Embrace Debate: Where Does Unfollowing Someone On Social Media Rank In Terms Of Disrespectful Moves?

You know, I admit, sometimes I allow myself to be triggered by the national discourse on these talking head shows. I know I shouldn't, I know it's all part of their plan, but things are tense right now with the Celts being 2 wins shy of Banner 18.

But then we get a segment like this that has nothing to do with me and the NBA team I root for and I can't lie, it's so insane that all you can do is laugh. As someone who isn't a Big J, is this sports journalism in 2024? Is this what kids are going to school for nowadays? This isn't a shot at Perk or anything like that. ESPN is just doing their standard ESPN thing with stuff like this. Forget that you know, this was all due to Perk's own actions

So instead of ragging on ESPN, I instead want to ask a question. As an old, I'm curious…

Where does unfollowing someone on social media rank in terms of disrespectful moves you can do to someone?

For example, while waiting for the Finals to come back I had Netflix on in the background while I did house chores. On an episode of Married At First Sight (an absolutely insane show that's the perfect type of reality trash to watch while cleaning), there was this whole scene where everyone was calling out one dude for unfollowing the rest of the group on social media. They treated that guy like he was a leper or like someone who just committed first-degree murder! A move apparently so disgusting nobody could even look at him.

Pretty much every single person in that group was in agreement that this was s gigantic slap in the face to everyone, and all I kept thinking was "who gives a fuck?" Especially if you don't even like the person! At first I thought maybe he cheated or did something fucked up like spread false rumors, stuff like that. But then they went around the circle and were all complaining about who he followed or didn't follow on social media. It was at this moment that I had to remind myself that this was yet another example of me just being an old. 

On some level I get it. New generation, new social rules, all that stuff. Something that might seem like a nothing burger to an old like me is the most important thing in the world to the younger generation. But….LeBron and Perk are around my age. It's a little sad for this to even be a topic in the first place. It's sad and petty for LeBron to "unfollow" Perk knowing it would cause a stir, and it's sad that this was a legitimate segment on TV.

But what I want to know is if this is the most disrespectful thing you can do? Personally, I'd say no. I wouldn't even say blocking someone is all that disrespectful. To me, it's all about the mute. I can say with certainty that people 10000% mute me on Twitter, because I understand what my feed looks like during Celts games and maybe they don't enjoy my content overall but maybe they still follow me. It doesn't bother me in the slightest because I'm someone who thinks it's pretty normal to create whatever type of feed you want on your socials, but to me, that's way more of a "fuck you" than the overall unfollow.

And yes, in case you were wondering, I am once again losing my mind until Game 3. That's what happens when the NBA puts 10,000 days in between games. First Take has segments about who LeBron follows and unfollows, and I write blogs about it because I need it to be Wednesday night already. 

In the end, maybe we're all losers (or just me for blogging it. I'll allow that at a time like this)