Tackling Social Media
The art of staying sane online. By Mississippi Memaw
Mississippi Memaw
10/12/20263 min read
If there's one thing social media has taught me, it's that you can post a picture of a beautiful sunset and somebody will find a reason to argue about the clouds.
Welcome to the internet, where everybody has an opinion, nobody asked for half of them, and apparently we're all experts on everything from politics to potato salad.
I've been creating content for years now, and let me tell you, it's been an experience.
Some days I absolutely love it. Other days I wonder if I should throw my phone in the nearest pond and go live somewhere without Wi-Fi.
But here's the thing. Social media has given me opportunities I never dreamed I'd have. I've met wonderful people, made friendships, shared laughter, and connected with folks from places I've never even visited.
And for that, I'll always be grateful.
Everybody Has Something to Say
One thing I've learned is that no matter what you do, somebody isn't going to like it.
You can be too loud, too quiet, too opinionated, or not opinionated enough.
You can post something funny and somebody will be offended. You can post something heartfelt and somebody will accuse you of looking for attention.
You can mind your own business and somebody will still find a way to make your business their business.
And heaven forbid you make a grammatical error. The internet has more volunteer English teachers than the entire public school system.
At some point, you have to realize that you cannot make everybody happy.
And more importantly, you were never supposed to.
The Person Behind the Screen
I think people sometimes forget that the person they're commenting about is an actual human being.
We have families. We have jobs. We have bad days. We have insecurities.
I might be Mississippi Memaw on Facebook, but I'm also a wife, a mother, a grandmother, and a dental assistant.
I have laundry waiting on me, bills that need paying, and a refrigerator that I open approximately seventeen times a day hoping something new has magically appeared.
I'm just a regular woman who happens to share parts of her life with a whole lot of strangers.
And sometimes those strangers forget that words carry weight.
I've learned that you can have a thick skin and still have feelings. Those two things are not mutually exclusive.
Not Every Comment Deserves a Response
This one took me a while to learn.
There was a time when I felt like I needed to explain myself to everybody.
If someone misunderstood something I said, I wanted to correct it. If someone criticized me, I wanted to defend myself.
But eventually I realized something.
Some people aren't looking for an explanation. They're looking for an argument.
And I don't know about y'all, but I've got enough going on without spending my evenings debating somebody named Bubba1973 whose profile picture is a bass fish.
Sometimes the best response is no response at all.
You don't have to attend every argument you're invited to.
Remember Why You Started
When social media starts feeling overwhelming, I try to remember why I started sharing my life in the first place.
I wanted to make people laugh.
I wanted to remind people of simpler times.
I wanted to tell stories, share memories, and maybe make somebody's difficult day a little easier.
And somewhere along the way, something pretty wonderful happened.
People started telling me that my videos made them smile when they were going through hard times. That something I said reminded them of their grandmother. That a silly little post made an otherwise terrible day feel a little better.
Those are the people I think about when the internet gets loud.
Not the critics. Not the people who misunderstand me.
The people who genuinely enjoy being here.
It's Okay to Step Away
You do not have to be available to the entire world twenty-four hours a day.
It's okay to put your phone down.
It's okay to miss a trend.
It's okay to take a day off from posting.
And it's certainly okay to protect your peace.
Social media should be something that adds to your life, not something that consumes it.
There is an entire world happening outside that little screen.
There are grandchildren to hug, books to read, conversations to have, and memories to make.
And not every single moment needs to become content.
A Little Advice From Memaw
If I could give anybody one piece of advice about social media, it would be this:
Don't let people who know nothing about your life convince you that they know everything about you.
Be yourself.
Laugh at yourself.
Learn when you're wrong.
Be kind when you can.
And understand that some people are determined to misunderstand you no matter how carefully you explain yourself.
Let them.
Life is too short to spend it trying to win the approval of strangers.
Besides, if everybody liked me, I'd probably start wondering what I was doing wrong.
Until next time, y'all.
Love,
Mississippi Memaw ❤️