Social Media Feedback Loops

I'm stuck in bed, or sitting for a few minutes at a time. This has led to way too much social media and news input. If I could be outside tending to my fall pruning and clearing duties, that's what I would rather be doing.

Social media lead you to read one post, read the replies, and read more. That's how it survives: we get hooked during our moment of inactivity. It feeds our fears, our anxieties, our nightmare scenarios. It reinforces our beliefs and then we read more reinforcement.

Social media can be and are often a force for change. But right now, some of my close friends are in downward emotional spirals because they cannot stop and step away. They believe every horrific post. They seek out more horrific posts to prove how bad things are to themselves and their other friends. The echoes are getting overwhelming.

People say I don't understand how scary this is. LA Riots were pretty bad. I've been beaten and stabbed. I've received death threats. Once someone wants to kill you, it is sort of hard to imagine anything worse.

Step away from the newsfeed. Think. Plan. But resist going down rabbit holes. Satan has not won the election. Neither did Hitler.

An entertainer with no real plan won. A charlatan. Beyond that, we have to wait and see what happens. You have to have no faith in our entire system if you believe one man can or will manage the sorts of things I'm seeing predicted on social media.

Panic is the worst state of mind for planning a resistance. Clear your mind and think about what to do next. Social media rarely helps clear the mind.

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