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rynlingYesterday I made a strong pot of black tea so that I could sit down and do a social media audit.
I went through my follower list on Instagram and reported and blocked a dozen accounts that are almost definitely bots, and I also blocked business accounts (for restaurants, mostly) and “follow for follow” promotion accounts associated with specific tags.
I also blocked a small handful of people who are obnoxious and annoy me.
I then went through the same process for the list of people I’m following Twitter, blocking anyone whom I’ve come to associate with various types of hate speech or chronic obnoxious behavior.
At the end of the day, I still follow several hundred people who manage to live their lives without telling anyone to commit suicide, and I think it’s probably healthy to focus my attention on them.
My mother had a “cardiac event” this week. She’s fine, I’m fine, and everyone’s fine, but for a day or two it seemed like she might not make it. I had to have a few serious conversations about whether or not to take her off a respirator so that someone else could potentially use it. Like I said, everyone’s fine now, but that was intense.
The other day I got off the phone with a doctor to see that I had gotten another DM from someone who essentially wanted me to apologize for publishing a book. In that moment I received a clear flash of enlightenment. “I don’t have time for children right now,” I thought, and I blocked the person like it was a reflex. I think there’s a strong pressure for people to be “accessible” on social media, but there’s no need for me to make myself accessible to assholes.
TLDR: We only have so many days on this earth, so just block the motherfucker already and get on with your life.
I went through my follower list on Instagram and reported and blocked a dozen accounts that are almost definitely bots, and I also blocked business accounts (for restaurants, mostly) and “follow for follow” promotion accounts associated with specific tags.
I also blocked a small handful of people who are obnoxious and annoy me.
I then went through the same process for the list of people I’m following Twitter, blocking anyone whom I’ve come to associate with various types of hate speech or chronic obnoxious behavior.
At the end of the day, I still follow several hundred people who manage to live their lives without telling anyone to commit suicide, and I think it’s probably healthy to focus my attention on them.
My mother had a “cardiac event” this week. She’s fine, I’m fine, and everyone’s fine, but for a day or two it seemed like she might not make it. I had to have a few serious conversations about whether or not to take her off a respirator so that someone else could potentially use it. Like I said, everyone’s fine now, but that was intense.
The other day I got off the phone with a doctor to see that I had gotten another DM from someone who essentially wanted me to apologize for publishing a book. In that moment I received a clear flash of enlightenment. “I don’t have time for children right now,” I thought, and I blocked the person like it was a reflex. I think there’s a strong pressure for people to be “accessible” on social media, but there’s no need for me to make myself accessible to assholes.
TLDR: We only have so many days on this earth, so just block the motherfucker already and get on with your life.
