Getting Older Is Making Me Tired of Social Media

 

Lately, I’ve been realizing something I never thought I’d say:

I’m getting tired of social media.

And that’s interesting to me, because I actually love the internet.

I grew up loving message boards, forums, and online spaces where people could really talk. Somebody would post an opinion, people would debate it, joke around, disagree, troll a little, and keep it moving. Sometimes it got messy, sometimes it got personal, but a lot of it still felt like banter. It felt like people understood that not every disagreement was an attack.

That version of the internet made more sense to me.

What wears me out now is the social media side of it all. Everything feels performative. Everything feels personal. Everybody is reacting, defending, proving, announcing, exposing, and emotionally crashing out over every little thing. You cannot say much of anything anymore without somebody taking it as disrespect, hate, judgment, or some kind of personal offense.

And that is exhausting.

What bothers me most is how fragile people have become when it comes to criticism. A lot of people do not want honesty. They want validation. They do not want correction. They want comfort. They do not want to be challenged. They want to be agreed with.

That is a dangerous way to build people.

Somewhere along the line, we started confusing accountability with negativity. We started treating discomfort like harm. We started acting like being told you are wrong is some kind of attack on your existence instead of a normal part of growth.

That mindset is showing up everywhere.

You see it in relationships.
You see it in how people talk online.
You see it in the advice people give.
You see it in the way people encourage each other to use others, manipulate situations, dodge responsibility, and still call it empowerment.

And to me, that is one of the ugliest parts of what social media has become.

Too many people are being taught how to get over, not how to grow.
Too many people are being taught how to avoid consequences, not how to build character.
Too many people are being taught how to curate an image, not how to become solid human beings.

That is what worries me when I think about the next generation.

I think a lot of us came up in a harder environment, and because of that, we want to protect our kids from everything. I understand that instinct. But I also think overprotecting them can do damage too. If kids never struggle, never fail, never get corrected, never get uncomfortable, then how are they supposed to build toughness? How are they supposed to build discipline? How are they supposed to learn how to respond when life does not go their way?

Failure teaches.
Correction teaches.
Consequences teach.

Not everything is trauma.
Sometimes it is just life doing what life does.

That does not mean people should be cruel. It means we have to stop raising and rewarding people like the world owes them softness at all times.

And the internet is making that worse.

Information is constant now. Opinions are instant. Influence is everywhere. Good information is available, but bad information travels just as fast, sometimes faster. People can wake up, absorb nonsense all day, repeat it confidently by the afternoon, and get rewarded for it by night.

That should concern all of us.

Because if everything becomes about feelings, image, and instant validation, then what happens to discipline? What happens to humility? What happens to discernment? What happens to being able to hear something you do not like and still learn from it?

That is where I’m at with social media right now.

I’m not tired of connection.
I’m not tired of dialogue.
I’m not tired of the internet.

I’m tired of the performance.
I’m tired of the entitlement.
I’m tired of people treating basic honesty like violence.
And I’m tired of watching bad advice get dressed up like wisdom.

Maybe that is age.
Maybe that is growth.
Maybe I just miss when people were a little tougher and a little less fake.

Either way, that is where my head is at.

Have a good weekend.

And if life feels heavy, go pray about it.

Peace.