While I do agree with a lot of your point, I will say that for a lot of chronically ill and disabled people, house- or bedbound, "everything wonderful about social media" does not exist in real life. Or at least isn't accessible to us. While social media as is is so deeply problematic, dangerous and directly harmful. Enabling facism and abuse, misusing our data and worsening a lot of people's mental health, for some of us it's also life-giving. I have found some of the best friends there, become part of community, and literally wouldn't have my extremely rare diagnosis of severe life-threatening illness if it wasn't for social media. They need to be completely reformed, but not all of us are able to find everything in real life that social media offer.
I definitely understand (and agree with) your point. I am curious about how you define social media. I am disabled and spend much of my time indoors and/or isolated from social gatherings because of my disability, yet I don't think that Meta, TikTok, or X are necessary for me to find community. In fact these apps have a decidedly negative impact on my mental (and therefore physical) health. That said, the internet as a whole is vital to me connecting with others- Zoom, Substack, and other niche communities have helped me in so many ways. Those things are "real life" to me. I believe that we can connect virtually outside of the most exploitative social media apps, but I also acknowledge that social media apps are important for many people, which is why Sentient Scrolling is not about eliminating social media from one's life. I have found many resources on social media but time and time again I also find myself triggered and spiraling because of their toxicity and basic foundational setup. That's just my experience. I am certainly not shaming anyone for using social media- so I hope this didn't come across that way.
I appreciate your thoughts here. I can't always address every point of view in my posts, so I am always grateful for folks who comment and add more nuance to the conversation. ❤️
Well written commentary, River, on the state of the world today.
I too, enjoy reading a hand written note- it’s a love language in our home. I like the way you spoke of tracing the words with your finger and feeling that energy transfer! Yes! I remember doing that with my sister’s words after she died. For a week I slept on my bed with every card she’d ever given me as my blanket - so that I might be covered in her love by being covered in her words. I wanted to transfer what was left of her in to me so that I could carry her spirit with me in this world.
While I do agree with a lot of your point, I will say that for a lot of chronically ill and disabled people, house- or bedbound, "everything wonderful about social media" does not exist in real life. Or at least isn't accessible to us. While social media as is is so deeply problematic, dangerous and directly harmful. Enabling facism and abuse, misusing our data and worsening a lot of people's mental health, for some of us it's also life-giving. I have found some of the best friends there, become part of community, and literally wouldn't have my extremely rare diagnosis of severe life-threatening illness if it wasn't for social media. They need to be completely reformed, but not all of us are able to find everything in real life that social media offer.
I definitely understand (and agree with) your point. I am curious about how you define social media. I am disabled and spend much of my time indoors and/or isolated from social gatherings because of my disability, yet I don't think that Meta, TikTok, or X are necessary for me to find community. In fact these apps have a decidedly negative impact on my mental (and therefore physical) health. That said, the internet as a whole is vital to me connecting with others- Zoom, Substack, and other niche communities have helped me in so many ways. Those things are "real life" to me. I believe that we can connect virtually outside of the most exploitative social media apps, but I also acknowledge that social media apps are important for many people, which is why Sentient Scrolling is not about eliminating social media from one's life. I have found many resources on social media but time and time again I also find myself triggered and spiraling because of their toxicity and basic foundational setup. That's just my experience. I am certainly not shaming anyone for using social media- so I hope this didn't come across that way.
I appreciate your thoughts here. I can't always address every point of view in my posts, so I am always grateful for folks who comment and add more nuance to the conversation. ❤️
Well written commentary, River, on the state of the world today.
I too, enjoy reading a hand written note- it’s a love language in our home. I like the way you spoke of tracing the words with your finger and feeling that energy transfer! Yes! I remember doing that with my sister’s words after she died. For a week I slept on my bed with every card she’d ever given me as my blanket - so that I might be covered in her love by being covered in her words. I wanted to transfer what was left of her in to me so that I could carry her spirit with me in this world.