Toxic Twitter People

There’s a strong block of people on the internet which can be nicknamed the “Toxic Twitter People”. I know I’ve been one of them. These kind of people typically go on Twitter hoping to spread their superior wisdoms to other, revel in their massive cult followings, and attempt to correct others. Often, they ruminate on the despair of their own country or the direction their nation is going in. They can be on both sides of the political spectrum and multiple sides of the religious divides. Often times, they tend to be “extremists” (defined as people who refuse to tolerate, or put up with, other viewpoints than their own).

For the most part, I’ve seen a lot of broken people inhabit the social media space these days. People who are looking for attention that they aren’t getting in real life. I find myself on that side too. Sorry, but a lot of this post is self-condemnation of my own past behavior on social media so bear with me. People think that they can replace reality with a relationship or two or more on social media but they really cannot. They seek out help from internet people who can never actually provide for them because they are too distant or there is an active de-personalization in the internet. That’s why I’ve been taking massive time off from Twitter lately. It has made me much more psychologically traumatized than anything. There is an endorphin that clicks when there is a social media reaction whether it’s through blogging, posting on Facebook, or through Tweeting. These studies have been scientifically proven.

So people yearning for attention that they cannot find in real life wallow in despair in the muck and mire of social media and they look for others to spread it too hoping that someone out there cares. The fact of the matter, is that people on social media don’t actually care about you. They are precisely on social media because they’ve about given up cares in their personal lives. They have forgotten how to love others and how to receive love from others in their own lives. The other day, the deaconess was trying to explain to me how easy it is to just go up and talk to others. There was a time when I didn’t always talk with her. I was crying because I didn’t know how to talk to anybody. Spending too much time on social media I have found has really desensitized my personhood. It’s made me a complete and total nobody in real life. I spent this last week off social media except through blogging and found that I actually had a purpose in this life that consisted beyond something. Not to mention that I’ve found social media isn’t even the best way to spread my blog. I’ve found that through talking to people at my parish, people are actually interested in what I have to write. In fact, some of my readers are my fellow parishioners.

I’m not saying hide yourself from social media entirely. Though people who stay off it entirely might be psychologically better, let’s look at the case of my own blog. People at my parish are interested in what I have to write because I have a connection in real life with those people. Blogging is a good way to spread the Gospel, to share information with others, and to communicate and build people up. Blogging has a downside if one is stuck in the constant doom and gloom epochs of the modern world though. But we should build personal relationships with people. When we build personal relationships, we may find that there are a fair decent amount of people willing to listen to us, and not just in an internet forum. And that’s a lot more meaningful. We end up getting off Twitter more and stop caring what a random internet person is saying or doing or not doing. We find depth in what our true friends have to say. Like this week when I felt myself my godmother’s son again. People who are caught up in their reality on social media, and there are definitely a lot of those on Twitter, are usually the ones who are the most toxic. They may even appear good and holy at first, but if they spend too much time talking about themselves or their day-to-day miseries, watch out.

Anyone who reads this, hold me to account to cease my own involvement in the toxic Twitter-sphere as well as the toxic blogosphere.