Deciding what and how much to share, part 2

Why I sometimes want to erase all social media

As the last week has made abundantly clear, social media seems to be the place to share your personal stance on the world’s biggest problems or it is the place to post pretty food and family photos. Social media paints everything as horrendous or as idyllic. There is not much of an in-between.

My generation of millennials in particular feels the need to take a side on the political issue du jour, which I do not think is always healthy or productive. There can be such pressure to have articulate, well-reasoned commentary on whatever controversy is unfolding, and there seems to be little understanding if some people simply need to take a minute. On the one hand, it does seem strange to be staring at people’s beach vacation pictures when the other side of the globe is unraveling, but on the other hand, writing a fiery accusation about how so many people are wrong rarely leads to changed hearts and minds. Posting on social media can become performative, convincing us that we have done our …