The Love/Hate Saga of Social Media: From Connection to Creeps (and Couch Gladiators)

I have a love/hate relationship with social media. On one hand, it’s the reason I’ve met incredible people from all corners of the world—people I’d never cross paths with otherwise. On the other, it’s the reason I sometimes open my inbox to find that Tom from Connecticut has decided it’s his moment to get graphic with me, like we’re in some sort of international speed-dating game I didn’t sign up for. It’s equal parts connection and chaos, community and creeps, and every day feels like a new lesson in just how bizarre—and unfiltered—people can be when they’re hiding behind a screen.

The Love

Let’s start with the good stuff, because there is good stuff. Social media has connected me to voices, faces, and stories I never would have encountered in my everyday life. I’ve learned new skills from strangers, been encouraged by people who owe me nothing, and even laughed with someone halfway across the planet over something as simple as a shared meme. It’s like a global living room—you can drop in, find your people, and suddenly your world feels bigger, richer, more textured.

The Hate

Then there’s the other side. The unsolicited DMs. The wildly inappropriate comments. The absolute confidence with which a complete stranger decides to treat your personal space like a public suggestion box for every thought they’ve ever had about your body. It’s baffling. I’ll be minding my own business—sharing something meaningful, or funny, or maybe just a picture of my coffee—and suddenly, bam, Tom from Connecticut is trying to initiate a conversation that would make a sailor blush. And it’s not just Tom. It’s John from Michigan, Luca from Naples, and Gary who “just happened” to find my page after liking 73 of my photos in a row. Collective eye roll.

(Also - for the fiftieth time - stop trying to add me on Facebook. It's not happening!)

The Keyboard Warriors

And then there are the keyboard warriors—the brave souls who’d never say a word to your face but will happily type an essay tearing you apart from the safety of their couch. Some are the cherry-picking Christians, flipping through the Bible like it’s a menu—selecting only the verses that justify their bigotry while conveniently skipping the ones about loving thy neighbor and minding their own business. Others are professional word-twisters, dedicating their free time to spinning your posts into something you never said, never meant, and definitely don’t stand for. They’ll dissect a sentence like it’s a frog in biology class—except instead of learning anything, they just make a mess and walk away feeling self-righteous.

The Middle Ground

Here’s the thing: I’m not going anywhere. Social media is too powerful a tool to abandon entirely. I use it to connect, to comfort, to make sure people know they’re not alone. But I’ve learned that loving social media means setting boundaries—blocking liberally, laughing often, and remembering that just because someone can send a message doesn’t mean I have to answer it.

Because in the end, the magic of social media—the connection, the conversation, the shared humanity—is worth wading through a few Toms from Connecticut and their unsolicited anatomy monologues, plus the occasional scripture-slinging, word-twisting couch gladiator with a vendetta. But I’ll never stop being mildly stunned that they think this is how you start a conversation. Spoiler alert: it’s not.

So to Tom from Connecticut, Gary from Michigan, and every caps-locked prophet behind a keyboard—if connection was your goal, you missed. By a mile.

And my besties?

Please keep being the bad-ass, incredible human beings you are.

Because YOU make this all worth it (and I love you LOTS)!