Social Media Politics affecting anyone elses mood?

[BoyceyLDN]

I have noticed for the last few years social media for me has become very political and wondered if anyone else has noticed this and if so has it turned you away? Also is it here to stay or change do we now just live in a digital political world where before no one had a platform to air views, so people kept them to themselves? Seems now everyone is a armchair / keyboard political expert. I honestly do not want this post to to into a left / right wing bashing thread and I know over the last 4 years we have had a lot going on and big events and even currently but I just find it all abit tiring and depressing seeing the country so divided to be honest. I can tell it is affecting my mood / mental health and wondered how others view things? Everytime i log onto facebook or twitter it just seems to be either side of the fence trying to bash the other side or score political points. What happened to just contacting friends or sharing panda sneezing videos or memes or banter?

Now i know some will say just get rid but sometimes i get market place or seeing whats going on in local area or I am part of a few Car groups on fb. I also enjoy using twitter as a source of news / info etc for example i like to read what people are saying about the PS5 etc. So I feel abit trapped like I want it for certain aspects but it just gets me down in others. I feel it has been declining for years now and I feel I just wanted to see I am not the only one who feels like this?

 

[BoyceyLDN]

Nope, not just you.

It has turned me away. It doesn't feel like a fun place for me anymore, it just feels like a battleground where people are posting to show everyone how great their life is or the political point scoring as you mentioned. It got to the point where I felt guilty for *not* commenting on current political events on facebook/twitter, as if by not doing so I was taking a side regardless of what I actually thought. The idea of having to "maintain" my appearance on these sites frankly made me want to vomit a little, and I realized that these things were now an overwhelming negative in my life rather than positive.

This is just my experience and I don't think this is the case for everyone, but the majority of my close friends have stopped using it regularly as well and so now I don't see the point in using it myself.

Video calling and group chats have filled the void and allow me to keep in touch with people on a much more personal level.

Thanks for taking time to reply and nice to hear someone else is fed up with it, I think it definatly is not a fun place to be and wonder if that will come back? I sometimes want to get rid but then sometime it has its uses, i find myself spending time thinking of social media and what a toxic place it has become and I feel for when I have kids etc.