Most Okie’s Want Their Social Media’s Deleted Upon Death

How many times have you looked through your social media history or memories and cringed a little on the inside? It's OK, that's a tell-tale sign that you're growing as a person, and it happens to most of us. In fact, the vast majority would prefer their entire social media disappear the moment they die.

In the weirdest study of statistics I've come across in a while, a poll was conducted by a company called Redact that will erase old social media posts for you. With a little over three thousand people responding nationwide, it painted a very clear picture that most regular everyday people now fear the digital wrath of impotent rage that we all know now as "cancel culture."

Based on the respondents from Oklahoma, 67% of Okies would find it ideal if their social medias were wiped cleaned and deleted when they die. For reference, only 27% of those in Wyoming feel the same way. They were the lowest and most confident state in America, showing that they're quite comfortable with the things they share with the world. All the same, most states fell right in that 65-75% range. We're totally normal.

In the same small study, it showed that one in ten Americans actually worry that there is a definite possibility that could be a post they've shared in the past that could now be considered offensive. Seeing as some of the older Facebook accounts are turning fifteen years old, that's understandable.

As you grow, your opinions change. It's a natural thing. Like how young Millennials used to love the idea of socialism coming out of college a decade ago, but in finding success in hard work, the current system isn't so bad anymore. We all grow to change our minds on one thing or another throughout our life, that's just the average human experience.

Case and point, almost half of all people responding to this study suggest that their past social media posts don't represent their current beliefs and thoughts today. The majority describes old posts as "very" or "substantially" different from the opinions they have now.

Knowing how people dig through social media these days looking for a reason to get upset, people who understand the risks will usually set their profiles to private at some point or another, especially when applying for a new job.

What about politics? The internet is the greatest communications tool the world has ever seen. It's a place where any topic and any view within reason (pedophilia will never be OK) should be discussed with understanding and respect... but we both know that's not how the internet works. Forty percent of people refuse to post about politics out of fear of being bullied. This is why social media is a plague, but I have a solution for you and you can start to turn a new leaf today.

About four years ago, when Facebook started its daily "memories" feature, I started deleting just about everything it had to show me from my past. A lot of it was cringy in that "Was I really that immature?" sort of way, but some of it could also be misconstrued as something it wasn't. It wasn't a fear of cancel culture, I've taken on social justice warriors for things I've said on the radio my entire career and I'm still here... It was because we all grow up at one point or another. I'd encourage you to do the same thing.

All the same, I'm a little guilty of the cancel culture tendencies too. I can't tell you how many times I've connected with a female and like any normal modern-day American, instantly looked them up on Facebook. I might scroll through to see what kind of person they are when they're not trying to impress and find something I didn't agree with.

It could have been an opinion that guns should be banned or their politics... I can even remember ghosting at least one person because they had the French flag overlay on one of their past profile picture after the Nice, France truck-driver terror attack. I saw it as just another person trying to "fit in" and signal their virtue to society, and to think that could have been the mother of my two kids maximum. Social media makes it's far too early to instantly throw people away, and that's a real modern problem.

As I grow older, while I cringe at my own past social media self, I do think I've become more patient and understanding with others. I don't see that French flag overlay and think "This person must be an idiot", instead I remember that I cringe at my own past self too. Now if only those social justice warriors who intentionally seek out their next cancel culture victims could grow up a little too, the internet might actually grow to become the communication tool it was designed to be one day.