I appreciate the anecdote.

The distinction I’d draw is that email was a push model, but today it’s platforms that decide what we see. If platforms wanted, I think it’d be trivial for them to make a setting for their users to filter out politics/outrage/whatever

For example Reddit will (unprompted) put links to videos of police brutality on the home page when I’m not part of that subreddit.

To me this anti pattern reminds me of putting candy bars in the checkout lane — pitting me against my self control on purpose