I hate seeing my family, coworkers, neighbors, and community shaped by divisive rhetoric, fake news, and online flame wars. I left Facebook in May 2012 after friends from high school made uninformed comments about the "Kony 2012" film (sorry for dating myself) and because I noticed a radical change in the mindsets of people I really respected; instead of having constructive arguments about social issues, just as we always had, I was blocked or shouted down or ignored for my opposing viewpoints.
My argument is simple: Collectively, we have spent enough time on social media, and it's time to disconnect. Since people won't leave voluntarily (I figured there'd be a mass exodus after the 2016 elections when fake Facebook accounts and political ads from Russia tried to sway voters, but no dice), here's a better idea: bring Facebook back to its old format, the way it was when I signed up back in 2005: only active college students who have to provide real college email addresses as proof use the site. It'd force hundreds of millions of people off social media, fake accounts would disappear and never come back, and maybe some people who are absolutely committed to staying on Facebook will go back to school — which is never a bad idea, really.
Since that's never going to happen, do me a favor and at least give yourselves a break from social media. It's hard to imagine how quickly the addiction wears off once you make a conscious effort to get offline.
Joe Berger
Duluth
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October 23, 2020 at 10:00PM
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Reader's View: Disconnect from divisive social media - Duluth News Tribune
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