You Don't Have to Care

circa
One of the greatest secrets about social media is this: you don't have to care.

There are plenty of people who post things which are, at best, divisive. There are plenty of news organizations which will sensationalize any and everything to get your attention. There's a slew of spam spreading misinformation, using colorful language to draw the eye from boring details like legitimate references.

Some of what is posted is true, some of it isn't. 

 Is all of this painfully obvious enough? It should be, if you've been using social media for more than 72 hours.

When you see something on your news feed which conflicts with your views, then why would you let it own you? Why allow it to creep into your emotions, spreading like ink spilled into a water-balloon? Remember, always, that you don't have to care.

With the droves of issues surrounding your immediate community, possibly even in your own family, why pay so much attention to everything over which you have no control? What's the best you can do: be outraged?

 Perhaps it's not the post, itself, getting to you, but rather the person who posted it. People we've known our whole lives will post highly offensive things, and this is usually surprising, especially when you assumed you shared the same values. Naturally you're going to feel an acute sense of betrayal. Maybe even hatred.

However, bursting veins in your neck doesn't fix anything, except that pesky venous wall that forces your blood to stay in your neck. Don't let the manipulation control you. If you have no other course but to stop looking at your social media news feed, then do so. You aren't required to maintain a profile. No one is forcing you to exist in the realm of cyberspace. It's not imperative that you should react at all to something with which you disagree, because the most you can ultimately do online is disagree. And the comments section knows no degree of valor, and your opponents know no degree fairness.

So, if you care too much, care less. However, if you can afford to, it's best if you stop caring, at all. You have to live, yes. But you don't have to care.

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