It’s Not You, It’s Me

Dear Social Media,

We need to take a break again. And it’s a little trickier this time because I came back to you for selfish reasons. I want to share the things I create and the business I am growing, but you are very distracting. As an artist, I value authenticity above all else. As a human, my desire to live with intention, ranks high. Those values, for me, just don’t jive with a virtual world that values metrics, popularity of hashtags, and a lot of murky unknowns that play into every insecurity you may possess. It feels like we are all shouting at each other, and as someone who avoids conflict at all costs, I really dislike that aspect too. So, the future of how I will “get the word out” about my art, photography, writing, or personal life remains unknown. But there was a way to do this before social media, right? I hope we aren’t too far gone from what we were before. I just know that the moment I came back to you, social media, was the same moment I started to feel less connected again to myself, more sad, and less authentic as ever. You’re good like chocolate but bad like heart disease, so, it’s time to go.

Written by Melissa Lipnick, a writer and artist in Cleveland, Ohio.