The gravitational drain of social media

At the end of a childhood bath, I always loved watching the tornado of water swirl down the drain. Now, it’s all I can picture when I think about the pull of social media and its never-ending drama.

I’ve always scoffed at the posts where people take a break from social media for their mental health. I know Facebook, X and Instagram can be toxic, but I’ve never wanted to leave. This last week has been the first time I’ve actively stayed off Facebook for my own inner peace.

Working in news, you’re constantly surrounded by things that drain you. Some days, reading through the top stories in the nation and world involve shootings, deaths, natural disasters, political drama and more. Sometimes it feels like nothing positive is happening in the world.

Working in local media also means we are more aware of what’s happening around our city and county. We attend local meetings, receive agendas, write and read stories on a daily basis and communicate with local officials.

It’s tough to see people on social media talk incorrectly about what’s going on around Creston. I especially struggled during the school bond election. I was going to ever school board meeting and bond meeting, and yet people were telling me I was wrong. I was physically there, meanwhile they were getting their information from who knows where.

If you know me at all, you know I have a hard time keeping my mouth shut. I don’t like when misinformation is spread or when people tear others down.

I was getting riled up on social media this week. I won’t get into the political violence aspect because that’s all that has been talked about this week. But I will say I struggled with reading the harassment on both sides of the aisle.

It’s funny because while Erin dreads public meetings we know will be dramatic, I love them — it doesn’t bother me. But I can feel my chest tightening during social media drama.

Whether it’s comments on the newspaper’s posts encouraging the theft of our articles, people sharing political rhetoric I vehemently disagree with or just arguments in general, it bothers me much more than in-person debate.

With Charlie Kirk’s murder coming just a day before Sept. 11, there were multiple tragedies and countless arguments clogging up my entire newsfeed. I couldn’t see a single positive.

I posted a quote from Taylor Swift on my Facebook. “Think of your energy as if it’s expensive, as if it’s a luxury item. Not everyone can afford it. Not everyone has invested in you, in order to be able to have the capital for you to care about this because what you spend your energy on, that’s the day.”

Swift made this comment during her appearance on the “New Heights” podcast Aug. 13. I listened to it while driving to Wisconsin during maternity leave, and I remember that quote sticking with me.

As someone who cares way too much about what other people think of me, I needed to hear this. I don’t agree with what people posted this week. But they haven’t invested in me enough to deserve me being upset about their opinion.

On the reverse, many people don’t agree with what I think. This normally bothers me. I sometimes have a hard time understanding how people can’t see it the way I do. I can’t understand how people would compare Kirk to MLK when he said things like “DEI stands for Didn’t Earn It.”

But I try to embody this advice. I won’t spend my energy caring if people don’t agree with my assessment. I can’t care if people want to worship someone I felt was, at best, strongly misguided.

As Larry wrote earlier this week, I think many of us fall somewhere in the middle — devastated about the senseless murder while also not agreeing with his rhetoric.

I still don’t plan to take a hiatus from social media, even if it would be for the best. As someone who lives far from my family and many friends, Facebook and Snapchat serve as my primary ways to stay connected.

But there’s a reason my favorite social media app is Goodreads. The only thing that gets me fired up on there is when someone gives a bad review to a book I love. But I’ll try not to give that my energy.