Not My Narrative: Mistaking Volume for Truth

So here’s my hot take on the state of the world today, based on actual lived experience, not assumptions, not algorithms, and not whatever is trending this week. The world didn’t suddenly and mysteriously become worse. It just got louder when everyone was handed access to an unfiltered megaphone.

I occupy a strange middle ground. I lived in the world before the internet, and I lived through its explosive rise. News and conversations were largely local. What I knew about the rest of the world was limited to what made it through newspapers and onto the evening news. Most opinions didn’t travel far, and most outrage burned out before it could spread like a virus.

Then came the internet, bringing access to more information and communication opportunities than we’d ever had before. And if I’m being honest, it’s been incredible.

The ratio of good to bad hasn’t shifted. This isn’t some final, cinematic showdown between good and evil. Humanity didn’t suddenly tip into moral decay. What changed was amplification. The megaphone went global, friction disappeared, and suddenly every thought, brilliant or terrible, began to echo endlessly.

And that isn’t inherently a bad thing. In many ways, it’s been incredibly good. Voices that were once ignored can now be heard. Ideas can spread without permission. Information moves faster than ever.

But as with most great things, there’s a catch.

Algorithms don’t reward truth, nuance, or perspective. They reward engagement. Rage sticks like maple syrup, and fear spreads like wildfire. Outrage keeps people doom-scrolling. As a result, negativity rises to the top, not because it’s dominant, but because it performs well.

Like statistics, algorithms can be shaped to tell a particular story. Too often, that story is that everything is falling apart, that the world is burning, and that people are becoming, for lack of a better term, monsters.

That is not our story. It is not our truth, unless we allow it to be.

I’m speaking from experience. I’ve found myself drowning in the doom-and-gloom scenarios that flood our daily feeds. I’ve taken the bait. I’ve bought into the rage. I’ve even believed the ludicrous hearsay that later turned out to be distorted, or outright false.

But when I started really looking into the subject, stepping back and thinking it through with reason and logic, I found myself utterly confused. Because when I examined it honestly, my real-life experiences didn’t match the story I was being sold.

Look, the fact is, the internet doesn’t owe us balance, context, or emotional well-being. That part is entirely on us as individuals.

It’s up to us to embrace skepticism again. We need to sharpen our critical thinking skills instead of defaulting to pure emotional reactions. It’s time to recognize that loud does not mean common, and viral does not mean true. Volume is not truth. It’s just volume.

If you’re curious where this perspective comes from, it isn’t theoretical. It’s shaped by lived experience. I’m exploring the idea of creating a Patreon space where I can go deeper into the moments, choices, and hard-earned lessons that led me here. A space where conversation can stay thoughtful, intentional, and grounded in good faith.

Not everything needs to be shouted into the void, and not every space needs to be open to noise.

Not My Narrative will continue here as a blog, but it’s also the foundation for something larger.

This isn’t about convincing anyone or winning an argument. It’s about clarity, perspective, and opting out of the noise.