Escaping Social Media - How the NH Bridge Brigade Set Me Free

Written by Mike Tranchemontagne, edited by Dianne Kottke

Since he came down that elevator in 2015, I've been dumbfounded how anyone with half a brain could fall for his bullshit. Sorry not sorry, but there it is.

That's when social media became really political for me. I was posting memes, reading news articles, and getting into discussions/arguments. It was kind of addicting to duke it out in the comments. I shared lots of news stories, mostly from AP, on my feed and in groups. The common theme was "Look how corrupt he is!"  So there was always plenty to share! But eventually I realized I was just arguing with strangers, and not changing anyone's mind about anything. And on another level, I was playing into his distractions. But I admit, engaging with others on social media was a hard habit to break. Hours would slip by and later I'd feel like it was just wasted time.

Some Facebook groups were different though. Groups like Hands Off, Indivisible and many others showed photos of people protesting peacefully, and some of these protests were close by, in the real world. I started going to Tyngsboro Indivisible’s street protests on Saturdays. It was great to stand with over 100 people week after week. It was fun and gave me hope. It was a relief to see that I was not alone.

In June 2025, I stood with No Kings in Nashua.  It was huge and exciting! And I continued to spend most of my Saturday afternoons joining in with Tyngsboro’s standouts. I was spending less time on Facebook, and not missing it much. But old habits die hard, so I'd still check in, but only for minutes, not hours.

I then stood with No Kings 2 in October, joining in Tyngsboro’s standout and then Nashua’s. There, I met someone from NH Bridge Brigade and he gave me a card. My immediate reaction was "yeah I could do that, I could stand out on a bridge." So I went home and signed up on their website, NHBBD.org, and got signed up in Slack.

The next day I was on Nashua’s Exit 4 bridge and met Jacqui. I had my No Kings banner and hung it on the fence. And that was the beginning. How convenient, and so close to my home! Somehow it felt different, even better than standing with Tyngsboro. It was a much smaller group, but had much more impact! Thousands of drivers were seeing us and our banners week after week. We are a tight-knit community standing up for democracy together. As the weeks rolled by, I spent more time with so many new friends, protesting (or as we like to say, protecting) and getting ready for the next protests by making signs and making plans.

All this activity meant I had less and less time for social media, and that led to less interest in engaging online. Funny thing about social media: the more time you're on it, the more you want to be on it. That's the algorithm designed to suck you in. But standing with friends–all together, making a difference, having fun, and building community–that's my antidote!

And when you are part of this community with true real-world connections, who needs social media?!

See you on the Bridges!