Living Through the Presidential Election Was Way Easier Without Social Media

While the election has not been officially declared over yet and the sitting President has refused to concede, it’s nearly certain that Biden is going to be the next President of the United States. And wow, am I glad that’s fucking over.

But as glad as I am that it’s over, I know everyone else is way more thrilled it’s over. Because unlike me, you poor unfortunate souls had to suffer through this election with social media serving you piping hot political content.

You would have been way better off without social media this year. Trust me, I know, because I was. Not having social media significantly improved my quality of life this year. Here’s why.

1. I was able to keep an open mind

The first time I actually learned anything about the election cycle was the first presidential debate. Which, honestly, is the way I think it should be.

Without social media, there was no algorithm-powered news cycle pumping the lastest meaningless news into my psyche. Outside of the candidate’s general positions — that is to say, that one was Trump and one was not Trump — I didn’t know anything about them. I didn’t know Trump was coming after Biden’s family. I didn’t know Biden was touching children’s shoulders weirdly. I didn’t even know what happened to Breonna Taylor, though I assumed it was yet another terrible abuse of police power. I didn’t know much at all.

And honestly, for this election, I didn’t need to. Knowing Biden touches children’s shoulders weirdly doesn’t help anyone pick the next leader of the US. And as for the inappropriate personal attacks and dismissal of the civil rights of minorities… well, none of that was exactly new, was it?

All this is to say that, when I watched the first Presidential debate, it was with an open mind.

That was such a refreshing feeling. I was free from all the psychological trickery of the campaigns and media, free from the pressure of the opinions of friends and family, and free from partisan preconceived notions about either of the candidates. It made it possible for me to thoughtfully assess each candidate based on what I see, not what I’m told I’m supposed to see.

It was all the more refreshing because I’m young enough that I’ve never participated in an election without social media before. It’s the first election I was ever able to observe with a level of detached rationality.

Of course, the debate I actually did see was a disaster and made me fear for the integrity of America, but I was able to experience that clearly for myself, instead of having my mind influenced by all the other minds around me.

2. I was more educated about the issues

I’m aware many of my friends during this election cycle saw me as a woefully (even irresponsibly) out-of-touch voter. They were scandalized when I said I didn’t know about what happened to Breonna Taylor or what was on this “Hunter Biden laptop.”

But when I thought it was necessary, I got educated. I went to Medium’s Coronavirus Blog, AllSides, Google Scholar, The Monkey Cage, and other reputable news sources. After an hour or two of reading articles on these websites, I was usually far more educated than the friend who told me about the news in the first place.

You would think social media users would be more educated about the issues, but that’s not what I found. You see, a lot of people who consider themselves “educated” about the issues are often “educated” by reading social media headlines and comments from their friends. Not only do they not really understand the issue, but they also are not even aware of their ignorance. They are convinced they’re educated when they are not.

Nothing does more damage to our democracy than an uneducated voter who’s convinced they’re right.

Without social media feeding me superficial information as if it were the full story, it was up to me to find a sophisticated and well-researched source myself. When you cut social media out of your life, that’s not a problem. Good sources are easy to find when you know where to look.

3. It gave me perspective

Every time someone told me about the “Hunter Biden laptop,” they clearly expected me to be filled with shock— either that the Democrats would allow such a corrupt man to be president, or that the Republicans would manufacture such a ridiculous scandal.

But either way, I wasn’t fazed. Without social media, it was easy to appreciate that the “Hunter Biden laptop” was a scandal popularized purely to draw voters away from the candidates and the issues themselves and toward tabloid gossip. Same with the fuss about Biden’s family, the “shoulders” thing, or pretty much any other campaign point that didn’t have to do with the issues themselves.

Since I was not subject to the constant firehose of the algorithmic engagement-driven news cycle, it was easy for me to say “Wow, that seems like a pointless distraction from the real issues.”

4. Doomscrolling didn’t ruin my life

“I want to say this loud and clear, because I think a lot of people need to hear it: You do not have to expose yourself to information that is designed to leave you feeling scared and disempowered. Constantly retraumatizing yourself is not the same thing as staying informed. You don’t have to watch the debates. You don’t have to be on Twitter. You don’t have to read the news every day. Consuming upsetting junk data is not your civic duty.”

— ‘Staying Informed’ Shouldn’t Mean Constantly Retraumatizing Yourself, Dr. Devon Price

By the time doomscrolling became a term, I’d already been off of social media for over a year. So, like an eighty year old that can’t figure out how to use a smartphone, doomscrolling is a phenomenon I simply don’t understand. If there seems to be a never-ending stream of miserable news, why are you consuming it? If you know everything is shit, why are you focusing on it? Why not get offline and focus on one small corner of the universe you can make better, like improving your self-care routine or decluttering your house?

In any case, because I haven’t been doomscrolling, my life hasn’t taken on the tone of perpetual fear that many other people say theirs has. The pandemic and election cycle has certainly made my life more stressful, sure, but it’s hardly dominated my attention. I still think about my personal issues far more than I do the state of the pandemic or the next President of the US.

And you know what? That’s all I should be thinking about, more or less. I’m not the right person for aggressive campaigning or marching for civil rights, so the best thing I can do is to not make my own life miserable stressing out about things I cannot control.

Combine this point with the perspective not being on social media gives me, and I find myself very emotionally stable when considering political problems.

That’s not to say I don’t care about how the country is doing. Of course, I do. But for most citizens, all we can do is vote for the right people and support the right causes. Doomscrolling until we are paralyzed with fear doesn’t help the oppressed, and it doesn’t help us either.

5. I was able to focus on activism, not slacktivism

Social media is known for encouraging slacktivism. But since I’m not able to fall back on slacktivism, I’m forced to ask myself how I can actually help people.

For most issues, I decide not to do anything at all. That perspective and research ability I have from not having social media leads me to believe that most issues, like the “Hunter Biden laptop,” don’t require any action on my part at all. They are tabloid gossip manufactured by campaigns that will blow away with the next news cycle.

For other issues, the most that can be done is to vote the right way. I do the research required to understand the issue, cast the appropriate vote, and move on with my life.

For issues that are astoundingly important — like, you know, the imminent death of up to one million Americans over the next year — I will depart from my traditional self-help theme and write about it.

And yes, if things get bad enough, I will hit the streets. I’m not going to watch freedom collapse in my own country. But I don’t think it’s going to happen. Perhaps I would fear for the nation if Trump’s entire administration were insane as well, but they’re clearly not.

So, I think Trump will scream and cry and throw a fit, but come the new year, Secret Service will throw him out of office and swear Biden in, and we will all be able to begin to move forward.

Experiencing this election without social media drove home just how much of our experience of an election cycle is powered by social media. The vast majority of the hate, bigotry, and inflammation from an election comes not from the candidates or the news, but from people circulating content online.

Living without that circulated content was, in some ways, like living in a world that hadn’t gone crazy. Removing that out-of-control communication methodology restricted me to more sensible and level-headed conversations with the people around me. It restored and reaffirmed my faith that we live in a country full of essentially reasonable, accepting, and loving people.

Thanks to going without social media this election, I know a big part of the reason our nation is so bipartisan and divided is that social media is driving us apart. Instead of taking candidates as they are, we allow our heads to get pumped full of ideas and opinions before we even hear what a candidate has to say. Instead of getting the real story, either from the news or from our friends, we allow algorithms to curate and inflame content before it even reaches our eyes.

Quit social media, and you’ll find you’re able to participate in elections as a level-headed citizen instead of as an inflamed, agitated, and irrational one — oh, and your relationships with your friends and family will get better in the process.

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