This week there were three public events in 24 hours where face coverings were almost non-existent. When Caitlin told me an elderly lady asked to sit by her because “no one else is being safe” (no masks), I did something I shame other people for doing: I went toxic on Facebook (on my personal page).
It’s not that I said something I don’t believe, it’s the way I said it. I ranted and yowled just like all the other yahoos I’m usually irritated by. Shame on me. Apparently bad social media behavior is contagious.
So, if a face mask and social distancing can help prevent the spread of COVID-19 (and they do, based on the numbers in other countries), social media distancing and “masking” should help stop the spread of bad social media behavior.
After editing my snarky post, I started taking steps to reduce the size of my social media world. I’m purging my “friends” list. Here’s my test: if I don’t know someone well enough to sit down with them socially for coffee or a glass of wine, why are they still on my feed? When that’s done I have some other ideas for escaping the dopamine snare that is social media.
To our local candidates for county commissioner, thank you for running clean, positive campaigns. I wish we could have five commissioners, but we would need a population of 70,000 and I don’t see that happening anytime soon. Or ever.
By NIKI TURNER | [email protected]
