ECHO... Echo... echo...
Maybe it's time to stop doomscrolling or thinking my Social Media posts do anything.
With the various news announcements and slop in the Metaverse I finally removed the Facebook App from my phone while on this roadtrip. I had hidden it and put a time limit on it but finally decided to just dump it somewhere outside of Asheville. My last post dealt with the frustration of screaming into the void and hearing nothing. Seeing nothing change. Getting bunches of dopamine hits in the form of “likes” and people nodding their virtual heads in agreement and nothing changing, nothing happening, the world not becoming a better place.
It probably started with MINI Takes The States and that drama. Moved to Scouting America caving to the a regime that doesn’t have a clue about what Scouting is all about. They can’t follow the Ten Commandments (no matter much they want them posted everywhere), how could they even consider understanding the Scout Oath and Law? Concluded with more politics, that just is posted to see if there are like minded people out there. There are, but nobody listens to them. The State of Indiana is still going to treat public schools and educators like something you wipe off the bottom of your shoe. Congress and this regime are still going to do everything for their own personal gain, ignoring the needs of the people they are supposed to serve. The people are still going to wear their red hats and drink their Kool-Aid wondering why things don’t change when they keep voting the same people into office. Happy in the fact that “those people” aren’t getting help other countries give to everyone. The lies will continue to be told and in 50 years we will still be waiting for the unredacted Epstein Files to be released. I’m not oblivious to this, I’m just tired of being bombarded by it. I’m not crawling into a hole- I’ll still follow the news through the AP, NPR, and BBC, just not constantly connected to people screaming about it via my phone. I will still drop in to politely snooze people for 30 days when using my desktop computer. I’ll stay on Bluesky for now because, while it can be political, I tend to follow other creative people who talk about their cool projects, and there’s no AI slop in my feed, or Ads.
As for Social Media- I was on Twitter for work (because “everyone was on Twitter” and we were told to create a positive presence for the school) and stopped it before it became “X”. I tried Instagram but never really got into it, same with Threads. I never tried TikTok it just seemed silly for me. Too trendy for a geek like me. I had a YouTube channel that got killed like so many things when I retired, but it was mostly just videos of lessons from COVID. I’ll stay on SubStack for the time being also as a way to publish my thoughts (still for free). I’ve considered that I might pop into Social Media only my desktop computer but have cut the connection 24/7 on my phone.
Am I leaving the echo chamber? Mostly. Most people I associate with in real life share my beliefs or we can actually discuss our differences. Will I miss it? Who knows. Right now, I feel like it will be like a junkie going cold turkey. Will I lose some connections? If they were only part of social media, how close were we? There will always be people I try to stay connected with and they are exclusively on Facebook. As for my posts- I’ll have to get my dopamine rush in other ways… like petting my cats or drawing pictures which is a lot more fulfilling than replying to trolls or clicking the “like” button.
Of course, the important question- What about Cecil? I think he’s realized that there are a lot more megalomaniacal narcissists on the interwebs doing a much better job of being megalomaniacal narcissists than he ever could be.
I do wonder what would happen if we all just stopped and started back with real connections, not the fake “easy” ones provided by companies that only care about profits. Maybe the only way to make a difference in the world is to stop pretending that posting or reposting something will make a difference. Then again, I’m just an old Gen Xer who probably drank from the one too many times.
To quote your dad, "I respect your disgust..." And am happy to hear you made a move that will improve your life in more ways than one. I admit, I spend way more time on FB than I should. In one way, I find it necessary (I am a member of a couple of groups, like the Black Hat Society, that only communicate via FB, so I would have no way to know about meetings/events, etc. otherwise). I have found some joy in Instagram -- looking for uplifting, positive accounts to follow, and adding my own here and there. But I have also started back up some past hobbies to keep me occupied outside of social media (houseplants, D&D with you and Sue, reading), plus the aforementioned groups that get me out of the house, interacting with humans IRL. Safe travels friend. We will see you soon.
Bruce may call himself 'an old Gen-Xer' but as ancient 'Silent Generationer' I need to assure him we've been through this. My mother, a staunch Republican back when those existed, didn't vote for a winning President until Eisenhower - and she first voted in 1932! And now, in return for getting involved in local items, my daily 'you must open me' email count is routinely over 120. This to shall pass. Social media is the child of the internet. Before it was the phone. It's called 'communication' and it's constant improvement is one of the wonders of the 20th and 21st Centuries. In 1972 when I was BofA's internatonal banking guru for transportation lending in India, Bombay had 3 lines for international phone calls. And connections were wavy at best. Now satellites are crystal clear! And that you send the same message to hundreds at the same time is part of both the problem and solution ! Anyway, delighted that Cecil is well and continues to be featured. And, Bruce, I respect your disgust - you held up longer than most would!