The Socials

A friend who I met through Facebook recently posted that she was tired social media, because it was missing real connection/communication and was nothing but navel gazing for those us participating. Interesting that she rarely interacts on my posts (or lately, in my comments on hers), so I wondered if I was one of those she thinks that about. It doesn't hurt my feelings or bother me; I just thought it was curious.

I do disagree with the evaluation, at least in part. There IS plenty of self-promotion and even bragging, to be sure. I post pictures of my dogs - yeah, it feels good to get comments and likes. But I also hope that it makes someone smile. I'm a weirdo who does random google image searches of dogs and babies when I'm feeling bad for the sole purpose of making me feel better. 

Especially during the isolation of Covid, Facebook has been a life saver. To be fair, the folks I keep in touch with on social media are mostly people who live far away from me, and Facebook helps keep them close even when I'm allowed to be social locally. I used to engage in the drama of politics and sensational stories until I read some Jonathan Haidt, and watched a video where he cautioned his listeners to, whenever we hear something that outrages us, think before posting it or forwarding it. It stuck with me, and now I tend to do it very seldom. Most of my Facebook stuff is about my kids and my pets and my life...with the occasional funny meme. It's a place for my friends and I to be goofy with each other. One of my private groups is a replacement for our closed blog site that no longer exists. It's Cheers, but online. 

There is no doubt there is a sinister side to social media, and I think the hard part is it does take a lot of mental acuity and strength to rein it in to be our tool, rather than the other way around. I'm not so naive to think I'm not the product (I know I am) but I also know I can use it as a product, too. 

So I'm not letting it go anytime soon, and I do sometimes wonder what it would take for me to abandon it altogether. Because it feels like I'd be abandoning my friends & family there who I like to stay close with, and I don't want that at all.