Can I Customize My News Feed to Avoid Specific Topics?
One question I hear a lot is: “Can I just tune out certain topics from my news feed?” Perhaps you’re exhausted by celebrity drama, or you’d rather not see yet another political feud every time you open the app. The good news is yes – you can customize your news feed with the right tools.
You’re Not Alone in Wanting to Mute Topics
If you’ve ever wished for a news feed tailor-made to your preferences, you’re in good company. Many people are tired of having unwanted content forced on them. In fact, 62% of Americans believe social media companies have too much control over the news people see (1). More than half of us feel algorithms are driving what we read rather than our own choices. No wonder the idea of manually filtering out certain subjects is so appealing. Why shouldn’t you be able to say “enough politics” or “no more celebrity gossip” and have your feed obey?
Most big news apps and platforms, however, offer only limited personalization. You might get to follow topics you like, but they often don’t let you explicitly block topics you dislike. And even when features do exist (like muting keywords on Twitter or selecting “Hide stories like this” on some news sites), they can be hard to find or inconsistent. Studies have found many users aren’t even sure why certain posts appear in their feeds and take little action to change settings (2). We’ve largely accepted that the feed shows what it wants – even if it stresses us out.
Your News, Your Rules
I built Clarity News because I believe user agency was missing in the news experience. You should be able to create a personalized feed that aligns with your interests and values. That means not only adding more of what you want, but also trimming out what you don’t want. At Clarity, if you’re sick of election coverage or you want news without politics cluttering your day, you can mute the “Politics” category for a while. If celebrity scandals or endless pandemic updates aren’t your cup of tea, you have the power to filter those out too.
For example, here are a few things you might choose to mute in a custom feed:
Specific people or names (maybe a politician or celebrity you’re tired of hearing about)
Recurring topics that stress you out (for instance, “market crashes” or toxic news stories that put you in a bad mood)
Entire categories you find irrelevant (perhaps you want news without sports, or you love tech news but have zero interest in reality TV)
Traditional algorithms don’t give you this level of control. They aim for a one-size-fits-all solution – or at best, one-size-fits-you-according-to-the-algorithm. But personalization should be personal. It’s empowering to open your app and know you won’t be ambushed by a story that ruins your morning coffee. One user told me she felt relieved knowing she wouldn’t have to brace herself for anxiety-triggering topics anymore. That’s exactly the point.
In short, you absolutely can customize your news feed to avoid specific topics – you just need the right tool to do it. Clarity News was created to be that tool, putting you in charge of what appears (and disappears) from your news. Instead of wasting energy doomscrolling through stuff you dread, you can focus on the news that matters most to you.
Ready to build your own custom news feed? Try Clarity News and take control of the headlines you see.