There is Nothing Social About Social Media

 

Social media has left a lot of us disillusioned, cheated, and trapped. We gave up our information long before we realized what we were getting into, before anyone really knew how it was all going to work. When we found out we'd been duped, it was too late. Our own interests and literally "likes" were used against us.

We friended and followed everyone we met. We added everything we actually liked and a ton more shit we didn't, just so people would think we did. Now fifteen plus years later, we are left with feeds full of things we don't and (in some cases) never did like. There are no more updates from friends because the algorithm shows us ads and things it knows will piss us off.

It does this to keep us engaged because humans are so simple minded, that things designed to hurt us, keep us coming back for more. We are repeatedly touching a hot stove. The more it burns us, the more we touch it.

It's okay though, because over the years, all those people that we followed and friended; the ones we never really liked, but wanted them and everyone else to think we did, (there is a pattern forming here, pay attention) well, we quietly unfriended, muted, and blocked them a while ago. Other people began to catch on and in addition to culling their "friends", formed smaller circles of actual friends and those they saw in real life on a regular basis. This was done of course ironically in group texts and chat rooms, not even in the media apps themselves.

So when you do spend days removing all the digital bullshit of over fifteen years and find the setting to just show those few people you actually want to hear from, it's a ghost town. You'd have better luck of finding life on the CB Radio.

So why not just stop?

We've been conditioned. Most smokers are surprised to find that the hardest part of quitting cigarettes isn't the chemical addiction to nicotine, It's the conditioned habits of the act of smoking. Quitting is more dependent on their mental state and muscle memory than the chemicals.

So all those times waiting in line at the checkout, at the bar, while your tea was steeping, or yes even taking a shit for way longer than any healthy human should, you were conditioning yourself. Forming habits and routines that for some people can be hard to break.

So many things these days are tied to some sort of social media account it can be very difficult depending on your lifestyle to just walk away.

The result is we are more detached and isolated than ever before. Who cares if we can communicate half way across the world when we no longer talk to our neighbor across the street because they posted a meme we didn't like.