Social media has a way of sweeping you up in a feeding frenzy of attacking whoever the Enemy of the Day is. I’ve been on both sides of that before. It’s the twin forces of hate being the most reliable engagement booster and the deeply-rooted human need for social acceptance.

It presents legitimate grievances of irreparable harm at the same volume as petty backbiting bullshit and manipulates us into responding to both at the same volume.

I’m not referring to any specific instance at this point. This thread will likely be evergreen and read like I’m talking about the feeding frenzy of the day whenever it shows up for you.

Social media is a drug which manipulates us into torturing each other psychologically and gets us dependent on it in the process.

You attack someone over what you think is petty bullshit but it turns out you’re doing material harm. You attack someone over perceived material harm and it turns out to be petty bullshit. Nuance is abandoned and it becomes a gladiatorial battle royale for spectator approval.

The real kicker is when it ties your ability to have food in your belly and a roof over your head to the time you spend in this poison pit. At that point, what can you do?

This entire structure is designed in such a way as to encourage being petty and mean and a bully, to the point where people have forgotten that being a bully is supposed to be a bad thing

I want us all to remember how to be kind and operate from a place of listening and empathy again. Somehow it feels like the communities I joined because of those qualities have lost the mission. Like we’ve had it broken out of us. I hope we can find it again.