Lately I’m having an unusually hard time coming up with blog posts. At first I thought my struggle was because I’m busy, both with life and writing. And I’m sure that plays a role, but after careful consideration, I don’t believe that’s the truest of answers. I think the most accurate reason for being stuck is that I have internet whiplash.
Unfortunately, blogging and social media have begun to seem a bit off. Kind of the way state testing and the common core feels uncomfortable. I’m not against some testing or having standards. In fact, I think they can be wonderful tools, but there’s something, not-quite-right about the current state of our educational system or the things going down on the internet lately.
For the first time, the trolls and the cyber bullies feel bigger than the things about social media that give me great pleasure. And then there is the sheer intensity of the opposing and highly volatile online opinions. I’m not suggesting that I only want to hear one side of an argument. I love intelligent conversation–I really do. But it is April of 2015 and already I can’t deal with the political FB stress. The hate mongering. How will I ever make it until November of 2016??? I refuse to comment, but can I also stop reading? I think I need to.
Of course, I’m smart enough to know the internet is the same functional and dysfunctional slice of pie you see in any microcosm. You should see some of the screaming, crying, throw-down dinners that have been had in my family over the years. I’m no stranger to the cray-cray, in fact I can bring the cray-cray just as much as anyone. But somehow the rapid, viral reach of the internet seems more sinister than I’d ever considered it before. When I fight with my family and friends, we make up and eat dessert and stuff. The world wide web doesn’t do that. Instead of stories I’ll laugh about at my kids’ weddings, there’s online shaming, which is probably as easy to catch as the stomach bug in a day care facility.
This is where the internet whiplash comes in. If you want to be heard, you MUST say something worth hearing. If you say anything worth listening to, there WILL be people who dislike what you’ve said. If you’re lucky those people simply disagree with you, but if you’re unlucky, it’s highly likely that they’ll abusively attack you online. My feelings about this state of affairs are whipping back and forth with such intensity it’s almost painful. One day I feel brave, the next cowardly. One minute I feel energized, but the next it’s depressing.
I’ve been trying very hard to find the remedy to my internet whiplash. I’ve been searching for a black and white truth that would clearly define how I move forward with my cyber life. As you might expect, that isn’t really working out for me. Today’s blog post sums it all up perfectly–writing makes me see things clearer, all while mudding the same water quite a bit. So, there’s only one conclusion…what I need most is to be unsure. If I’m rigid, I will get injured. Instead, I need to be bendy. Perhaps it’s time to be flexible and blog when it feels organic and not blog when it doesn’t feel good. It’s a scary but liberating thought for someone who’s blogged regularly for years, but I should probably only blog when I have something important to say or share.
Is anyone else dealing with internet whiplash? What’s the worst part for you? What do you do to combat it? How do you feel about blogging at the moment?
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You know what I do? I ignore the internet almost entirely when it comes to my blog. I write what I want to write and I ignore everything else. Hugo awards drama? Ignoring it. And any other drama, ignoring it. I just don’t do it. It makes it easy to do whatever I want on my blog and social media 🙂
LOL! I agree but sometimes I think that can still get you in to trouble inadvertently. But writers gotta write. Hugo? Really?
Omg. Do not even google the Hugo awards nonsense. Lol. It’s bad.
Yes, yes, YES. Although I do like the idea of making up and eating dessert together. A new Hallmark holiday, perhaps? 😉
Thank you for this post! This is exactly how I’ve been feeling lately, and I haven’t been blogging as a result. Not on other social media either very much. Maybe it’s always been ugly out there, but recently the ugly has been hitting my world (books, writers, YA authors) hard. The worst part is how it’s made me afraid of expressing opinions online, especially on my blog. I hear you about blogging only when it’s organic or you have something to say, and I think, yeah, I should do that, too. But then I think of authors like Jon Scalzi or Chuck Wendig who blog about whatever (ha, that’s the name of Scalzi’s blog), anything from pics of the family pet to major opinion pieces on various topics in the industry or what’s happening online (such as the Hugo Awards drama). The result is a seemingly authentic picture of who he is, and also a sense that he’s running the show instead of letting the tides of internet crapiness give him whiplash. I would like to have (and am going to work toward having) that kind of confidence, while being true to myself. Like, I’m not one to stir up the pot just for shock value, but I also don’t want to be silent because I’m afraid of what people might think. I’ve spent so many years of my life living that way, and man, I’m just tired of it. I keep having this idea that as bad stuff increases (in the news, drama online, etc.) I need to increase the amount of love and respect and goodness I contribute to the world, so maybe that’s one way to combat the whiplash? I don’t know. Anyway, those are my thoughts. Mostly I wanted to tell you you’re not alone.
I do a LOT of quick scrolling. I refuse to read the political stuff anymore at least on social media where it’s so quick and biting and can come back to haunt you. I will read thoughtful blog posts and columns and try to stay abreast of everything every day.
I’ve also learned in my “old age” that at our core we all actually believe in and want the same things for our country and families (for the most part). It’s just the “how do we get there” ideas that makes for argument. I don’t like to see anybody or any side tell the opposing viewpoint that they’re haters or oppressors or stupid, because it’s just not true. We can’t find solutions in sound bites – and especially not on social media.
So yeah, whiplash, but I stopped looking . . . LOL.
I do a LOT of quick scrolling. I refuse to read the political stuff anymore at least on social media where it’s so quick and biting and can come back to haunt you. I will read thoughtful blog posts and columns and I try to stay abreast of everything every day.
I’ve also learned in my “old age” that at our core we all actually believe in and want the same things for our country and families (for the most part). It’s just the “how do we get there” ideas that makes for argument. I don’t like to see anybody or any side tell the opposing viewpoint that they’re haters or oppressors or stupid, because it’s just not true. We can’t find solutions in sound bites – and especially not on social media.
So yeah, whiplash, but I stopped looking . . . LOL.
Sorry for the double post, not sure how that happened! You can delete. Thanks, Kimmie!