Anti-Social Social Media

Listen up! I have decided to get on Facebook. I have been anti-social on social media, but making my writing more accessible is so important to me, I am taking the leap. I have the perfect family to brag about, my doggies, Roscoe and Mia. Because of their royal blood, they prefer to be addressed as Sir Roscoe and Madam Mia. Humor them. Playing, eating, pooping and peeing are their superlative, superlative, and superlative activities. Follow them. You don’t want to miss out do you?

I do have my limits, so for now I will be tweet-less on Twitter. Mr. Trump is safe for now, but my erratic sleep patterns would allow me to tweet in the middle of the night. I’m just saying I could if I wanted to. Instagram just sounds too busy for me. I want to keep it simple, and I am lazy. I don’t need more distractions; I need more focus. It is too easy for me to compare other people’s outsides with my insides. Comparisons take me down dead end streets in my thoughts.

We can learn so much about each other by telling and listening to each other’s stories. As Rogers’ dementia progressed, he lost his stories. He needed coaxing to carry on a conversation and this was a stark contrast to his pre-dementia “Mr.Social” self. Early on, he carried his phone and knew how to check his messages and make a phone call. Eventually he seemed to forget what to do with a phone and didn’t even notice when I took his phone away. This was so sad to me; another reminder that he was losing his social connections.

At its core, social media are simply ways we humans communicate and strengthen our bonds with each other. It’s unfortunate that when we “Reach out and touch someone” we touch our phones and computers, and not each other. Coding is the heart of social media, but the human heart speaks a different language and is so much more. Can you hear me now?