Pearls: Put down the phone
EDITORIAL MUG: Matt Pearl
People should spend more time with people.
But time is short, right? It’s tough to make plans and find a time that works for everyone to get together.
Although, at some point our families will schedule each of our funerals, and people will spend an hour or two at the time and place the ceremony occurs. My point is that if you want to get together badly enough, people will arrange their schedules accordingly.
We should spend our time together, and if time is your issue, I have a suggestion on how to free up a few more precious hours:
Stop spending time interacting online with people, get up, get out and go see them.
Whenever I hear folks talking about how divided our nation is, how crazy the idealogues have become in their speech, how dramatically far the left and right have seemed to move, my reply is now almost always the same:
Your neighbor seems less crazy running his lawnmower than he does running his mouth.
If you want to be angry with everyone, then login and read their social media statuses. Scrutinize what they repost. Use the angry face emoji to show them how strongly you disapprove of their ideas.
If you want to have meaningful friendships – including the ones where you and someone with does not agree with your politics are able to talk and enjoy one another – then I suggest you put your stupid phone down.
That was not, perhaps, a dignified way to persuade you to spend less time online and more time on life. But I stand by it. Put your stupid phone on the charger, or put it in your pocket if you’re worried about getting an emergency phone call. But get it out of your hands, out of your face, out of your mind.
This is ridiculous. These days, most of what I know about this group or that group, this argument or that feud, this perspective or that viewpoint comes from what I read on social media. It’s a powerful tool, isn’t it? But I learned that it’s wise to choose the right tool for the job I’m trying to do.
You don’t use the sharpest saw to cut everything. One cuts wood, another metal. A table saw will let you handle that big sheet of plywood, while the miter saw takes care of that two-by-four. Which saw is the best? IT depends on the job. We all know that, right?
So why does social media get to be the only tool in the box for so many of us? Why does it serve as our communicator with family, or plan-maker with friends, our news source and our advertising source? I have ab axe to grind here: I’m a print journalist, and I won’t pretend like social media hasn’t been the absolute death of newspapers from coast to coast.
But that’s life, and it’s not really the reason why I question people’s use of social media for so many of their needs. My biggest beef with it all is that people have chosen to live in a world that isn’t a real world.
We go to our phones to find out what neighbors are saying. These are the neighbors with whom we used to have conversations.
We go online to learn the opinions touted by coastal ‘news’ organizations and pundits, so we know what the national narratives are and what our next talking points should be when we fight our friends online.
And that’s the very reason you’re seeing a backlash on your social media feed this time of year. As it turns out, some folks still prefer fire pits and sunsets over fighting and bickering. I’m becoming one of them.
We’re all people. If we prefer hating the negative online versions of our friends and acquaintances – these versions are often illusions or half-truths anyway – then social media is a fine choice. But as for me, I’d rather grill burgers and share some real experiences this summer.
Matt Pearl owns and operates The Tri-County Ledger.
