Beyond Selidor

Yeah, that's why I returned to Dreamwidth sooner but am not going back to what I term 'real-time social media' (in my case Instagram and Facebook) until December. All my Facebook friends share my values, so it's not like I was expecting to see gloating from my political opponents, but I am friends with a lot of Ukrainians on Instagram and knew I just would not be able to handle seeing their reactions to the existential consequences this election will have for them and their country.

I also knew that — no matter how politically aligned my social (media) circles were — I would see the following things:

Extremely raw, fearful, grieving reactions

Vitriolic arguments among progressives blaming each other for the result

People sharing and reacting to the vicious, gloating glee of political opponents who get a kick out of others' fear

And I didn't much care to see any of that, so I stayed away.

My own rule when it comes to politics is to avoid and block material (even if it comes from my own friends) that makes me feel despair or futility, and to stick to stuff which encourages concrete actions and a sense of communal and individual agency — and I've been online long enough to know where and when I will find both these things, and to act accordingly.