates of electors. We know what is going to happen.

If anything unexpected does happen, that will be breaking news. The live sequence of counting the predetermined votes is definitely not.

But the use of the same fonts and display style as election itself is so emotionally charged for me that it generates intense anxiety to see it again, and reels me in.

Without thinking about it rationally, I feel like I need to follow this all day *to be safe*.