How I befriended the 'unfriend' button and focused on the connections that mattered

befriend : to befriendly towards someone / to make someone your friend on a social networking website

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/first-person-unfriend-2022-online-safe-space-1.6348182

The beauty of social media is I can choose who I think are worth engaging with

engaging : pleasant, attractive, and charming

We all have that friend whose posts make us shudder or keep scrolling. Initially it was easy to turn away, because it didn't affect me personally.

shudder : to shake suddenly and briefly, esp. because of an unpleasant thought or feeling

I don't believe that's an option any longer, especially as those divisions become clearer and harder to ignore.

A recent poll for CBC Saskatchewan suggests that our society has become more polarized. In that same poll, 31.5 per cent of respondents said they have reduced contact with a friend or family member because of differing views or opinions.

polarized : divided into two completely opposing groups

Even before 2020, I was aware of friends on my social media accounts — mostly Facebook because I'm of that "Facebook age" — who had some strong, questionable opinions. I can't say I didn't know or didn't see it. I saw a former high school classmate's racist comments on the Colten Boushie trial and ignored them. I saw a mommy-group friend posting about her anti-vaccine thoughts and shrugged because that was "the way she is."

I'm ashamed to say I ignored these things and didn't address them head-on back then.

head-on back: head on back has become an idiomatic expression meaning to turn around and go back the way you came, or to some previous waypoint on your route.

address: to speak or write to someone / to give attention to or deal with a matter or problem

That guy with the racist commentary was louder, blaming the virus on incorrect sources and using slurs to describe immigrants. That old mommy-group friend was sharing misinformation from dubious "health and science" sources.

slur : a remarkt that criticizes someone and is likely to have a harmful effect on their reputation

More people joined in. People I had connected with in the past were sharing a side of themselves that didn't resonate with who I wanted to be today, or who I want my kids to look up to.

resonate : to produce or be filled with clear, continuing sound