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Should I Delete My Social Media?
Every six months or so, I seriously consider deleting my social media accounts. I’m at that fork in the road again. I’ve had a couple of unpleasant skirmishes online, but I’ve never been attacked in a way that made me feel threatened. I don’t have a large enough social media platform to draw any real attention. I like it that way. My online life is pretty quiet. Even so, I have reservations about whether or not I should stay on social media. I worry about the larger philosophical and ethical issues regarding privacy, hate speech, etc., but my urge to withdraw from social media is mostly to do with how it makes me feel.
The social network I use the most is Twitter. It has a well-deserved reputation as a hell site, but I’m careful about who I follow, and I apply the mute and block functions liberally, so I avoid a lot of the foolishness and toxicity. I also genuinely find the site useful. Following the right accounts can be educational and enriching. I’ve learned to think and communicate more concisely because of the 280-character limit for tweets. There are also always a lot of really funny jokes flying. People talk about what they’re reading, watching and listening to. I’ve been put on to a lot of great entertainment. Twitter is an important hub of information and cultural exchange. It is also a cesspit of disinformation and propaganda. Snark is the native tongue. Cutting sarcasm does…
