As the last week begins before we take off for Montreal for the last KISS show we'll ever see, I thought it might be time to talk a bit here about what's been going on.
Given that I've at least temporarily given up on facebook, I have not indeed given up on my blog page, where I feel better about talking about myself than on social media. I thought I'd give an explanation for my absence there, for anyone who might care at all - and I should stress it doesn't matter if you don't.
Here's the thing about facebook for me: I thought I'd give it an extended break and see how it affects my general view, where it's commonly noted these days that getting away from it improves one's outlook. I'm here to tell you that this is all true.
I keep my facebook messenger open, though, for anyone who wants to contact me that way. Though I still have to field the odd joke or forward like traditional e-mail. I'm not a fan of that stuff, if I'm being honest. I would rather messenger be a more personal space for discussion. I don't want to put anyone off about my stance on this either - I'm not doing this to offend anybody at all.
But I am doing it as a part of my effort to attain a good level of self-care via my own mental health. I've taken a few steps back from facebook and Instagram and realized just how vain those places can be. And I've been a part of that! Not proclaiming innocence, here. In fact, I look back on a lot of my activity on social media over the years and cringe at some of the things I've said and posted. Even recently.
It's occurred to me that we don't need to put our views on politics on full display for the world to see all the time, if any time at all. Before social media, the only way you'd do that is have face to face conversation with someone. And you'd temper your remarks, being mindful of whomever it is you're talking to. With social media, you're giving blanket statements without any regard for how you might come across to someone else. Thus revealing problems with the written word.... with the number one problem there being context and perception. How you speak something can be a night and day difference from how you print it. And I really believe people's sensitivity needs to be considered. I know what some might say if they read that.... "oh, you mean the snowflakes." Which only would solidify my argument.
The whole "Snowflake" moniker, toward someone who appears sensitive, is absolutely offensive to me. Here's the thing... since facebook and others have come to prominence, mental health issues have only increased in numbers. When you say something like what you're reading here right now in print, you're saying in your own mind how it's being said. You're not saying it how I might say it. Verbal expression would be key in how you perceive messaging. Not to mention, unless the user deletes what they've written, the written word is there to stay and isn't going anywhere. Words in the wind pass the instant they're said, relying only on the memory of the person they're spoken to for record. This isn't all to say that the spoken word is necessarily better than the written one - but the written word needs more care in its crafting, given its relative permanence.
Thus, I've taken a sabbatical from facebook and Insta. I am on Twitter/X, but really just to see what others are talking about. Engaging in social media conversations opens that door just a crack for misinterpretation, which can wind up being quite damaging. If I'm on facebook every day, or semi-regularly even, then I'm expected to say Happy Birthday or Happy Anniversary or Congratulations for whatever, and if I don't, I'm not a "friend". Not a real one. What a load of horseshit. If we gauge each others' friendships based on our social media presence, then we don't actually have a life at all, do we? At least not with those who merit friendships that way.
I'm not saying, either, that I haven't taken part in that very type of conduct. Like I said, I cringe at some of the things I've posted in the past. I'm far from a perfect friend to anyone. Even some blogs in the past I feel are cringeworthy. But when it comes to my blog page, you don't have to visit it. When you go to facebook, you have all your "friends" right there in your face telling you something that just might piss you off that you didn't have to see in the first place. That you didn't want to see. At least with this blog page, you have a general idea of what you'll get because it's only me. My point of view IS the point of this page. And my point of view is no more valid than yours, just because it's on a blog on the internet. But, sometimes it can be entertaining. In my case, I kind of hope for that.
I read recently that a potentially cataclysmic event could happen in the next year, with solar flares possibly being so severe that it could disable the internet entirely, because it relies so heavily on satellites. What if the internet were wiped out? What would we do? Beyond business transactions and power sharing, etc., we would actually be forced to talk to each other. I think that's a nightmare scenario in itself for a lot of us. But that's only because we've let social media rewire how we're expected to communicate with one another. The more distant the contact, often the more distant the relationship. There's face to face conversation - then there's the postal letter - then there's the telephone - then there's social media - and now texting. The next form of communication that arrives to us will likely pull us even further away from one another. I have social anxiety, so chronic that it forced me out of work permanently. I have to wonder if this would be so if it weren't for the faux-connectivity the internet has provided us. I only started hating the phone after social media showed up. It seems the more "connected" we become, the more we de-evolve, actually. And I don't know if this is something that can be reversed, short of a potential disaster like I noted above.
Anyway, to those who I might have miffed by not being present online, it's not some kind of personal affront. Not as much as it's an experiment of my own to see how distancing myself from social media affects my own health. And I would have to say, after over a month, everyone should at least try doing this. It really does change your outlook.
I'll continue to keep this blog active, though. I like to write. I also very much appreciate you reading what I write, should you be reading this right now.
Thanks for visiting my humble blog.
Special thanks to Kelly. (she knows why)
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