I’ve been thinking a lot about the internet lately. More specifically, I’ve been thinking about social media and how it’s been effective in so many different ways to connect, to divide, to provide hope and solace, or grief and anguish. It’s been on my mind more frequently with all of the time I’ve personally been spending on it, which is a tremendous amount in comparison to pre-pandemic. Of course, that is everyone. The uptick in live Instagram streams, the influx of folks on TikTok, the amount of tweets being published, we’re all figuring out how to cope with this new normal and heavily depending on a form of socializing that is safe and entertaining has given us comfort.

Here it comes. You know it was coming. My only qualm with social media is how it’s given me a skewed sense of the country. I struggle with separating it from actual society. I have to keep reminding myself, social media channels are not a full representation of this country. Often times I get so wrapped up with following so many people that think similarly to me or defend beliefs I hold dear I forget there’s literally millions of people out there that are not #onhere and have their own opinions not expressed by internet trolls or pundits or celebrities. What a noob move I think to myself when I start falling into this trap. I should know better and I do but I think I let the fantasy run wild that progression is happening more quickly because it gives me a sliver of calm. It’s like, I know it’s not reality but for a few minutes I like to pretend, but then I’m torn out of that peaceful world of understanding because it’s just not real! There are millions of people who choose not to be on social media, who can’t be on social media, or who don’t even know wtf social media even is. When Kamala Harris was announced as the VP candidate I didn’t see any celebrating in any of my feeds for the first black woman Vice Presidential candidate initially. People were celebrating offline though. There were texts going around, emails, phone calls. The palpable excitement was there, in society, but just not for me on my little phone screen as I scrolled. It’s not like I’m following people who wouldn’t care or have an opinion, but I just didn’t see it in my feed. This is probably for a number of reasons: she’s not the most progressive pick, people have been so overwhelmed with everything else going on in the world and needed some time to collect their thoughts, and plainly maybe I just didn’t see it because nobody I follow was super pumped about the announcement. I will say my excitement is lackluster. i wish it was Stacy Abrams but Harris I do believe will be a great VP. Without question, l will be voting for her and Biden in November because there’s no way I’m not participating in this election. I am much more hopeful their views will get more progressive in office as opposed to the alternative which is an orange poopsicle that will undoubtedly kill us all.

Anyway, back to social media. Seeing the lack of reactions about Harris also made me think of algorithms and how information is disseminated on these platforms. Facebook has been under fire for years because of the way they present information on their platform with little to no oversight to validate what’s being shared. What a mess. It also made me think of little microcosms people can create to tailor their online experience so they’re constantly in this bubble of wellness or puppies or food or ASMR (which don’t get me started). It made me think of this conversation I had earlier this month with someone about how their entire Instagram feed is just wellness and positive platitudes. While I completely understand why they did it and have absolutely every right to drown out the onslaught of torment that comes in the form of vapid influencers, political memes, and tummy tuck sponsors. It’s also a testament to how simple it is for others to get swept up in falsehoods if they’re choosing to only follow questionable sources. On the flip side, for me, it’s so easy to consider racist republicans a dying breed and believe they don’t exist in the numbers they do. This bubble I built is giving me this false sense of security that the entire country is moving towards social reform a lot faster than it actually is, that people are realizing the structures of racism and class are what’s holding us all behind, that capitalism is allowed to be criticized when all this is simply not the mainstream. I just need to continue to remind myself that we can’t let up, because the entire country is still in dire need of reform that must come from within communities not solely within a Reddit thread.

It’s something I’m working on to figure out how I can be more actively involved in my community instead of just reading about all the change that is coming or needs to happen. Social media is absolutely a necessary tool in the fight for equality but shouldn’t be the only tool. This post is just a reminder for me that the world cannot be distilled into 240 characters, a picture, or a dance move no matter how badly I wish it were that simple #IRL.