Why is Disconnecting From Toxic People So Difficult?

Maybe because some of those toxic people are friends and family.

Photo by Jules D. on Unsplash

Towards the end of 2022, I removed myself from Twitter. There was already far too much toxicity there for my liking, and when Mr. Musk decided to let Trump and several other assholes back on the platform, I removed myself and my support from it.

I was only on Twitter mostly to promote my writing work. I don’t miss it or the toxicity of it.

This week, my wife departed from Facebook. Citing increased toxicity and the need to not be constantly bombarded by it — she chose to cut the cord. There was no fanfare, no big post explaining her impending departure (or the attention-getting post to cause people to beg her to stay) — she just stopped, cold turkey, and disconnected.

I fully support this — and were it not for my work needs for social media — I’d consider doing it, too. While it’s nice to stay in touch with and maintain connections with faraway friends — the toxic people across Facebook and other social media are becoming increasingly difficult to disconnect from.

And it’s even hard when they are friends.

I have to wonder if these people know they’re toxic. My guess is that they don’t. But between the needs of some to…