Social media: good, bad and ugly

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 21/10/2025 (187 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Last month I caught a nasty flu which pretty much took me out of commission for a few weeks. With little energy, I had to conserve what I did have, and the first thing to go was my time on social media.

I have, for as long as the platforms have existed, enjoyed scrolling, reading, learning and being entertained and inspired by some of the content I regularly take in. It’s always been very much a daily thing. The same way I must have my coffee, read the Free Press, feed and talk to the cats.

But being sick changed all that. At first, I stayed away because I had to take naps to boost my immune system. But as I started feeling better and slowly checking in on what I’d been missing, I began to feel sick again. In addition to the disturbing reports of wars, crimes and political corruption, there was all that fake news, reels from wannabe experts, arguments, accusations, and sometimes worst of all — opinions.

I noticed a troubling trend with posts like: “If you support this, or believe that, or agree with this or disagree with that, then unfriend me.” I wrote my own post expressing dismay about that, saying that if I unfriended everyone who offended me I’d have no friends left. Within a week I’d been unfriended by a considerable number of people.

I began to remember — and then long for — the days when social media didn’t exist.

At a recent appointment with a service provider, the staff person — though less than half my age — suggested that we were better off before these things existed. Surprised to hear him say that, I agreed wholeheartedly but couldn’t help but ask.

“Why do you say that?”

“People had time for their neighbours. We had time for each other then,” the young man replied, as he left the room to retrieve a newer phone model.

Indeed. The amount of time we spend on our screens is time we will never get back. How many of us have a sense of how much time that is? Minutes? Hours? Every single day. I’ve looked at my personal stats and they’re definitely about to change.

Now, the list of benefits to accessing a world of information is impressive. I’m the first to cheerlead on that front. Campaigns to find the lost, to help those in need, to feed communities, to share music and art, to reconnect with old friends, to conduct important research, to build stronger healthier neighbourhoods in countless ways: these things can bring miraculous outcomes. But this same technology is also dangerous.

When I returned to it after a few weeks I realized just how dangerous. It’s addictive. Often toxic. It takes a toll on mental health. It’s a most effective way to avoid what may be too difficult or even painful to deal with. And it takes the time and place of face-to-face interactions.

I’ve always said I have a love-hate relationship with this thing at my fingertips. It can bring people together but it can also tear us apart. And lately, it’s been succeeding in the latter in big ways.

When I was young and had an opinion about something, I’d share it with one or two people and that was pretty much the end of that, a little venting and it was over. Now I can share my opinion with hundreds, thousands or even millions of people if I want.

But what if I’ve had a few too many adult beverages or inhalations or am having a really bad day, and I decide to share my thoughts on topic A, B or C? Nowadays, that could get me threatened, fired and/or result in the loss of a whole lot of contacts.

Over the years, my time volunteering with the Amnesty International letter-writing campaigns to free political prisoners in countries worldwide taught me never to take anything for granted. Censorship exists. And though free speech is a cornerstone of democracy, it is not guaranteed.

I realize that right there is a loaded sentence, and that sentiment itself is considered controversial. It’s a weird world now, one that I don’t really understand. There’s so much questionable content on social-networking sites. Hate speech, lies, fear-mongering and just plain garbage.

Yet there we can literally find the answer to almost every question in the universe. And that’s pretty darned amazing. Certainly a great time-saver compared to the days when we had to head over to the library, pick up an encyclopedia and read through copious pages to find an answer.

So there it is. The great dilemma.

For me, the answer lies somewhere in the middle. I’m glad the flu took me away from the screen for a while, because it also brought me back to real-world issues I’ve been neglecting. Mostly though, it’s been a reminder to question how much of myself I want to give up to social media, rather than free up valuable time for other things.

Janine LeGal is a freelance writer in Winnipeg.