Freedom from thoughtless reaction

What kind of freedom do you dream of?

When I asked myself that, one answer was: freedom from reactions.

I realized that on social media, which I still open a few times a day, the act of responding with likes and comments has become an ingrained habit.

Lately, I'm deliberately trying not to make these kinds of actions. I'm intentionally avoiding likes.

I read posts quickly, skip over things I'm not interested in, and carefully read only the posts I really like.
I'm building a habit of holding back on reactions as much as possible.

Reactions are a form of communication and aren't inherently bad.
The problem is that thoughtless reactions get absorbed by the algorithm, which then decides what content I'll see going forward.
Reactions are often just the mood of a passing moment, but they get fixed as a person's taste, thoughts, and values.

There's also the problem of an excessively learned compulsion to respond to something whenever I open a social media feed—this flood of posts forces a reaction.

In the real world, I only need to respond when someone talks to me or asks my opinion. It actually makes me think, even if just for a moment.
In the online world, the moment I open the app, an enormous feed pours out. I scroll through it and without a second's hesitation, I hit "like" dozens of times a day on things that match my taste.

I've gotten into the habit of reacting without thinking.

In the real world, when I like something, I have to take clear action for it to count as "liking" or "being interested."
I have to visit a store in person, carefully choose a specific item, chat with a store employee, or work up the courage to approach someone and start a conversation.
In the online world, a single thoughtless "click" gets overinterpreted as clear interest and is almost irreversible. After that, related ads and feeds keep showing up.

That's not okay at all.

Liking something right now and continuing to hear more about it going forward are completely different things.
Even if I don't prefer something or I'm unfamiliar with it right now, it's better to have opportunities to encounter things I don't yet know about or fields I avoid. But a thoughtless "reaction" from before and the algorithm that absorbed it steals those new opportunities away from me.

What I can do for myself:

Stay as far away from SNS as possible.
If I do open SNS, filter and consume content on my own terms.
Hold back and respond carefully. Express "like" with only genuine heart.
Read at least one article or post every day from fields I don't know well, am unfamiliar with, or have wanted to avoid for some reason.
After reading, sit with it and think it through.
If I've thought it through properly, write it down.