The Blessing and the Curse of Technology

Technology is a blessing. And a curse.

I am typing this message inside a very full bus. Few seats and not that much space for people doing this long hour trip on their feet. I am deactivating the cell phone's browser and Google Chrome, as I am sticking with Brave and have been for a while. And this process has been kinda painful: Google Chrome is the most used web browser and as most cell phones are part of Android universe, it's more than natural. However, it hands me a little too many ads and trying to read anything is almost certain that I'll end up hitting a surprise pop up ad. My cell phone is a Redmi, which gives me Mi Browser as a default. And although Mi browser blocks some commercials, it still allows pop ups; trying to see something on YouTube still gives me ads, despite the ad block. And although I'd like to use the easiness of Chrome or being faithful to Mi Browser, Brave wins. Wins because you block ads, because it blocks cookies without having websites asking to accept or decline cookies, YouTube runs smoothly with an aggressive ad block. However, I sometimes feel guilty for not being faithful to my mobile's ecosystem or brand browser. It might sound stupid, but it is what it is.

As it happens with browsers, it happens with e-mail apps: I have two email accounts (I deleted my 15 years old Yahoo account, last year or a couple of years ago). None of them are from Gmail, although I was using using Gmail's app. I decided to download the app of my email provider, deactivate Gmail and also use my provider's 2 factor authenticator.

I also decided to clean, out of anxious guilt, my social media. I am I following a little too many politics' accounts, a little too many pornographic accounts. All that to end up feeling guilty and, by the end of the month, actively search for some of those accounts. This happens a little too often. I follow and I unfollow. Repeat the process every so often, although anxiety never calms down.

Yes, a lot of that behaviour comes out of anxiety. Yes, I know that social media isn't exactly good for such mental states and the lack of medical support isn't either. But social media can be such a haven, when my country health system fails constantly with mental health (and health in general, especially to the natives). 

Although I'm not going anywhere with this post, it's taking me exactly where I wanted to go: I am typing down the frustration that technology can give me, but I am also writing to leave this here and move on.