Confession: I don’t regularly keep up with world events anymore.
Someone at work once asked me where I got my daily news from. How I stay #informed.
I told him, without a hint of irony, that I got all of my news from the six-inch TV screen in the elevator during my daily thirty-second ride up to work. Maybe, if I was feeling extra up to it, I’d look at the TV screen propped around our open workplace and catch some news in between headlines about stock prices. That is, until someone inevitably switched the channel to watch the World Cup instead.
Not really an impressive answer, but it was an honest one.
Here’s another honest statement — it’s not just that I don’t keep up with the news anymore. It’s that I can’t keep up with the news anymore. It’s exhausting.
(I know, it’s ironic, given that I write for the school newspaper, of all things, but it’s true.)
If this is one more in the series of self-damning confessions I’ve made in Senioritis, so be it.
Complacency is a silent beast in the current political climate. As a woman of color and a first generation immigrant, I have a lot to lose by not paying attention to the state of things. These days though? I can’t muster the strength to fight it anymore. Apathy is now easier than engagement. That’s not something I would have expected of myself five or ten years ago, but it’s where I am right now.
When did it happen? It’s hard to pinpoint an exact moment, but the aftermath of the most recent presidential election is generally a good place to start. Fall 2016 sticks out in my memory for a variety of reasons, and none of them are good. The biggest reason, however, was the level of anger and vitriol in social media. No matter which side you were on or who you supported, there was a sense of real ugliness associated with politics and the Internet.
I never made a secret of where I was on the political spectrum, or who I supported. My Facebook timeline was littered with shared articles and likes. But social media quickly became a toxic cesspool, and going there to find reliable information about any candidate or issue seemed like a lost cause. It got to the point where I had to download an app to blacklist any article on my Facebook timeline that even dared to mention political issues. For my own mental health and sanity, it seemed like that’s what I had to do.
Post-election, I thought that the ugliness associated with the news would lessen. Instead, it seems, people have either gotten angrier and angrier — or, like me, have chosen the route of apathy, in lieu of trying to process the happenings of the world.
Social media and news reporting feel reactionary, at best, these days. There are too many bad things happening and too few people that are actually in a position to change said things.
I guess the truth is, I’m not tired of the news, exactly. It’s the environment surrounding it that has worn me down.
Fake news is a problem (obviously). The infiltration of the media by special interests is something worth worrying about. But personally, what worries me most is the level of polarization that’s resulted thereof.
Particularly, people around my age and younger seem increasingly unwilling to view the world as anything but black and white, assigning binary ‘good’ and ‘bad’ labels to people, ideas, and concepts without taking the time to do their research. They use social media to spread their opinions on what’s ‘good’ and what’s ‘bad,’ dig up ‘receipts’ as proof of misconduct, and often spread falsehoods or misinformation to support their own opinions, all of which can be disseminated and regurgitated by others as fast as you can hit a retweet button. A lot of it has to do with previous political affiliations and general life experiences, but I think the short and long-term ramifications of that behavior are quite serious.
The Internet has become a cruel, polarized place. Maybe it always was. And, well, as the saying goes — the Internet is forever.
These days, I’m of the opinion that it’s better to channel that anger, that energy, into something that will actually help. Gone are the days where I thought that sharing a 500-word post on the Internet would change anyone’s mind. It’s actions, not words, that will make all the damn difference.
I’ve been focusing on the small acts of good I can do. Acts that will actually improve the lives of people around me. Volunteering. Showing kindness to those who I don’t know. Trying to challenge my own beliefs, and not judging people for theirs. Voting. (Seriously, this is so important.)
Maybe one day, I won’t approach catching up on the news or scrolling through political social media posts with dread. One day, I’ll be ready to get as politically involved as I once used to be, to throw my heart and soul into issues I care(d) about again. But for now? I’m going to put myself first.
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