Trommater: A like-free new year
Valley Voices
While not a father, I imagine every father’s worst nightmare is for their daughter to bring home a social media “influencer.” First, I would likely fall into a clinical depression. Then, maybe check myself into some sort of a mental institution. I will refuse all medication and request a partial lobotomy of the hippocampus, which I believe is in charge of memory.
I was thinking the other day about why on earth parents would post pics of their kids on social media. Do you ask your kid’s permission? If so, and they say yes, I would argue that they are saying yes, under duress. Because they don’t understand the consequences of “putting yourself out there.”
I know this because adults don’t even understand the consequences, and they are adults. Every post you post is a snapshot of your “best look,” which is not reality. Regarding posting pics of your kids, have you seen how people post full-blown videos of their kids? Oh man, you better damn like that. I gave you a pass on the pics, but so help me God …
At Beaver Creek the other day, I saw someone fall off the Strawberry Park Lift at the top, cell phone in hand and all. I’ll bet they were checking their likes. If that isn’t like karma, I don’t know what is. Ironically, she would get more likes posting the chairlift video than the number of likes she likely got while checking her likes during the video. Too bad I don’t have video of it. I might even like that.
Today is the day to tell your kids the truth about social media. Social media is a poor investment in your mental health, cyber safety, and social life. I might make jokes, but I’m dead serious about this stuff. I got zero likes in 2023; I’m like a black belt in this no-like stuff. I’m your sensei and this article is my dojo.
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With an election year coming up, now it’s more important than ever to be off social media. You might wonder what you were going to tell all your family friends when they ask why you are no longer on social media? Just say no. No means no. No is a sufficient and entirely complete explanation in one word. But my bet is you actually will stay on social media.
I want you to reflect on the past year of your social media usage. Was it worth it? Did you make a lot of new real friends? Did your social life improve because of social media? Is social media a good replacement for real-life interactions? I know I was happier without it. But how would you know unless you try?
Brian Trommater is a cyber security specialist living in Eagle. Email him at briantrommater@protonmail.com.
