Digital Pessimism

I grew up on social media. I created a facebook profile when I was 10 years old, and was a fairly early adopter of instagram at the age of 13. As a young teen, I spent dozens of hours playing minecraft while chatting in a skype group with others all around the world, learned of most major world events via live tweet, heckled at (and was heckled by) others in xbox live lobbies playing call of duty.

As a member of Gen Z, I am part of a chronically online generation. According to UK-based research firm Ofcom, Gen Z spends an average of roughly 6 hours online a day, not counting work.

At the same time, OnePoll (another research firm based in the UK) found that 60% of Gen Z self-identified as "lonely".

How could this be, if they are spending 6 hours a day on social media? Surely, so much time spent being "social" is an antidote to loneliness?

No. It amplifies loneliness. It doesn't want you to be part of a real, tangible community. It wants you to be part of ITs community, and it is pretty open about why, if you read the terms and conditions; data acquisition and targeted marketing. 

They want you to be part of one of their communities, led by influencers, who influence you to buy certain things or make certain decisions. The really sinister piece in this? In a real community - say, a church, a friend group, a work crew- you can belong. You can be a part of something real, and loved by other, real people. But the average person can really never be part of these social media communities. You are not a member, you are a follower. You join a cultural oligarchy, where the day-laboring social proletariat must look to the lofty influencer caste for guidance and amazon recommendations, knowing they can never join the ranks of the elite.

They are not doing this for your benefit; they are doing it for their own. Make no mistake. Like a drug dealer, they will feed you their most addicting slop to get you hooked, and they won't let you go if they have any say in it.

The antidote? Real community. Get off social media. Delete instagram and facebook from your phone for 2 weeks and see how your life improves. Ban scrolling in your living room. Call your friends. Get a real, physical hobby that does not include constantly buying garbage from amazon and spending hours a day consuming online content. Meet with a close friend every week for coffee. Set aside 2 hours on a Saturday morning once a month to go mountain biking with the boys. Plan a weekend camping or resort trip.

I had a lot more to write, but it would come off as a rant. At risk of sounding like a luddite, here is the gist of it: get off of social media, get an MP3 player and a $50 pair of wired headphones, maybe even an e-reader. Delete the apps off your phone other than maps, mail, messages, phone, or necessities. Yes, chick-fil-a counts a s a necessity. Buy a used Blu-ray player at good will for $10 and own your media. Rewire your dopamine receptors.

Reading kinda sucks on a phone. Watching movies is meh. Most people have dove headlong for quantity & convenience over quality when it comes to music, and opted to stream low fidelity tunes they don't have any rights on shuffle over bluetooth headphones, to the detriment of themselves and the artists they love listening to.

If it has been a while since you watched a movie on blu-ray with surround sound on, or listened to an iPod with wired headphones, I humbly suggest that you make room for each of those experiences in the near-term. You will ask yourself, what did we let them take from us? You will realize what we have lost - and you will realize you can have it back.