387. The Internet Is Not Real Life

Sami Sage reminds us that even if it feels like EVERYONE on the Internet is at each other’s throats…that’s not really what most people feel.

Sami Sage and Emily Amick are authors of the book Democracy In Retrograde: How to Make Changes Big and Small in Our Country and in Our Lives. They are our guest hosts for It’s Going To Be Okay this week.

Transcripts may not appear in their final version and are subject to change.

Sami:  I’m Sami Sage, and it’s going to be okay. We are in the thick of election season right now, which we all know can be deeply stressful and disheartening, especially in such an intensely polarized and combative online environment. First, here’s some background on me. I’m one of the authors of the recent New York Times bestseller, Democracy in Retrograde, How to Make Changes Big and Small in Our Country and Our Lives, which I wrote alongside my friend and co author Emily Amick, who you may know as at Emily in your phone on social media.

She will be your host on tomorrow and Thursday’s episodes and we’re going to be talking about how to get through this election season with a hopeful, productive outlook that doesn’t give in to the spiral of hopelessness and negativity which is all too easy to get sucked into. This week we want you to tap into the feeling that it’s going to be okay.

Today’s lesson, the internet is not real life. It’s easy to feel like everyone in America, and even globally, is completely at each other’s throats. And this is, of course, a really good reason to want to disengage from political discussions whatsoever. But what if I told you that what you’re seeing online is an illusion, driven by a combination of profit seeking algorithms, organized bot farms, and foreign bad actors, actively working to divide the American people?

That this is not actually representative of the feelings of the American electorate? Here’s what’s really going on. An organization called More in Common found that 67 percent of Americans are part of something called the Exhausted Majority, people who are frustrated by political polarization and who are looking for pragmatic solutions rather than ideological purity.

But you would never know this based on a survey of the most popular and viral commentary within political discourse online. The Exhausted Majority feels overwhelmed and disillusioned, leading to their disengagement and silence. However, their silence unintentionally abets those with extreme views and loud voices and allows them to dominate and control the public square.

If you’re one of the exhausted majority who disengages from political conversation because you believe politics is corrupt and the discourse is toxic, you would be right. but you also have the power to change the discourse by simply being vocal and rational in public. When it comes to elections, the highest voter turnout we’ve ever had was 66 percent in 2020.

Where is that missing third of the electorate? When fewer people speak up and get involved, especially locally, we create a vacuum where book banners can take seats on library boards and a vocal minority of hyper partisan extremists  The lesson here is that if you think of yourself as one of the exhausted majority, remember that your rational voice is important and necessary.

And guess what? You already have everything you need to have a valuable opinion. Your own lived experiences and the privilege of your right to vote. So if you feel hesitant when it comes to so called political conversations,  tune in later this week to find out how to finally conquer that imposter syndrome.