"Informed" on Social Media - The Lie We Tell Ourselves

 Something I read recently struck a chord with me. It was an article by Thomas V. Mirus, the podcast administrator at catholicculture.com.... And I'm going to borrow heavily from it here, so all credit is due Mr. Mirus

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    In the particular piece mentioned above, titled, "When 'Staying Informed' Becomes Illusion," Thomas describes a phenomenon he experiences when his work requires the need for using social media.

    What he has discovered is how it feeds what he calls his, “addictive side.”
    Now, it's not all social media that attracts him in this way. In fact, he says he can take or leave most of the sites. But when it comes to Twitter - he's hooked. Whatever it is, there's something about the, “constant text-flow of (mostly bad) opinions on Twitter” that captures his attention, and he can end up wasting a lot of time there.
I'm sure some of you can relate.

    True confession: I face a similar situation with Facebook.
    I have accounts on Twitter and Instagram, but I never check in or do anything on these sites. I can't remember the last time I was on either one....
    But I have been on Facebook for a long time, going on 16 years now.
    I have a group fishing page there, called “Palmetto Fly N Fish,” that attracts nearly 800 or so people from around the world and which absorbs my attention' simply because I really enjoy fishing and the connections that I get from that group.
    But clearly there is a purpose behind that group, and it's not an outright time-waster. The time I do spend there is focused on a certain topic, on ideas and activities to help other anglers, and it is well administered and taken care of by myself and a crack team of moderators.
    However, being on Facebook for my group offers temptations for my own social-media addictions.

    I can easily find myself elsewhere on Facebook, spending way too much time in bouts of pointless “scrolling.” I know I could do better by just getting off my phone, praying for the Facebookians who are compelled to air out their ideologies, their 'opinions,' and their anguish,... and just take myself to bed.
    But I don't always do that.
    However, I usually see myself as a self-awareness, “work in process." So at some point, I ask myself, “Why do I do this?”

    And I'm happy to say I have a two-part answer.

    The first part of the answer is what I am calling, "The Peacemakers Impulse."
Basically it goes like this: if I just scroll long enough, I will find situations that I know something about, and where I can find just the right magic words to help solve all the problems that I encounter.
    And as often as not, I also find situations about which I think I know something, but should probably keep quiet...yet I still feel compelled to lavish my comments on them.
In the interests of helping, of course.

    Which is rather bizarre, since I am unlikely to change much of anything...and I know it.
But, somehow, I still imagine my Facebooking will get me there.

    The other part of the answer to the question, “Why do I do this?” is that I am genuinely bothered by people's bad behavior online, and especially their seeming endless attempts to direct the thinking of others.
    If I see someone being merely trashy, doing nothing but cursing and setting a bad example, I find it easy to block them and forget about it.
    But when I see the memes and self-righteous pontificating about ideologies, or how people think things should be, well, that drives me a little crazy.

    

    Mr. Mirus pins this on what he labels the pursuit of control. In short, rather than surrender the situations to God, as I should, I deceive myself into thinking that I am the “guru” who can correct these folks, solve problems, and deliver closure to the world.
    But there's more to it than that. Those on social media – including me – tend to also fool themselves with the excuse that their presence fulfills some civic duty to be, “informed.”
But what soon happens is their illusion of benevolence quickly morphs into a desire to drive the conversation to THEIR intents. Its like a drug addiction, really....we involve ourselves in things that rob us of our peace, but at the same time, we imagine we can create peace by being more embattled.

    We watch the same stories, images, memes, and often despicable comments of others repeated, over and over. We see all the anger, salaciousness, hate and anxiety, and act as though the world’s problems will be solved if only WE can uncover the perfect “take” on things... because WE are "informed."

    But, in so doing, we literally ignore the elephant in the room: we have virtually no direct, effective input or responsibility for any of these people or situations. Therefore, using our time this way is really just indulging our own debased curiosity. It’s a form of gluttony, really, were we consume more than is necessary, or useful.

    Let me use a couple examples that we can maybe relate to.

    Lets say you eagerly follow politics, and especially your chosen poison... whichever individual or party that might be.
The presidential campaign is coming up, and WOW... you are neck deep. And boy, do you know stuff that people need to hear!!
    But lets be honest; are you really going to learn or share anything so new, and so earth-shaking, that it will affect how you, or anyone else, ALREADY intends to vote?
    C'mon – be honest....not, likely.

    Or, being Catholic, how might I charitably help solve the problems of others by reading every angry, impassioned, or opinionated comment about Pope Francis’s latest utterances?
    As Tom Mirus puts it... “At what point am I better off just praying and working at personal holiness according to the duties of my state in life?”

    Obviously, these questions are rhetorical, and I don't have a firm line yet.
    But I am Catholic, and I know the Church accepts the importance of faithful, doctrine-based commentary on the issues of the day. And if I consistently took that approach, 100% of the time, I might actually do some good.
But, I can't say I always do that.
    So, if nothing else, I should at least be more discerning and avoid being embroiled in things that I won't materially change for the better. And if I was to give two pieces of advice from all of this, they would be:

1. Don't fool yourself about the virtue of being informed on social media
2. Guard your peace and your grace, scrupulously.

    This admission of my social media vices, and the article from Thomas, both also lead me to an awareness of my responsibilities as a media producer. I don’t run a mega-media website like Thomas Mirus, or anything like that – I'm just one guy with a blog. But I don't want to rob you of your peace, either.

    In that light I find myself thinking and praying about ways my comments - on social media OR this blog - can help others live with faith in a way that relates to the duties of their state in life. That seems far better than spewing shout-outs and opinions about worldly events which none of us will do much to control.

    I would enjoy your feedback on how I can better do that.
    Thank you for reading.

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Thomas V. Mirus is Director of Podcasts for CatholicCulture.org, hosts The Catholic Culture Podcast, and co-hosts Criteria: The Catholic Film Podcast.
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