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There’s a Place Online Where No One Knows Your Name
How I learned to cultivate a healthy relationship with social media.
The winter of 2019 was a memory worth shredding. I took on an abusive client who believed her teenage assistant knew more about marketing than I do because of her pedigree, English accent, and collection of four-figure handbags. My bank account and refrigerator became anemic. A friend I once loved and trusted bad-mouthed me to everyone in a five-mile radius. All because she never understood that depression can’t be cured by a pill or by thinking happy thoughts. All because I wasn’t “fixed” or returned to manufacturer settings, because I didn’t resume playing the role of the friend who solved everyone else’s problems.
She and her coterie pretended to be mental health allies online while calling me a lunatic between the tweets.
I was on the verge of a breakdown. Pretending to be okay even though I wasn’t because social media demands your Oscar-winning performance, the highlight reel of a life lived in a VSCO filter. Suddenly, the burden of that mask became unbearable. I had a breakdown.
“Friends” proceeded to report my tweets and blocked and unfollowed me. “Friends” feigned their heartfelt concern on social media with their sympathy symphonies of “I hope you get the…
