David Michael Miller
About this time two years ago I just wanted to retreat for a while. So, for a month in the summer of 2016, I took a hiatus from writing. I tried to avoid the news as much as I could and I stopped using social media.
The reason for my wanting to check out was Donald Trump. By that point he had secured the Republican nomination and, while I knew there was no chance he would be elected, I was depressed at what had become of my country if one of the major parties could nominate a man like that. I had no idea how much worse it could get.
One of my reasons for taking a break from social media was that Trump had used it so effectively. Part of me thought that was unfair, a little like blaming the megaphone at a skinhead rally. Still it seemed that there was something about Twitter that lent itself to misuse by demagogues.
After a few weeks I returned to consuming news and to writing, but in almost two years I have never gone back to Facebook or Twitter. And life is better.
While I was never obsessed with social media, I did check in on those platforms a few times a day and it adds up. Probably more importantly, when someone would get me going it would burn up mental energy even when I wasn’t actually online. You would be surprised how much mental space gets freed up when you drop out.
These forms of communication once had such great promise. We could share information, build new social networks and movements, break down barriers of geography, and disarm the lords of general mass media. And some of that has happened. The Act 10 protests and marches and organizing against Trump could not have been as powerful without social media. But, as it has turned out, social media has worked much better for Trump than it has for his opponents. After all, the Act 10 protests failed and the women’s marches have yet to achieve any actual policy outcomes.
So, why is social media working so much better for the far right and politicians like Trump than it is for anybody else? A basic tenet of liberalism is to respect facts and consider all sides of an argument. A basic tenet of social media is to be brief. These platforms don’t do much to support thoughtfulness and nuance or decent grammar, for that matter. They are blunt instruments that match up well with Trump’s views. The simple idea, the easy lie, the quick insult and the immediate visceral response are what gets rewarded. Complexity, understanding and thoughtful responses don’t play well in this environment. Twitter rewards language when it’s used like a fist.
It used to be that there were gatekeepers. We called these people editors. They controlled three national television news divisions and hundreds of big newsrooms that stood near huge and expensive printing presses. What passed as news went through a very narrow hallway.
Of course there was a lot not to like about the old media. Katharine Graham aside, it was literally an old boys network. But most of those old boys played by some rules about objectivity, about what was news and what was rumor and trivia, and most had some genuine commitment to their communities. Now media is fragmented so that we choose our point of view before we choose our news, locally owned papers are all but dead (not the case with Isthmus, I’m happy to say), and politicians and others can bypass news outlets altogether.
Even many Republicans say they wish Trump would get off Twitter, but it’s hard to imagine him being where he is today without it. Twitter allows him to speak directly to his supporters, unfiltered, and to everyone else, as the general media needs to cover what he says. And at a time when the public is so desperate for the healing waters of “authenticity” that they will gulp down gallons of green slime just to slake their thirst, Trump’s tweets come off as, at least, genuine. He may be wrong or lying but he’s sincere in his vitriol.
And, of course, we’ve learned recently that social media isn’t free. Our digital selves are bought and sold to advertisers like any other commodity. We might as well be sow bellies.
So, here’s an idea. Take a week off. The week of Independence Day might be appropriate. Don’t look at your Facebook page, don’t tweet or be tweeted at, don’t chat snappily or gram instantly. Just chill. Read a book. Stare out a window. Think before you talk or don’t talk at all.
Even beyond the curse of Donald Trump, modern life is bombarding us with a Niagara Falls of instant analyses, crude insults (as opposed to skillful ones), and a cascade of first impressions that never have time to grow into second thoughts. It’s enough to make you tense and vaguely disenchanted.
But it doesn’t have to be this way. You really can live without social media. Try it for a while. Like me, you may never go back.
Dave Cieslewicz is the former mayor of Madison. He blogs as Citizen Dave at isthmus.com.
