It's time to ditch toxic social media platforms

[marmar]

It's time to ditch toxic social media platforms
To survive Trump's return, Dr. Gail Christopher heeds, "we must practice disciplines that calm our nervous system"

By Chauncey DeVega
Senior Writer
Published January 21, 2025 12:00PM (EST)


(Salon) What does it mean to be an American now that Donald Trump, the country’s first president convicted of criminal felonies, is once again the leader of the free world?

In a new essay in the Washington Monthly, Dr. Gail Christopher shares this account of America’s grieving and mourning from Trump’s return to power:

This autumn, I stopped by a local nonprofit run by a friend who helps refugees, immigrants, and formerly incarcerated victims of abuse get jobs that can transform their lives. I was there to donate, and when I found my friend distressed, I asked why he was so down. He had recently lost his dog of 14 years. Then, days later, his mother passed. I embraced him, expressing my condolences. As we embraced, he said, “And then my country died.”

He referred to the election, which put one party in charge of the White House, Senate, and House. And in that moment, I realized that perhaps half of the nation’s voting population is grieving what they perceive to be the death of their country.

I contemplated how America came to this. After an election marked by harsh and extreme rhetoric, whatever the outcome, half the country would dwell in grief, convinced that the world’s oldest democracy was finished. Why?

This moment warrants a much deeper examination of what happened, how it happened, and the impact on our health, well-being, and hope for the future. It’s a bit cliché, but this must become a teachable moment. We must learn from this campaign never to be so divided again….

Our country didn’t die on November 5, but our country needs us to have open hearts and open minds during these transitional times.

....(snip)....

Roughly half (really a third) of the country is in deep mourning and the other half (third) is celebrating and excited about Trump’s return. Trump’s threats and promises to punish “the enemy within” and the overall permission structure he and the MAGA movement have granted for the worst of human behavior. Given these realities, how do we reconcile as a national community, if at all?

This moment accentuates the need for cross-racial engagement in authentic experiences that increase capacities for empathy, compassion and shared understanding of the history of the United States. Our country has never attempted to build the civic connective tissue that is required for us to function well as a whole diverse culture and democratic society. However, if this multiracial, multi-religion, multi-ethnic and multi-gender democracy is going to survive, we must begin to do the work of building individual and collective capacity for empathy, compassion and understanding of our shared history. When this is accomplished at scale it will help to insulate our body politic from the kinds of political manipulation we have just experienced.

....(snip)....

Reading your powerful essay in the Washington Monthly about mourning and the election and your friend who is being impacted by so much loss all at once resonated with me. It also seems like the public mood is one of dread and zombification. The election and its outcome have amplified the existing pain and troubles that many people are feeling – and have been experiencing for a long time.

If we give in to the fear and anxiety or self-medicate with drugs and alcohol, the opposition claims victory. This is a time in which we must practice disciplines that calm our nervous systems and generate positive emotional responses. Our thoughts trigger our emotions; the mindset that we choose to create for ourselves through various self-care practices is needed during these times. Conventional medicine has minimized the power of emotions, but advertising executives and social media designers are exploiting the power of emotions. Just as marketers of beverages, tobacco and alcohol used emotional images and slogans to addict consumers to their products, today the social media world uses heightened, particularly negative emotions to entrap people within disinformation realities that can be overwhelming and destructive. The recent announcement that there will be no fact-checking on specific social media platforms is one of the most dangerous aspects of this political moment. I believe people should exit such platforms. The market will create new ones that adhere to better standards. ...................(more)

https://www.salon.com/2025/01/21/its-time-to-ditch-social-media-platforms/

[Ocelot II]

1. Good advice here:

"The power of our mental focus and our mindset is our most important resource during these critical times. We must stay focused on the future we want to see. We must envision a just democracy and use our creative energy to create that reality. In my work with communities, I always emphasize the importance of focusing on what we are for, not simply repeating what we are against. Every time we reiterate what we are against, we help to amplify it in society. We must paint different pictures of the possible."

We do a lot of ranting about Trump's manifold sins and wickednesses, but focusing on all that just makes us more miserable. We need to be actively and loudly for everything he's trying to destroy, in whatever ways we can do it.

[SalamanderSleeps]

2. One word.

Farmville.


Looked fun, looked innocent.

It was not.

Sadly now,

Facebook users are merely chickens playing Tic-Tac-Toe.

[Skittles]

3. it won't happen

Last edited Fri Jan 24, 2025, 06:15 AM - Edit history (1)

too many people will excuse fascism as long it's made easier for them to "keep up with friends and family"

edited to add: see how few replies this got? They DO.NOT.CARE.