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To Whom It May Concern:
New Year, New Blog!
Cancer and social media are two words I never thought I’d say in the same sentence. In our community, these two words hold a lot of meaning.
We all have different views and purposes when it comes to social media, and all are valid!
I want to share my experience:
I began to share my breast cancer journey on social media after active treatment. Shortly after, I decided to take a social media hiatus, which ended up being two years, because it was really triggering. I often found myself scrolling and getting triggered by recurrences, deaths, questionable advice, and percentages that were not evidence-based. I remember spiraling into the dark hole of social media and having one too many menty b’s.
I felt alone when this used to happen during and after active treatment because it was hard to explain this to my circle. I mean, social media and cancer are an unconventional pair.
Now, my mental health is better and social media doesn’t trigger me like it used to. I now feel ready to continue what I started back in 2020 and increase breast cancer awareness to the best of my ability.
In terms of social media, this is a place where I generally go to have fun. I get creative inspiration, laugh at memes, make connections, and spread breast cancer awareness.
BUT! I still have mixed feelings because nothing about cancer is fun, and it’s challenging to share all aspects of my journey in Instagram posts that are limited to 2200 characters and 90 seconds.
I wanted to relaunch my blog when I was a better me and share more details without being confined by limitations and algorithms.
I also wanted to relaunch my blog for those who get triggered like me. The infinite social media scroll is inevitable, and the algorithm can push triggering posts into your feed. For this reason, I prefer blogs because you can manually click on posts you’re interested in with fair warning.
I want to end with this:
Reflecting back on my two-year hiatus, I learned that getting triggered by social media DOES NOT mean you are jealous, weak, illogical, etc.
No matter how smart you are, no matter how strong you are, and no matter how positive you are… A CANCER DIAGNOSIS IS NO JOKE. Getting triggered is a real thing in our community.
I also learned that social media can be used for good and offers different platforms that suit different types of users. It’s important to navigate social media by setting boundaries, picking the types of platforms that best fit your interests, and following accounts that align with you!
What are your thoughts on cancer and social media?
Breast regards,
Michelle
