I don't wish to start a political discussion, but I will chime in on this here because I don't want to start a thread to do so... I myself don't use social media, I think it's total garbage. I do not own a smartphone anymore as of this fall. It is becoming more difficult in my line of work to resist however. I am very close to retirement so soon it will be a nonissue... But life is now connected to the Internet, for better or for worse.
I never consumed news, my father kept up with every event that happened because his perceived fears of Communist takeover of the United States, but once I moved out of his house in the early 80s it completely cut off. This has not been the case in the last few months however, as at work I get constant political news that I never have before, so I am now informed. Due to this, I have taken more concern with hot issues, and so I am reading some online about politics, a guilty indulgence if you will.
I would love to cut this off again, as I do feel it is making my life worse, but my re-exposure to the events of the world shows me signs of concern for the near future enough that I am afraid similarly that if I shut myself out freedom will die without my knowledge. I always immediately dismissed claims that the events of the Weimar Republic would be repeatable in the States or any other major democracy within the near future, but it seems more and more likely to me that a similar collapse of the democratic process is coming within the next 15-30 years.
I certainly am aware of the contrasts of Weimar and the modern political climate in the West. My uncle was born around the turn of the 20th century, as a teen he witnessed the decay of the German Empire, the abdication of the monarchs, a German Revolution and civil war all on his doorstep. He himself went on to involve himself in the political scene of the Republic in the mid-late 20s, becoming a member of the DNVP. He attended many rallies, and got in physical altercations with a member of the Communard and later a NSDAP member.
He was one of those that retreated from public light after the Enabling Act, as quickly monarchists became a target of the Goons too. He stressed to me in the 80s that while he despised Republicans (not American), that I must remain most vigilant against those on the far left and far right in their attempts to remove the right of free speech from man.
This is what I fear. I'm too old to do anything about it but this fear is what makes it the hardest for me to back away after this re-exposure. There may come a time when I leave this site too because I may just decide to cut my internet connection off when I retire for good, or only keep it for certain tooled purposes...
Sorry for the long rant. Just wanted to get that off of my chest here, as I see many people sharing the same views. To return to PPC, it is the only reason I have not deactivated my account here. It's a great community of bright minds with a common passion, quite dedicated to their hobby. I have received great advice and help with my PPC adventures here, and I certainly hope I have been able to give the same to someone else. I almost want to just disable the rest of the site, perhaps with the exception of the iPod forum. Much different scene than PPC forum. The iPhone board in particular feels like it could be a different site. I certainly do sympathize with OP's views on the effect of forums and the Internet on one's emotions, I have certainly noticed the same.
Sorry again for the long thread hijack and again best of luck to OP in the future.