Think it through: Social media’s goal is to help people interact more with each other, either for purely social or business purposes. That’s happening. Yet now, I’m reading more and more about users pulling the plug. In many ways, I don’t blame them.

I know people who have married (disastrously) through the internet, who have been bullied through the internet and who have been spied on through the internet. Not good. Personally, I don’t think anyone quite cares what I ate for lunch, or here I am climbing a mountain in Country XYZ, or I received a promotion at work. If I have news to share, I do so with close family and friends, apart from you, of course, my valued readers.

But now, a former Facebook executive is wondering about FB’s contribution to the breakdown of Society. Chamath Palihapitiya said in November at Stanford: “The short-term, dopamine-driven feedback loops that we have created are destroying how society works. No civil discourse. No cooperation. Misinformation. Mistruth. And it’s not an American problem. This is not about Russian ads. This is a global problem. So we are in a really bad state of affairs right now, in my opinion” (The Verge).

Powerful stuff.

Talking with friends, even if it’s texting one-on-one, is called personal communication. They matter. And of course, you care. But instead, everything is group activity and listeners feel left out. Nowadays we need to make an “announcement” to the masses because we have so many “friends”. Someone looks at us the wrong way and we post about them. We capture strangers or even family doing embarrassing things and immediately upload it for others’ entertainment. Manners and niceties have disappeared.

No shame. No sense of propriety. It’s as though the in-your-face FB users are in a constant altered state. At least in person, or on the phone, you would hear or see their slurred speech and sloppy behavior, so you shrug your shoulders and consider the source. To each his own. You want to stay up all night “communicating” and then sleep all day, that’s your prerogative.

I know a number of people just pulling the plug. They say: no more nonsense. They aim to be productive members of society.

I agree and suggest going one step further: how about staying on FB or the social platform of your choosing and using it for good? Be a positive voice among the clamor.

Plus, I think some of those fast-frame internet recipes are kind of fun!

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