we are not NPCs: social media talk

 Discourse. Everywhere you go. Log onto Twitter, it's in every corner. Open the TikTok app, it's there too. You don't have to get on Facebook to know it's a shit-show. The problem is, what started out to be a fun debate, apps you can connect with people on, and a useful source of information, has been taken to the next level. People that wouldn't have the courage to speak to you on the streets are raiding your mentions with their opinions that they believe are facts. We now have the ability to project our feelings and experiences onto others from the comfort of our own home, without having to see anyone. We can make the world our punching bag, one comment, mention, or hateful post at a time. 

Certain people on social media, are starting not to see people as people anymore, at least when they're online. They feel that it's okay to verbally abuse a random teenaged girl they came across on their feed, because they don't know them... Plus, they're hidden behind the guise of User13372728 (with a gray profile avatar). It disconnects these people from reality. It makes them ignorant that they are talking to real human beings. Sure, that one teenaged girl may be okay if this User3372728 guy says something horrible about her once. But, what about when it goes viral? The comment section is flooded with tons of people, who too, don't take the time to grasp that she is an actual person with feelings. This could easily diminish the quality of this young girl's life, while the users who hide behind their screens move on about their day. 

If you post on social media or even just lurk on socials, you are automatically subjecting yourself to things you would never put up with, tolerate, or listen to in real life. You never know what post is going to pop up next, who is fighting today / who the whole world is talking about, who woke up on the wrong side of the bed that morning that wants to choose war with you... and for no good reason! 

Honestly, I imagine it can't be good for our brains, our nervous systems, and our bodies in general to be consuming all of this information rapidly, 24/7. We go on social media to relax, to distract, or to connect... Yet, we end up seeing some of the most traumatic content we've ever seen. You know about a stranger's trauma and life story... They live halfway across the world. They'll cross your mind sometimes, but unless you follow or they go viral, you will likely never see them again. The point is, we are absorbing these people's traumas and heavy energy. We are absorbing the harassment and arguments that we see online, even if it has nothing to do with us. Have you ever seen something on the internet that scarred you for life? If not, get ready, because I'm pretty sure most of us will see gruesome things on the internet that we were never meant to be exposed to in the first place. 

Consider how this could be detrimental to ANYONE'S mental health... Especially yours. This is why it's important to limit screen time and to do social media detoxes. This is why we need to focus on creating more than consuming. This is the reason we have to use discernment as to who we are following, who we are responding to, and who we are allowing into our energy. We each have to learn our own limits, in regards to when social media is harming us more than it's helping us. Perhaps the most valuable lesson of all, is that we have to stop feeding into these miserable people's ego traps. They crave the drama and the reaction out of you. It's not our faults they're miserable, but we just can't keep feeding the source.