Though The Chief is not considering closing comments at this time, we recently ran a poll to give the readers a chance to vote about their beliefs surrounding comments on social media. Unsurprisingly, the majority of the readers who voted in the poll wanted to keep the comments open on social media.
In a sense, I get it.
The comments section, especially for a media outlet, is meant to facilitate conversations about the issues at hand. Furthermore, to some, it may be a quick way to keep an outlet in check. What’s more, social media has afforded our community a chance to stay connected as we’ve gone through varying stages of pandemic isolation over the last year and a half. These reasons are all perfectly valid.
On the other hand, there is evidence that shows social media can deteriorate our mental health. Social media has been linked to anxiety, depression, the fear of missing out and, sometimes, physical ailments. Moreover, with the release of the Facebook Papers, it seems clear that in some cases Facebook amplifies extremism, incites violence and encourages radicalization and political polarization.
Therein lies a difficult dichotomy: If we do participate in social media how do we ensure our own well-being?
Personally, I have taken steps to remove most social media apps from my phone and, to be frank, it has been a relief. While I may miss a funny cat video here and there, I have found that the important information still gets through.
And though I am still new to The Chief, I have largely given up on reading any comments on social media associated with the journalism I have produced. This is not because I am above critique or assessment — like I said, I’m new! I still need lots of constructive criticism. Mostly, I figure that if it is hugely important then it will get through to me by other means.
For those who use the comments section of our Facebook page to have meaningful and insightful conversations, I commend you. Conversation is by far our greatest tool to make sense of events in our society and reach common ground. But too often comments on any social media post devolve into wishy-washy, hair-brained trolling, or worse. And those are things that I, nor anyone else for that matter, needs to read.
So, to those wishing to use social media to offer critique, I instead encourage you to write comments on our webpage or write a letter to the editor: [email protected].
As for me, I will continue to skip the comments on our social channels.
While I am not above criticism, ultimately my mental health comes first.
Andrew Hughes is a 麻豆社国产resident, UBC journalism student and freelancer for The 麻豆社国产.
