Socially Acceptable

This article made the rounds earlier this month - ironically, by being posted on various social media platforms. There's a lot there so if it's TL;DR I'll summarize by saying it posits that the big social media companies have been complicit in the divisive, deceptive, and dumbed-down discourse that has come to define this generation. 

I'll leave for others whether this is true, and if so what if anything we as a society can do about it. Today let's focus on what we as individuals should do with social media. It is clearly a potentially dangerous presence in our lives, with the potential to ruin our health, self-esteem, relationships, and career. So we should tread carefully if at all. But what exactly does that mean?

First, let me "out" myself as being decidedly positive about Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and the like. What a wonderful way to share your life story with others, unintrusively follow others (and very publicly offer much-deserved applause or condolences when appropriate), and even as a source for news and commentary (more on this later). Sure, as with all things, we need to practice moderation, and addiction can be real. But on net, if you gave me the choice to have it or not have it, I consider the former to be far superior to the latter.

But perhaps I am more suited than others to take the good while minimizing the bad:

* My personal faith anchors my self-worth in the divine and eternal, in ways that buffer me (not always successfully, I will admit) from the pernicious influence social media can have on our sense of body image and contentedness and inner peace.

* My background in debate and in economics gives me a healthy appreciation that there are multiple sides to every argument and that where you stand depends on where you sit. Which means that I can take in information that is contrary, false, or inflammatory without getting riled up or sucked in. Indeed, I consider it a matter of deep personal importance that I see, digest, and evaluate such material on a regular basis.

* My ambition as well as my personality is such that I do not readily default to FOMO (fear of missing out) or JOMO (joy of missing out). So I can easily choose into and out of whatever is on my feed, without feeling sorry that I was left out or got myself into deep.

Modern life is fraught, and we all have to take our precautions. Some things are not worth the risk. Others are, especially if you can mitigate the downsides. Whether or not we're getting stupider, meaner, or more divided as a society, each of us has to chart a path forward that works for them that is respectful of and beneficial to others. Social media is no different. It may seem more overwhelming, more all-encompassing, and more toxic; but all the more to take care rather than to just blindly rush in or tune out.