A Tale of Two Threads

Let me be clear, I am a total nobody on Threads.  I have 76 followers, and that hardly makes me an influencer.  Recently, I had a moment that confirms how I feel about social media and the idea that the algorithms love division.

I jumped out of character and made a rare ornery post about a political commentator that I do not care for.  You can see the post and the engagement that I got in this screenshot.  The likes were staggering, and the comments were too much to keep up with.  Not bad for a guy with 76 followers.

With my newfound swag, I posted a fun little picture a couple of days later.  Crickets.  The last time I checked, this post had two views.  A far cry from going viral as I did a few days prior.

While this is a very small sample size for this little experiment, it reinforces something we all know, but do not always want to admit.  We just keep scrolling into this stuff.  I hate when I get this kind of content in my feed, so I feel a little bad that I did this for others.   

Social media elevates content that makes us mad or triggers us.  A podcaster I listen to accurately opines that sex no longer sells.  Rage does.  We all know it, and we all know it is bad for us and our relationships with others.  It has strained the discourse in the country dramatically.

What can we do?  Individually, not much, but collectively, we have to change our social media habits.  This is the only way to redirect the algorithms.  I know this is a hard sell, but we have to get out of the mess the same way we got into it.  You know, overconsuming the content that grinds our gears.

When I speak to my junior high students about online and social media safety, I tell them to create a new rule for themselves.  Use your socials for celebrations.  I show them screenshots of mine saying kind things about others or congratulating people I know.  Obviously, I will not be showing them the Scott Jennings post, but you get my drift.

Now is the time, my friends.  Let's change the way we social.