Your anger (and by extension your energy) is a limited resource. Outrage is an easy way to collect people’s attention. Today’s example: The blowback about a black Ariel on Twitter? Probably a bot. The anger about a black Ariel on Twitter? Real. But what could those people on Twitter do with their energy that wasn’t diverted by one bot? The easy answer is “their jobs”, the actual answer is have more time for the people they care about, or for the issues they care about.
Social media (Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter too) removed chronological timelines a while back. What you see now is what algorithms designed by humans think you’ll respond to, which is stuff that’s already been engaged with a lot. Sometimes, that’s good. Person A is pregnant, Person B got a new job, that’s neat. Often, it isn’t. It’s “can you believe this shit”?
In fairness, there’s plenty of shit to go around. The Trump administration keeps a steady stream of it coming. I think the headliner there is putting asylum-seekers and refugees to this country in cages in deplorable conditions. It was a bad idea when we put Japanese people in cages during WWII, and it’s a bad idea now.
The question becomes can the person do anything with the anger they feel, not “are you angry”? Being angry constantly eats away at you, and I submit the history of my social life at Allegheny to prove it. There’s something more I’ll call insidious: Outrage feels good.
Like drugs, it’s a pleasurable feeling as it burns you out. Outrage was my drug of choice, and in retrospect, I used heavily. Now I see it happening to other people, and I want to tell them they can stop.
I hate that I need to double underline this point: You should care. Evil exists, and driving you towards apathy isn’t my goal. But set some boundaries for yourself. Make a list of things to do, whatever that means. If it’s calling up your congressperson, do it. If it’s go protest, do it. If it’s listen to survivors, do it. But please, I beg you, set some boundaries. Social media will erode your boundaries, and make your life more difficult if you let it.
Algorithms mean I might disappear, which I'm trying to learn to be okay with. Being engaged with is a great feeling, and I'm guilty of trying to game it myself.
A friend about how disappointed he was that one of his high school friends unfriended him on Facebook because of his political content:
"If you tire of me posting images of dead refugees - including children -
I dare you to ask yourself why. If you would rather just focus on nice
things, please consider how lucky you are to be able to do so. I loved
seeing good friends and eating food today, but am still troubled that I
went to an America party when today’s America is so difficult to
celebrate."
I know exactly how both parties felt. Years ago, I stood in Ronen's shoes. It is difficult to celebrate America knowing the terrible things that go on in our name, and that's what's on my mind at the moment I hit post. Today? I understand that unfriending man more than I care to admit. Sometimes, I need a break.
