Ok, I have been on social media forever it seems, starting with Undernet in the 1990’s, AIM/ICQ then FB / Twitter / Instagram et al. But NEVER have I seen the polarization that I have seen since the onset of Covid in 2019 – 2020. Believe me, being off work for 2 months with long Covid (and still feeling the effects 3 years later!) gave me lots of opportunity to observe how the extent of how much we interact with each other has changed in such a short period of time!
Sure the roots of the polarization have been brewing for years, the gridlock of Congress while Obama was president followed by the first Trumpian administration. Maybe Covid was just the trigger unleashing the anger, or as I prefer Covid was a mirror held up to show us who we really are!
Even ‘Say Sorry At The Drop of a Hat’ Canada has not been immune to the virulence! I personally believe only part of the problem is overflow from the U.S. In Canada we have our own ugly underbelly of ignorance and bigotry (you only have to follow the discoveries relating to residential schools to see that). And Covid held up the mirror to us, giving license to the ultra-right, trucker ‘convoys’ and blatant acts of racism on the streets of our cities (and in the countryside!).
So with the rise of polarization here is a list of the 10 ways I try to keep myself from a. getting really, really angry b. shutting off social media entirely (I live 3000 miles from most of my family so social media has a purpose!) or c. engaging in the mud-slinging and personal attacks the drama-seekers are looking for.
10 Ways To Stay Sane on Social Media
- Fact check everything you read on social media – find out who is behind the story, the author’s bio if it exists, who owns the media outlet putting out the story (in Canada MANY, if not the majority, of ‘local’ newspapers are in fact owned by Postmedia, itself owned by American Republican hedge funds!).
- Ask yourself ‘Do I know this person that is sharing in REAL life’?
- Commercial social media is driven by drama. Your most powerful action will be to scroll on by posts meant to get you angry! (Scroll on by also defeats the drama = more ad revenue algorithms)
- Consider a ‘federated’ social media alternative such as Mastodon vs. Twitter / X, Pixelfed vs. Instagram, Friendica vs. Facebook. On federated social media independent servers are interconnected, leading to less drama and more diverse opinions.
- Accept that there are ‘friends’ who are going to post crap on FB without checking the source (#1 above) consistently. At some point you are going to have to ask yourself if their ‘friendship’ is worth it.
- Get a worldview on controversial topics. For example some of the best reporting on Canada I have seen recently is on sites like BBCNews, Reuters and Al Jazeera. Inside Canada and especially BC I like The Tyee.
- Let your money talk. If a company is posting scammy, drama-inducing ads on social media make a note not to buy their product or service. 34 million lost orders will definitely get their attention!
- Only debate with fact-based people. There is a whole subset of people on social media spewing crap simply to achieve drama and their 15 minutes of McLuhan fame (Gen Y plus might need to use Wikipedia on Marshall McLuhan)
- Don’t forget there is a REAL life outside social media, explore new hobbies, talk over the back fence with your neighbours, hold the door for ladies and elders and (my fave) smile and say “Hello!” to people on the street – it might be the only human interraction they have all day!
- Get a dog! Seriously my best defense against social media burnout is to turn away from the monitor and snuggle Miss Frieda!
And do have some fun on social media!
Mark
(The above was created in OsoWrites, my 11th way to stay sane on social media – ml)