It’s finally 2021. Last year was a tough one by any metric, and this year looks to be off to a similar start. We live in an increasingly divided and polarized society. Many of us are discouraged and disheartened by the direction of our country. As we start the new year and reflect on the path forward, I hope that we all can resolve to take steps to heal the rift in America. While there is no single root cause, I believe it is past time to divest ourselves from so-called social media.
We call platforms such as Facebook and Twitter “social media.” What a misnomer. “Antisocial media” would be so much more appropriate. People spend hours every day trading insults with strangers over their computers. We insult our friends and neighbors and spew vitriol online that would never be spoken face to face. We fire off tweets without thinking and lose our jobs and reputations. Children return home from being bullied at school, only to be tormented online. We grow jealous when we see the carefully crafted online lives of our friends and associates. We are increasingly disengaged from meaningful social interaction.
The incessant tweeting and posting of one’s unsolicited personal opinions only creates division and serves no one but America’s enemies. Fake news proliferates and seemingly spreads quicker than the coronavirus. We as a country suffer greatly. It is difficult to conceive of any benefit from these “social” behaviors.
Besides the damaging behavior these companies propagate, platforms such as Facebook and Twitter have become too powerful and overreaching. There are countless privacy concerns about our personal data. Perhaps most concerning, the individuals who lead these companies would appear to have political agendas of their own that have become deeply embedded within the platforms themselves. They are now attempting to censor their sites, ostensibly for the “protection” of users. We cannot allow them to shape the narrative, so only their individual political and ideological views are amplified.
Simply put, the negative aspects and societal harms of these platforms greatly exceed any potential benefit. Breaking the chokehold of “social media” on our collective sanity would go a long way toward healing the division in this country.
As we begin this new year, I call on all people to liberate themselves from the chains of “likes” and “tweets.” You will not look back.
John W. Patton IV, M.D., is an author and practicing cardiology physician living in South Carolina.
