Platypus Thoughts

To social media or not to social media? Whether ’tis nobler to eschew the platforms that suck me down one rabbit hole after another or to abandon the offending apps and focus what time I have on more tangible and meaningful things? I’m having a bit of an existential crisis.

I do not post on social media platforms. I follow a few people – no one you’ve read about. One peripatetic friend posts pictures from his travels around the world. Another is an inveterate birder who miraculously finds and photographs at least one bird every day. I can find other, more personal, ways to stay in touch with them.

Social media platforms inundate me with ads for things I searched for in what I thought was an unrelated browser or things I talked about within earshot of my phone. That’s just creepy. And the more I think about it, it’s terrifying as well. Where is this information stored? I don’t know why anyone in China would care what toilet paper I prefer, but clearly Tik Tok is not the only platform vulnerable to the actions of those with ulterior motives, foreign and domestic.

The past few months have convinced me that my participation in social media does not serve me in any way that offsets the negatives of the people who own and run the platforms, the content that is allowed on those platforms, or the information about me that is collected and used to invade my personal space and also shared with others.

I do not have the option of influencing social media (or anything else, for that matter) by being a big donor. My only weapons are to give or withhold my support and/or participation. Small donors alone have yet to win an election for a candidate, and the rash of unsubscriptions to the Washington Post last year did not change the minds of its owners. But the cumulative actions of many individuals do add up.

I can make better choices. I do not have to allow others to determine what I watch or to be completely at the mercy of information about me that is “out there” at risk of whatever.

There are news, information and documentary programs I can watch or listen to whose reporters work hard to be truthful, thorough and fair. Their reporters are not “personalities” with undisguised (and I’d wager paid) political agendas. There are legitimate websites online with recipes and gardening tips, poetry and craft ideas that I can search for myself. My use of these platforms generates revenue for them that I have no control over save absenting myself from the equation.

While writing this, thoughts of the meaning of free speech and the potentially dangerous unknowns of artificial intelligence swirl in my head. Topics for another day.