The Story of A Soapbox and A Troll
Dear readers,
My sincere apologies for my delayed absence. I got swept away in a torrent of toddlerhood and travel. It’s been way too long since I’ve sat in front of a blank page. I finally have a few hours of childcare and I’m going to do my best to focus on this blank page instead of letting my mind go rampant with to-do lists and other unnecessary distractions (social media).
I’ve written about this before but I’m in the throes of yet another social media frenzy. Most of the time, I have my usage under control. The main way that I stay disengaged from social media is either to deactivate my account (which I do with my Instagram for long periods of time) and limit my posting to almost nothing. Well, the Instagram is reactivated and I’ve been on a posting frenzy for the past week or so—on all the platforms! Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. It works like clockwork: once I re-engage by posting, I am instinctively invested in checking to see who has responded or reacted to my post. It’s an automatic feedback loop.
I am well aware of the reason why I have fallen into this social media rabbit hole. It’s because I’m feeling unsettled and I am looking for a quick solution to soothe my anxious soul. (I recognize the habit; I am in no way saying that it’s healthy.)
Last week, I posted an off-the-cuff remark about Miami Cubans and the part they have played in the current situation on the island. I received a lot of pushback, mostly from Miami Cubans like me – young progressives who don’t fall under the typical Miami Cuban voting block (Republican). They wrote long impassioned responses pointing out to me the nuances that I was ignoring, and we engaged in a healthy debate about the issue. The pushback made me think more deeply about what I was actually trying to say about Miami Cubans, because it was clear that my comment had missed the mark. After several days of ruminating on this, I decided to write a second post—this one delving into what I see as deep-seated hypocrisy amongst Miami Cubans and their loyal, decades-long Republican voting record. In my mind, I was engaging with the same people who had responded to my previous post—liberal Latinos like me. Little did I know, my post set off a firestorm in my family.
Although most of my family members aren’t on Facebook, I am friends with some of my younger cousins, one of whom consistently posts memes making fun of liberals and makes comments like “Trump 2024” on my political posts. I have always seen him as a nuisance but nothing to get worked up about. Unbeknownst to me, he took screenshots of my posts and sent them to my entire extended family, all of whom fall under the category of Republican-voting Miami Cubans, a group of people that I described in great detail as hypocritical and racist.
Social media gives us a platform—a soapbox on which to say whatever is on our mind. My cousin uses his soapbox to post memes making fun of libtards. I use mine to promote liberal issues like the expansion of voting rights and environmental concerns. It was never my intention to engage my family on this issue, and yet, sometimes what gets said on our soapbox doesn’t stay on the platform. This was a small taste for me about how what we say on social media can sometimes run away from us and take on a life of its own.
I don’t regret what I wrote on my Facebook. While it may have pissed off a dozen or so relatives, my post (which I took a lot of time to reflect and write) resonated with countless readers. I received personal messages from friends and strangers thanking me for putting into words their thoughts exactly. In many cases, this was the first time that they were speaking to anyone about this controversial topic.
Although my post does little to change the shitty situation that Cubans are living on the island, maybe it can do something to start conversations here in the States about the privilege that Cuban immigrants hold and the questionable ways they use that privilege (questionable from a liberal perspective). Perhaps our conversation will encourage someone to have an honest conversation with a family member, or maybe something I wrote will sink into someone's brain enough to plant a seed of doubt.
In writing the post, I was able to refine my thinking and reach conclusions that I hadn’t otherwise considered. Engaging with others who reached out to me and shared their thoughts and experiences gave me new things to think about. Even the “fallout” with my family has given me the opportunity to have new insights.
This experience has reinforced for me the power of the pen, and it has also reminded me that not everyone will like what we have to say. There will always be feedback—both positive and negative. In this case, the negative feedback was loud and intense, but it’s good to remind myself that the majority of the feedback was positive and productive. Although there were times when I wanted to erase what I’d written and hide, I’ve decided that having people disagree with you isn’t a reason to keep quiet.
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