Dear Laryssa,
There is legitimate reason to be suspicious of Twitter, Facebook, e-mail, et al.
I agree with Packer when he writes, “Who doesn’t want to be taken out of the boredom or sameness or pain of the present at any given moment? That’s what drugs are for, and that’s why people become addicted to them.”
I absolutely believe that these media function like drugs. And I thought Packer’s piece was a minor yet important attempt to shine some light on this behavior–the pecking at one’s BlackBerries; the relentless texting; the Twittering, the Facebook feed ["I'm bored at work"] etc–that is no less insidious for having been normalized.
I felt that your response, on the other hand, contained no real light–only snark, as you say, and anger. I finished it feeling sad.
[Redacted]
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Dear Redacted:
Even though I initially poked fun at Packer’s dramatic comparison of social media to drugs, I am now seriously considering the analogy.
Anything can be a “drug” if you abuse it.
Please take a moment to reread Packer’s sentence, just this one:
Who doesn’t want to be taken out of the boredom or sameness or pain of the present at any given moment?
No, seriously. Read it again. How loaded and presumptive is his question?
Think about it: at any given moment, according to Packer, we want to be taken out of boredom and sameness and pain.
1. If all of life is really boredom and sameness and pain, then why are you getting annoyed at social media? I’m not trying to be facetious. But you’re pretty much fucked.
2. If some of life is really boredom and sameness and pain that you want to escape, and you use social media to escape it, that says more about your personality than about social media. So, you like using Twitter more than you like binge eating. Other people like drinking more than smoking. It’s really a personal choice.
3. If some of life is really boredom and sameness and pain that you want to escape, you don’t necessarily HAVE to escape those things.
For one second, pretend it’s 1985. Or any year before the Internet.
How did we escape boredom and sameness and pain?
By having sex, doing drugs, drinking, overeating, watching mindless television, masturbating incessantly, reading trash, bungee jumping, shopping, etc.
New technologies were introduced. How did we escape boredom and sameness and pain?
By having sex with people we find on Craigslist, doing designer drugs, drinking Michelob Ultra so we don’t get fat, binge-eating the latest flavor of Doritos, masturbating incessantly with a Fleshlight, reading trash on our iPads, bungee jumping from skyscrapers in Dubai, shopping online, etc.
Now, social networking tools like Twitter and Facebook are available.
In every moment, YOU have the choice. You can choose to use these tools or ignore them.
Each one of the things I listed above can be used for good:
By having sex to express love, using drugs to ease or cure a condition, drinking beer with friends, watching television to learn something or share information, reading to inform and/or delight, working out for health and fitness, shopping for a job interview suit, etc.
If you choose, you can also use social media for good.
Yes, journalists and media types are in fact under a lot of pressure to adopt social networking tools like Twitter or suffer the consequences (not tech savvy enough, etc.). But as long as our society keeps changing, we will have to learn how to evolve with those changes, make decisions, and create new boundaries for ourselves.
Even if we have to use these tools to maintain our jobs, we can absolutely make choices about how much they do or don’t invade our personal lives.
We are lucky enough to live in a country that, for the most part, allows individuals to innovate and carve their own niches. Instead of complaining about Twitter, Packer himself should think more creatively and ask himself WHY does he feel such pressure?
Pressure is something you put on yourself. You always have a choice.
I know that you probably don’t like my answer.
And I also know what it’s like to feel sad in a very “disconnected” world.
But I don’t believe that social media is the problem.
Some people need escapes, so let them have their escapes. Just be responsible for yourself.
Oh, one last thing – do you really want to give something like Twitter SO MUCH credit? I think we’re all better than that.
Sincerely,
Laryssa
(Photo by andronicusmax)
