While laying on the couch at night tired, I’ve made mistakes of late. One was ordering $100 worth of specialty coffee when we already had plenty, and the other was responding to a post on Instagram.

I’ve made it a point to follow voices online that come from a wide range of experiences and perspectives. To use labels I despise, many of these might be considered more conservative or on the right side of the political spectrum.

Many of these people have quickly become personalities and influencers and have acquired millions of followers.

I wrote a very gentle disagreement with a post by one such personality I had been enjoying for some time. He went on a sophomoric tirade, and I disagreed with him in the most innocuous manner, which was a trigger for many of his disciples.

The resulting pile-on was toxic, not overly threatening, but it was illustrative to me yet again just how broken discourse is. To them, at least if what they write is illustrative of their beliefs, you are either with them, or you are the enemy, and enemies are everywhere.

Lessoned learned, now I keep my phone away from my hands when I am tired, and I spend less and less time on anti-social media.