My Love-Hate Relationship With Social Media

Photo by Sandrachile . on Unsplash

If you judge me by my latest tweet

Your view of me is incomplete.

You’ll never find out who I am 

By looking through my Instagram.

So consumed with social media

And BuzzFeed and Wikipedia

We never screen what’s on our screens

Never asking what it means.

Am I guilty, too? Of that I’m sure.

I long for the world we had before.

All this noise. It’s just too much.

We’re not drawing close. We’re losing touch.

I need your likes to make me whole

And your retweets to feed my soul.

But a hashtag is not the truth

And a picture isn’t proof.

So what do we stop to tell our kids? 

Don’t do the things that I just did?

Don’t waste all your time there on your phone

And let your loved ones feel alone?

Read a book or play a song

Plant a garden, right a wrong.

It all sounds so trite, so neat

As if changing is an easy feat.

I don’t have one quick solution 

No preachy New Year’s resolution.

And does it really make me such a sinner

If I like a picture of your dinner? 

I will give a donation to your worthy cause.

I will read an article that gives me pause.

I will watch the video of your beloved cat

I will see your photo and say, “Look at that.”

I will add a comment that can make you feel

Like the connection we made was real.

I will share ideas with bibliophiles.

(That one really makes me smile.)

Remember the “monster” television?

If you stood too close you’d lose your vision?

And MTV was the curse of Generation X.

There’s always a crisis. What is next?

I know if I could find the perfect motto

The next thing I’d do is play the lotto.

I’m just stumbling along through life

Trying my best to get it right.

So if your thing is Facebook memes

I won’t judge and I won’t scream.

I think social media is both insanity

And a part of our new humanity.

Blake said “too much” teaches you “enough.”

I think old Will there knew his stuff.

It all works out in the end

Have no worries, Facebook friend.

You can scroll, post, like, delete

Insta, Snapchat, Tik Tok. Tweet.

Just pause sometimes and think it through.

If you promise me, I’ll promise you.