Triggered by a Top Writer, I Quit Facebook

I’m irritated by fawning fans.

It’s true, I don’t have anybody sending me knickers or dirty pics but seeing people ‘fanboy’ over writers irritates the fuck out of me.

It’s jealousy. I wish I had that level of adoration.

Obsessive behavior. It feels so needy when it's directed at a person. The idol worshipping. Get a life right? What compels a person to constantly proclaim to their idol their unwavering faith? On a writing platform such as this, it looks stalkerish.

Comment after comment on every post the author has written. The adulation shining through. The constant reassurance their worshipping brings must be exhausting. On Twitter. On Facebook. On Instagram. On and on. A sewerage full of stink.

What compels them? Do they have nothing better to do with their lives?

One such writer has a fanboy obsessive. Good for them. I’m sure they secretly love the attention.

This writer triggers me.

Not in the way Dim Herring would. I don’t read any of the Herring-Meister’s work. It bored me to tears. Full of self-righteous affirmation from somebody who has never really struggled in their life. Yes…I’m aware he suffers from depression, but I don’t give a crap.

No. This writer is great. A fucking star. Their early work was white-hot. It supernova its way across our screens with choice words and startling epiphanies. It was incredible stuff.

At some point, burnout occurred and the writer chewed through their personal stories. They chased the dollars. They chased the audience. They began shitposting. The after-glow had worn off.

This is the point where the writer begins to annoy. They lack conviction in their pivoting. They’ve failed to entertain as they desperately seek a new niche. The quality is down.

This writer has blown through their stack of greatness.

This isn’t what triggers me.

It’s their constant need to be an arsehole, to play a part, that pisses me off. Often it’s at the expense of others. By others, I mean mostly men. They would never attack a woman in print. I’ve been a victim of their tongue-lashing on several occasions and it wasn’t an attractive lick.

I’m done now.

I can’t follow this person any longer. I can’t be feeling annoyed and angry at some weird troll who I have never met. This person is a stranger to me. If I stopped following them on social channels, they would cease to exist in my world. It’s as simple as that.

Years ago, a friendship turned sour.

I loved chatting with this person. We worked at the same office. Every morning I would seek him out and have a ten-minute chat about life, music, and everything in between. We shared a lot in common. We had mutual friends. We biked together. Lunched together. Had BBQs together and went to concerts together.

A true bromance.

Then one day, somebody alleged he had an affair. Gossip spread. It was a small office so everybody knew who the affair was with. It never happened. It was wishful thinking on the woman’s part as she did everything in her powers to be with him. She would set up doggy dates. She would accidentally run into him on the weekends. Lunch would coincide with his.

It was an incredibly unlikely match-up.

I was friends with her and knew she had a major crush on him. I thought it was a completely ridiculous notion. I could never imagine those two hooking up. And they never did. But the gossip and rumors in a small company run like wildfire.

He blamed me for spreading the news, for making up stories. It didn’t happen overnight. It took months and months for him to confront me. Months and months of him slowly withdrawing and spending less time with me. Over this period, he would get angry with me and our conversations would turn into arguments. I had no idea why this kept happening. Eventually, I confronted him and asked him outright what was bugging him.

It was me. I bugged him. He could no longer trust me.

This hurt. My greatest value is trust. I’m honest and upfront in everything I do. I hate gossip. I can’t imagine ever going behind someone’s back in a malicious way.

We stopped seeing each other.

On Facebook, his posts would be a constant reminder of a friendship lost. My mutual friends had sided with him. Their posts were filled with mountain bike rides, concerts, and BBQs with him.

I would get angry every time I saw a shared post.

He triggered me.

I recognize the signs.

I know when a relationship has turned toxic. We may be strangers living worlds apart but if I feel triggered, then I need to stop viewing their work. I need to stop viewing their posts. I need to stop following them like some fawning schoolgirl crushing hard on their favorite pop idol.

I need to stop following their sycophantic fans. The name-droppers. The serial-taggers. The idolizers.

We are so entwined within a community of writers that it’s impossible to avoid this person completely. Drastic action was required.

So I quit Facebook.

There were other reasons why quitting Facebook was good for me, but mostly I could feel myself being triggered every time I logged on. I would curse under my breath reading the fanboy messages and their words of wisdom. They preached as if they were the greatest writer on the planet. As if they and they alone knew how to work the system and nobody else was worthy of their respect.

It was a good show but it was time to quit.

This preening individual won’t notice. Their life will continue in much the same way. They’ll preach to their fans proclaiming their greatness and everybody will clap and admire their stunning wit and outrageous talent.

Nothing will change.

But mentally, I will be better. Calmer. Less triggered.

Is it time you took action too?

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