The Buddha had a really strong guideline for social media, Ask is it kind? Is it timely? Is it useful? Is it true?. If everyone asked those four questions before posting or saying anything the tensions in our society would melt away.
Much of what Buddhism is concerned with is how you fabricate stuff in your own head, and learn to see the whole process and how you handle it. Analyzing a thought in a set of steps really helps when a bunch of “fanboys” praise Gargoyle, my first work, labeling it as great comics, it moves from my visual” contact with a tweet.
I take the labels I put on it, like my first work, just swipes from Berni Wrightson and Simonson, in comics this is the only job anyone ever liked. From these labels I then fabricate a long story about what a horrible artist I am that I couldn’t do more comics like that and if I had I would have been rich and famous comic book artist. From there it’s how miserable I am from all of this and build a story of bad comics and I am a failure that can’t do anything, so I’m off to eat worms.
What if I asked the four questions about that? Is this little story I made up about my work kind? It’s making me eat worms , eating worms is not a kind thing their slimey. While I’m not the most famous and rich artist in the world, I’ve got food on the table a roof over my head and actually am doing okay in the basics of life. I’ve got it pretty damn great in a lot of ways.
Is it useful? That fabrication just makes me feel bad, I learn nothing about what is right about it and what is wrong about it, it doesn’t help me any way. Is it timely? for god sakes it was thirty years ago maybe it’s not worth even thinking about it any more. And yes I wish I could stop thinking about it when it pops up.