The Joys of Logging Off in the Time of Social Distancing
Turning away from the physical world and toward social media might feel right. But now is the perfect time to let it go.
Shortly before the coronavirus became a full-fledged global pandemic, I chose to go on an indefinite social media hiatus. I would only log on every couple of weeks to share my articles — an unfortunate requirement of my job — and then promptly log the fuck off. I’ve long had a love-hate relationship with social media but used it compulsively because getting online attention is addictive. (It’s also the most efficient way to procrastinate.) Engaging with social media on a daily basis has lingering effects: You might find yourself doing some menial task like grocery shopping, maybe without a mask, thinking, “If I posted about this on my Instagram feed, how many people would yell at me?”
Life under quarantine has exacerbated the custom of living life online. With IRL interaction off the table, it’s only natural to turn to social media as an alternative. But Facebook and Twitter and their ilk always made a lousy substitute for being around other people. Social media is a warped reflection of our world, where people behave more brashly than they would face-to-face — your friends sure as hell don’t behave online like they do in…
