madgirl

I am wondering if any of you can relate to this - I follow a few funny Instagrammers who appear to be targeting women about 15 years younger than myself, and DAILY they post pics of wine, longing to come home from work and drink everything in the house, etc.

It's supposed to be funny, but I sort of snapped one day when I saw a posting of a picture which had a banana on the left with the caption "100 calories" and a vodka tonic on the right "65 calories". The idea was - which one do you choose? And of course since the target demographic are young women, the choice was supposed to be the vodka tonic.

For some reason this really pissed me off. I commented "well one of those choices nourishes your body, and the other one has absolutely no nutritional value whatsoever - girls don't starve yourself for booze!"

Anyway, it was supposed to be funny. I feel sometimes like I am totally losing my sense of humor.

overforty

Hey madgirl
I can completely relate!
I'm still in early sobriety - just a little over a month and I have days where I've had a complete sense of humour bypass!
But to be fair the banana / vodka tonic joke wasn't funny!

When somethings really funny we'll laugh
X

sg1970

I clocked out of social media early in sobriety. When I went back I cleaned up anything and anyone who really got under my skin. Life is too short.

ScottFromWI

I think we are simply a little more sensitive to it early on, but as others have suggested simply not following those types of people is an easy solution.

I personally also checked out of social media completely. While most platforms have legitimate uses, the bulk of what you see there is not productive. There is a a lot of vanity and most of it is simply a waste of time.

madgirl

I'd quit Facebook years ago, before I got sober. Really the only platform I still engage in is Instagram, because it isn't all that personal and most of the time is fun.

I was just curious if all the joking around about alcohol abuse ever got to anyone else in early recovery.

madgirl

This is not a sales pitch (ha ha) but Instagram isn't really all that personal, if you follow the right people. I obviously love my beagle, so I follow lots of other beagles and get to see fun pictures of beagles and beagle videos from all over the world.

I don't even actually *know* most of the people I follow - it's mostly things I am a fan of - or organizations which post amazing pictures (National Geographic, NASA, etc)

Jsober

I don't have social media but that would irk me a bit . I've been sober a few years and I still do get irked by the media at large from time to time. Most of the tv shows I watch slip alcohol in whenever they can. When someone is going through a hard time or had a bad day a friend will hand them a bottle/glass. When someone is celebrating or just deep in thought. The alcohol industry is prevelant and powerful. It doesn't usually bug me- it is what it is for now. I could not watch tv if needed. But I'm definitely aware of the messages they are trying to send.

madgirl

Yeah I agree - it's insidious. When you walk into a Publix (I live in the southeast United States - this is a grocery store chain) and it's close to Cinco de Mayo, there is a huge promotional display with beer and junk food right at the entrance. Just today at a Wal Mart, there was a display with alcoholic mixers with a summer/poolside/camping theme.

It's amazing really. I am not irked by the merchants per se, they're just trying to drive sales - but the social media content - particularly Instagram - can really upset me because they're driving YOUNG peoples' thinking and behavior (oh it's totally normal to be hungover or drinking far too much!)