I’ve had it with social media. There is much debate about whether it is a
force for good or not. On balance I
reckon it is not. Apart from a two day
trial I never did Facebook. I had an
Instagram account until recently but hardly used it so deleted it a month or so
back. After I have circulated this blog
post via Twitter to my ‘followers’ I shall delete my Twitter account after
seven years of pretty active use. This piece
explains why, not that anybody should be interested. I will try not to turn it into a rant. In it I will appear to criticise Twitter
users ‘en masse’. The criticisms will,
in fact, not relate to many Twitter users as individuals. And many of them will relate to me and my
behaviours. I’ll repeat that. I am as guilty as many of some of the things
I will moan about.
Twitter is not good for my mental health. I suffer from depression and anxiety. I easily get irritated. I can brood on things and let them stew. I do not suffer people whom I consider to be
fools gladly. I hate dishonesty, and
have contempt for arguments which lack logic, or are based on false premises, or
factual inaccuracy. I despise those who
see life in black and white terms (metaphorically and literally!), who cannot
see that most things (I’m thinking politics here) have pros and cons. These views and characteristics mean that Twitter
is not a good place for me.
Twitter is lowering my opinion of my fellow man. That’s people in general as opposed to
individuals. Perhaps the human race has
always displayed the characteristics I dislike which I’ve mentioned above, and
that social media is merely making them more obvious. I suspect not, however. When our interaction with our fellow human
beings was mainly face-to-face we could have more nuanced communications. We would explain our point of view and hear
others more courteously. 280 characters
rarely allows justice to be done to anything other than the banal. How often have you read a Tweet and thought
that the writer would never say that, or use those words, if they were sitting
with the recipient down at the pub?
Twitter debates can be like road rage.
People act in ways that they wouldn’t dream of doing if they were not in
their own little metal, or cyber, bubble.
The fact that so many post anonymously is particularly pernicious and
allows greater levels of rudeness and unpleasant behaviour.
Connected with this is the polarisation that Twitter
brings. The best examples are, of
course, the debates and Tweets about politics as exemplified by Brexit (in the
UK) or Trump (in the USA and in the UK).
Thus, we read so frequently that all Tory MPs are heartless, they are all
upper class fascists, and they want the poor to become poorer. At the same time, thousands of others are
implying that Labour MPs are thick, simply envious and jealous of success, that
they believe in magic money trees and think that Stalin was a bloody good
chap. As for Brexit? How often does anybody admit that the EU has
pros and cons, that there are some good
arguments for leaving and some good arguments for remaining; or that the
referendum campaign was filled with lies and distortions and predictions that
turned out to be hopelessly wrong - from both sides? When did you last read a Tweet about politics
that said “On balance I believe….”?
With my personality traits all the above just winds me up,
makes me cross and depressed by what I consider the illogicality, dishonesty or
stupidity of others. No doubt people who
have read my Tweets have often thought the same about me.
Twitter does have good points. It has helped me keep in touch easily with a
large number of friends, many of whom I know personally, and others met, and
only known through Twitter. It does
provide useful links to interesting articles and blogs and the like. Oh, and some great cat and dog videos. However, much of this is shallow and
superficial. When you realise that you
have just spent ten minutes, as I did the other day, reading a thread about
whether the rock band Queen really was British, and inwardly sneering or cheering at the views on the thread, you know it’s time to go and get on with
having a proper life. Further, when
people you really like whenever you meet them in person are adding to your
depression with their Tweets then it’s time to go.
Some readers of this who have followed me on Twitter may remember
that I love writing real letters to friends, ideally with a beautiful fountain
pen on quality notepaper. This is time
consuming. But so is Twitter. However, it is also infinitely more satisfying,
and a far better way to communicate, despite, or possibly because of the effort
involved, the time it takes, the thought that must go into it and the cost of
the stamp. E-mail, of course, is also
superb for keeping in touch and blog posts can allow more thought, better prose
and are a great vehicle for sharing or learning.
I’ll miss Twitter but I shall survive without it. I am, however, wondering if there is the
equivalent of the nicotine patch for someone who has decided to give up?
Do keep in touch if you wish. Many readers (assuming this post will have
readers) have my e-mail address; if not this Blog does have a linky thing
allowing you to contact me should you have the need or desire to send me a
message. And, as ever, comments on what I
have written above are welcome.
