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I Just Hope You Find What You’re Scrolling For
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Do you see me? It scares me how much you look down. The room vanishes and you can’t hear anything. The screen and the cycle of everything you’re seeing is glowing around your face as it surrounds the room. I ask you a question, but it’s as if I’m muted. You’re not actually here right now. You’re inside of all the bright colors, flashy videos, and loud headlines.
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All of it reminds me of a slot machine: what will the screen fill up with next, and what emotion will it give you? Hours pass. Where did the time go? Share. Comment. Share. Comment. This time it was something funny. A few people sent laughing emojis and gifs. It made you happy to get that kind of feedback. The next time it was a video. It upset you. You shared your opinion on the matter. A dozen or so people joined in. The echo chamber drifted through the web. Replies and likes. Your adrenaline spikes. You validate some people (as well as yourself). You disappoint and annoy others.
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Another post showed up on your screen. This time it was about someone important. Someone in charge. Someone that controls things. You chose a side. That’s what we’re supposed to do right? Division. You shared something that made a good point. You believed it to be accurate. It made sense to you. Some agreed, others were silent and scrolled right past it. Again, you chose a side. Left or Right? I hear those two words often nowadays. They seem to be very important words to some people.
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You had friends that looked forward to seeing your thoughts, but you pushed them away. Not intentionally, of course—you were just following the internet. It’s an effortless cycle that was already laid out for you long before you truly understood what was happening. They made it easy for you to be this way. Something catches your attention — very similar to the previous thing that caught your attention — and you just can’t help yourself. You’re now feeding the slot machine new information.
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You made a simple post about a current event, and it reached more people than usual this time, especially someone you really care about. Neither of you ever discussed “Left” or “Right”: you were just friends. But you put an accidental line in the sand without realizing it. Friends or not, sides were chosen. Neither of you ever had the chance to even discuss this. Agree to disagree, time passed, and you stopped seeing each other online as much. Why?
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Situations like this started to happen a lot lately. Your opinion brought in new friends. Your opinion removed old ones. It was confusing, but people were liking the things you were sharing, so you kept sharing. New people arrived. Your thoughts attracted similar minds, and slowly, people from your past that you cared for but had different perspectives started to slip away. Your side of the sand just didn’t align with theirs, and the algorithm stopped feeding you information from that direction. Information bias. Without realizing it, you’ve created a disconnect with the people you love.
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