Saying that I’ve been blocked is an understatement. At least in terms of writing, because, for the rest, my existence has been quite eventful.
Life as a tourism worker is never stuck in a rut: trains become your legs and the luggage your home. By now I never totally unload not I put them away.
As all things, this way of living has its pros and cons: it surely can be exciting, however “the thrill” can wear you down, especially when extended for a long period of time.
Age plays also a more relevant role as years go by: the older you become, the higher is the crave for harmony and peace of mind, rather than for fun and excitement.
This kind of mind shift takes one by surprise at first, especially if, when growing up, adrenaline and a lack of boring routine were essential things to function properly. How does one age without even realizing it?
This change impacted my relationship with writing and my online presence as well, both of which have become more and more sparse. To be honest with you, however, I haven’t really missed social media.
The exchange of views with people having different opinions used to be a way to connect, grow and even boost myself. I need that kind of mental stimuli to feel good.
However, we all know it, for most people this isn’t the case: having a different opinion means “attacking other’s freedom of speech” or being arrogant. Social media’s feeds, which once were the modern version of the agora, have become trashcans where people can vomit their hate and pick up fights over the most insignificant things. The other day I had the insane idea of scrolling through my Twitter feed and random people were tearing each other apart on whether it is proper to put the IBAN on wedding invitations or not. Are we for real?!
People complain about the toxicity of modern society and about algorithms driving our lives, yet we are the first to feed said algorithms with negativity and malice, spreading hate like a cancer.
I’ve had the privilege to meet great people over the years on the internet, yet trying to keep up with their updates meant delving into said toxic algorithm-driven feeds, which show what they want us to see rather than the accounts of the people we are interested in. And what they want us to see is controversial content which generates interactions and “internet drama”.
For this reason, I am not interested in playing this game anymore. I would still love to keep in touch with you people, but I just cannot stand social media feeds anymore. I will post and try to keep in touch with the people I want to through notifications and I will concentrate more on the blog, which is my personal ground.
Putting boundaries is sometimes necessary for mental health.
My Dear Italia 
Nice to see you post here again. I hope you get a good summer. Yes, too much negativity on social feed
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Thank you very much! Yes, social media feeds are the worst, I cannot wrap my mind around the fact that there are people out there fighting like crazy over trivial things, attacking celebrities “just because” and being toxic. 😟 Why??
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They are bored, have no responsibilities, are small minded, etc.
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And too much time on their hands, probably… 🤐
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Dearest SaRA,
You are sooo spot on! For me it is the very same you, I get totally “brain tired” from all the extras that I didn’t sign up for on social media too. I have also come to the solution and have quit all social media platforms and only have instagram left because as they say a picture tells a thousand words, and I love the magic dialog captured in photography (manipulated or not). It’s interesting your bringing up age, I feel it’s a challenge within life to (at least as I get older) keep up with the new and fashionable, meaning anything tech or modern fads… they just don’t curb my attention to learn or be a part of as they did when so was younger… but the technical part of technology constraint change is something I would like to be better at but never seem to interested enough to be better! Which I blame upon aging, I’m so thankful for all young people in my life that can help me when my “interest and brain” are not enough for digital, technical updates or problems. This I feel can become a terrible way to isolate people who are less tech orientated or just can’t keep up! I’ve seen my self in a dream “hunting for the tech shop just to watch the news like people did in the 50’s & 60’s when not everyone owned their own TV.” Your point on about the navigating the negative aggression it’s horrendous and not healthy for anyone. I’m glad more people are closing their comment section or limiting them at least. I loved your reference to your unpacking or not, Im the same “vagabond” living on a shoestring… you have described my life between 18-38, I was always on the move or hoping to be… Im still not good at unpacking! But travel since Covid has been a minimum, but the rails of the train cry for my attention, so in the near future my legs will be rolling along again in wonder of this wondrous world of ours 🚂💭💭🌍🌏🌎📸 I wish you all things good, a summer of curiosities and adventures! Thank you sharing your life in truism with us and thank you for all your wonderful photos, my legs & eyes yarning to visit the places you share with us all. Take Care of you SaRA & huge huggies from Me in🇸🇪
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You did a good things when you chose to keep only Instagram. I ditched Facebook many years ago ( I deleted my profile), and I have stopped using Twitter. I have only kept it as a news feed, but, especially after Elon bought it, you cannot find updates from the people you actually follow, only controversial tweets. And let’s not talking about the conversations under the trending topics, SIGH. It’s a pity, because in the beginning Twitter used to be a nice Place, now it is just a trashcan. I am also glad people are starting to close the comment sections, It Is just a messa out there!
Thank you dear, I am very grateful for your support and for our virtual chats! ❤️ I hope you will manage to come and visit Italy! 😘❤️
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🤞🤞🤞 I’ll be back soon ♥️🇮🇹♥️
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You are absolutely right, algorithms reflect people, and most are only interested in the brief news bite. Everything is a sale. The algorithm decides whether or not to show your post based on the impact of the first person who sees it. If it doesn’t in some way entice, it’s dead in the water. A difficult game to be sure… I have been fortunate in that I’ve had very little negativity on my social media pages and blog, but I know it’s a tightrope…
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It’s also true that if you are a positive person, the following people will tend to be positive as well, because you attract a public similar to you! This is valid for blogs, but I am not sure about social media, because, as we said, now on the feeds pop up random people and you cannot see people you actually follow…mah!
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Hi Sara. Good to read you again. I understand you well and it is how you say. Online presence is for some people saying everything they ever wanted to say, especially all the bad things in the most horrible way possible. I’m online because other than amore and bestia I have nobody in real life. My family and friends are in another country. My one Italian friend went to work to Sardinia. When I’m online, I filter a lot and choose exactly what interests me and ignore the rest. Yes, it’s hard work, but I must do it to keep my sanity. I wish you a wonderful offline life.
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I’m a lot older than you, but I can really relate to your post; the ways age has changed me and the negative progression of social media, which has not helped my metal wellbeing!
When the internet first became a available in Aotearoa (New Zealand), I think maybe around 1994, it opened doors for me that I had never imagined. Being quite lonely and often isolated, talking to people all around the world was incredible!!! Back then the perverts were very few and random conversations with strangers were very enriching! Online dating allowed me to increase my chances of meeting someone compatible and after many years I found my husband. In more recent years social media helped me to help rehome rescued dogs and cats and gain awareness and spread awareness of the incredible harm that we cause many animals and our planet. Probably the biggest impact to my life was learning and being able to teach myself things I had interest in or were necessary for employment. And then on the flip side, the harmful side, that grew exponentially as time went on, the misinformation, the scams, the hatred, the deliberate harming of the emotional well being of others, the collaboration to do physical harm to others. It hurt me so deeply to see how something so beneficial could be used this way and in shifted my perspective, from seeing most people as fundamentally good to most people being fundamentally horrible and incredibly stupid!!!
As someone who had suffered from depression and anxiety from early teens, this did not at all help matters. My concern grows for current teens that are in a critical stage of development, being severely emotionally damaged by these harmful behaviours, but at the same time denying them access can all so deny them important social contact with their peers and for some kids with social anxiety disorders, social media can be the only way they can effectively communicate with their peers.
I still use Instagram, because I love sharing photos, but also it has been my way to support writers, artists, filmmakers, etc. especially those who are of marginalised groups. But in this last month I’ve been travelling and spent almost no time on Instagram and it has been quite freeing. I suspect I need to be on it less to balance my life more, but there is the fear of not contributing enough to those I like to support. I guess, ultimately, selfcare has to come first, otherwise you are of little help to others.
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Social media is now a “cyber hell”, full of scammers, liars, haters, and attention seekers. And the algorithms magnify their posts. The more likes/engagements they get, the more they pop up, even though you have zero interest in them. I only use IG and occasionally FB to share photos, keeping my distance from all kinds of crappy video content. To be honest, I don’t like to hear human voices 🙂
By the way, it’s just my opinion, but putting IBAN on a wedding card is simply a disgrace. If the guests don’t want/can’t attend, you shouldn’t force them to send you money.
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