Social Media Anxiety

Navigating social media can be a headache.

I’m not wasting any more time on Nazibook today. Hundreds of ageist misogynists to block. I only blocked three before I told myself: Look, I have much better things to do than waste my time blocking another hundred creeps on Nazibook. I need to go meditate (clearly!), then listen to a spooky podcast while using the bicycle desk. Afterwards, I intend to go over feedback on a story, revise it, and submit it to an anthology.

Someone in a group or page posted two photos: one a black woman singer wearing a sparkly leotard, the other a white cheerleader. The caption asked, “Why was there public outcry about one but not the other?” I saw this post yesterday and commented, “Misogynoir and misogyny” and resumed scrolling.

Well, here it is the next day, and strangely Nazibook felt compelled to show me the same post again. Because Nazibook enjoys creating drama. I glanced down at the comments, and an ageist (and perhaps racist) misogynist made the snide remark, “One of them is young and cute.”

I blocked the first two ageist misogynists who responded with laughing emojis before I noticed there were over a hundred such responses. At a glance, I saw a response like, “You’d be lucky to look as good as [black singer] when you’re 51!” I blocked the one who posted the original ageist comment, and I logged…