Month: January 2018

Man, what a couple of years. Despite the fact that we’re living in a never-ending Black Mirror episode, one of the upsides of America now being fully great again is that the circumstances have caused me to take a much-overdue look at the role of social media in my life.

Some things I found troubling:

• I’d see people post and share sketchy (and even dangerous) misinformation, stubbornly refusing to educate themselves on valid journalistic sources. Fun times!
• In the case of Facebook specifically, I’d feel a general sense of dread before viewing my feed, then often feel worse having done so.
• I’d find myself compulsively posting about my offline activities like a junkie, then I’d hop between various services only to find others doing the same thing. I sustained this behavior for a long time, but 2017 finally broke me.

As a result, I’ve made the following changes:

• I’ve generally stopped using Facebook. My account is still open to let me peek in, remain contactable and view messages in private groups, but I’ve deleted the mobile app and stopped cross-posting content from other services. It’s been lovely. I’m still generally a fan of their Instagram product, and despite its many issues, I remain madly in love with Twitter.
• I’ve stopped using Snapchat entirely. It’s goofy and fun generally, but seeing variations of the same stories over and over again became tiresome, and Instagram is picking their features apart pretty rapidly at this point. I’m also super old, so really I was generally just embarrassing myself.
• I’ve stopped “checking in” to movies and TV shows I was watching, as this was absurd. For those that are interested (or looking for recommendations), I’ll be doing periodic digest posts here.
• Like a former smoker chewing lots of gum, I’ve started funneling some of the “gotta check” social media urges into healthier pursuits, including meal tracking, quick at-home workouts and meditation.
• I’m done with pointless online arguments with unwavering Trump supporters, especially those that try to reconcile their position with Christianity. I try to be kind, open and willing to talk, but as Jesus said: “If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, leave that home or town and shake the dust off your feet.” The slow, multi-decade merger of right-wing media with evangelicalism has turned a large portion of Americans into frogs unaware (or unwilling to admit) that the pot they’ve jumped into has been slowly boiling them. I sincerely pray for God to soften their hearts and let them be open to productive (if uncomfortable) conversations.

Major thanks to my wife, who has had her own struggles with this stuff, and has been a much-needed sounding board/ray of light in this wild, MAGA-fied universe.