I got rid of my FB account about 3 years ago, and I’m better off for it.
Anyone who I was “friends” with on FB, I could always just reach them using Hangouts (there’s only one person though who falls into that category, since other people I just text)
@FroodyFrog Just rid myself of mine a month ago. Better off for it is indeed the right words. Couldn’t drop it for awhile since it was how my church organized itself. Hangouts YES!!
I don’t think it makes me cooler. It’s just that I have a certain level of tolerance for idiocy, and by not having fb, my daily level isn’t reached before noon.
@FroodyFrog the quality of your interaction on any social media is directly related to the people you choose to interact with. If your fb was filled with idiocy; that’s not the fault of the platform.
@FroodyFrog
Unlike you, i tolerate…and i know who not to read. I am lucky to have an excellent family;
and good families, according to my notion, involve lots of toleration and very selective hearing. When the assholes and idiots go forth, i just forget to notice, if they are family members or old and somewhat dear connections.
People are allowed to be stupid. If we werent, where would i be?
@FroodyFrog
If you dont associate me with stupidity, you havent seen me operate In Real Life.
My incompetence at Real Life used to cause me considerable pain/shame, but now i’m kinda fond of it.
As for the unpleasant among us, i try for a mix of good manners, a need to be elsewhere, a bit of compassion, psychological deafness, and having gotten good at turning all conversations to my own purposes in a way people dont seem to mind.
Perhaps this suffices because i am largely solitary and like it. If the irritaions from others were common or daily, i would start either acting worse or becoming very avoidant.
@Thumperchick
Know-it-all…i am very practiced at grabbing the apparent KnowItAll title at gatherings when i get bored or annoyed. Very nice technique for causing people to move away. I like.
@medz That’s my limit. Only post religious stuff and you’re gone. It’s not the benign stuff, it’s the obnoxious Christian “I’m better than you because God”
In years and years, I’ve dropped only one friend. I think the world of Hillary Clinton, & the friend in question supported (probably still supports) Bernie & posted really insulting crap about Hill. I get enough of that in the litterbox every night.
@gertiestn I’ve managed to slowly remove almost all political bashing pages from my newsfeed. This way I get to keep my friends on all sides and don’t have to scream obscenities at the ridiculous image macro they posted before they had coffee.
Give me your kids, pets, even your lunch - but try to keep the overly-cantankerous politics to yourself. At least until Thanksgiving, where it will have maximum crazy impact.
@gertiestn@Thumperchick I have a habit of debunking political lies (usually found in memes), which seems to piss people off more than actually posting something supporting their most hated opposition. It often causes them to explode with seething, misspelled anger. How dare I actually tell the truth about someone! I find it quite comical. Just yesterday I had a friend of a friend block me after I made him look like a complete idiot. The only reason my buddy keeps him on his friend list is for the entertainment of watching others shoot down the troll.
I don’t have many friends that use Twitter, so really the only notifications I get are from those cam whores. They’re dumb enough to randomly follow me, or to like tweets that I send out for voting for events, so I block them to keep my ‘good’ rep.
As an expansion on what I mean for ‘event’ I mean when I tweet something for a contest that I could win something, and which means I’m not actually expressing myself or sharing anything.
@heartny
I would accidentally forget to follow such instructions on principle. Or simply tell the order giver that i would not comply, altho i sympathised w situation.
I would try to forgive the order giver, excusing them on grounds of temp insanity if at all possible.
I only have an fb account because I drunkenly let my best friend drunkenly create one for me one drunken night. She spelled my name wrong. I hate the damn thing and wouldn’t use it at all except my tiny core group of friends likes to schedule things through it. Which, still doesn’t work since I hate it and rarely check it. I have drunkenly friended a few people I have no desire to be in communication with, so my unfriending criterion seems to be ‘sobering up.’
On Twitter, however, pretty much anything goes. Really only unfollow accounts that repost the same crap repeatedly and/or no longer interest me.
Yeah, I need to clear out my friends lists of people whom I don’t know, all these friends-of-a-friend and ppl. I only friended during that thankfully brief period of “social games.”
I think “unfriending” is the worst invention of the 21st century to date. It has cheapened all human relationships. I refuse to unfriend anyone for any reason. It’s fucking disgusting that two clicks is now all it takes to end a friendship. That’s horrible. I’m getting even more depressed just thinking about it.
@Dizavid I think that social media helped to cheapen the overall quality of friendships. It starts with the adding of friends - people you usually would have had a one off conversation with are now on your friends list. Those folks would not have made it into your social circles in the past.
While this is a great way to get to know people you may have otherwise overlooked, it does add a level of superficiality to friendship, making the unfriend a necessary piece of the equation.
As an example, I have very little hesitation for unfriending an annoying acquaintance, but will simply unfollow an actual friend.
@Dizavid Relationships have always been selective. They should be. Social media opens up the opportunity of connecting with people you probably wouldn’t have ever met (and may yet never meet IRL). It’s only logical that it would be just as easy to close the door on someone who’s not making a positive contribution to your life. I don’t need every uneducated, unteachable, irrational, hateful idiot in the world influencing me. Plenty of them get through anyway and I have obligatory (and even affectionate) relationships with several already, so why shouldn’t I filter most of the rest of them out?
My FB unfriending strategy goes like this: I log in to the book of faces on any given day and take a look at the birthdays listed for that particular day. I then think back to what, if any, meaning this person has to me at this point in my life and whether or not their presence in my feed adds any value for me/are they related to me/would I get any grief for deleting them. At that point I either keep them or remove them.
TL;DR As a birthday present I unfriend people on the reg.
My only use for social media is as a high tech rolodex. Everyone keeps updating their contact info for me. As for using it to be social? Meh.
On a side note, my job has a “social media interactions” department. They decided a couple months that the name was too long, so the official name they use now is “SocMed.” Imagine seeing that on legal documents.
To this day, I have yet to get on facebook. I hear enough from other people all the garbage my younger family posts and I’d smack every one of them if I were on it.
My method is quite simple for unfriending. Facebook notifies you on birthdays. Once I see that notification I ponder, would I say hello to that person if I saw them in a Grocery Store. If no I then unfriend them…Happy Birthday!
I unfollow, not unfriend. The last unfollow was a longtime acquaintance who agreed with a meme with Obama being arrested. Seriously? I had unfollowed her husband when it became obvious that he thought the Jade Helm thing was real.
I can handle a lot of stuff, but sometimes the crazy is just too much.
Social Media works by removing “the filter”… I for one need a filter. Most everyone else does as well.
Besides, who wants to sit around all day reading about <insert entrenched political, social, or religious view> friend arguing with other <insert entrenched political, social, or religious view friend>. Ain’t nobody got time for that.
I got blocked this week though. For pointing out that this old video is a fake. Some old fart was screaming that it was true (I think he’s not real fond of women) and I asked him if he’d checked out the snopes link and I was told that snopes is a lie and that he’s a journalist and he’s 75 years old. Then he told me he went to my timeline and that I was a nutjob (public sees a shit ton of crafting stuff and anti-trump links). Then, he took me off of his facebook.
I was so sad. I had to go watch kitten videos for about an hour, then I was okay.
@sohmageek Hey, is your first name Summer and are you a berniebro? Damn, got into it yesterday that with someone who kept telling me to RESEARCH. I did, I posted links to polls, (“tRUMP STOMPS $hillary! Bernie STOMPS tRUMP! RESEARCH! Don’t vote for $hillary, you’ll give tRUMP the elections” were the words posted to me) and since I still wasn’t on Summer’s side of the fence, the screams of RESEARCH kept coming.
Damn, you want me to join your point of view, tell me why I should, don’t think you’re going to bully me into it. YOU talk ME into it. YOU show ME why your way is better, don’t expect me to go RESEARCH until I find your opinion put out there in such a way it becomes mine.
@lisaviolet logic is hard for some people. I have a friend that is passionate about Bernie. But he’s trying to convince us that Hillary is a good 2nd choice. He had good points. And before I just posted #neverhillary #CrookedHillary and hit send I had to think and realize I would have been doing the same thing others do that piss me off. So I thought and came up with good arguments posted them instead and talked it out intellectually.
He still feels his way I still feel my way.
I didn’t post my complete view and I’ll keep that to social media not meh. I used this as an example. I like to debate. I’ve debated on the side of Hitler to practice research and debate. If people want to know my complete side they should be able to figure out how to find me if they want to continue discussion
@sohmageek Exactly. I wanted Bernie. I really, really wanted Bernie. But I really, really, REALLY don’t want Trump. Bernie would have wiped the floor with him. Bernie would have kicked his orange ass from here to the Mexican wall.
I just don’t want Donnie Little Hands holding the reigns to this country. And yelling at me because you (not you, but the royal you) think I’m a sellout certainly isn’t going to change my mind. If anything, it will further entrench me into my position.
I’m on Facebook because I have shit to say. And because I’m interested in what some other people have to say. I have 600 “friends” but pretty much only read what’s posted by a small list of family (all of my immediate and a handful of extended) and another list (currently at 57) made up of my most intelligent, creative, compassionate, interesting and articulate friends–and most of them don’t overpost (some people on the list may post once a month). They rarely lapse into the sort of inanity that I hear others complaining about (and, yes, I do see that stuff when I look at an unfiltered feed; though I also unfollow semi-stupid people). My interesting friends are badass motherfuckers. I’m also in several groups (a few closed and secret) groups that are similarly select, where we talk–sometimes without filters–about language, politics, religion, art, culture, weed, music, etc.
Why the fuck wouldn’t I want to participate in that kind of community?
I basically get on Twitter and interact during political debates and when I’m at events, because those venues provide a focus to the relative chaos. Twitter is noisy.
Most of the bitching about Facebook is bullshit. It’s not perfect, but it does a decent job of connecting people and giving us at least some sort of platform where we can interact. I’d much rather have it than not. And, yes, words are my thing. And I like images too. So, duh.
The problems with Facebook are largely the problems with people: most of us are idiots and assholes. But while Facebook might bring stuff to light (actually a good thing, but there’s shit we’d rather not look at) and, as any other technology, amplify, it also provides tools to ameliorate.
One of the first people I blocked was a cousin who was always interpolating himself into every political or religious thing I posted. He’d often copy large blocks of text from sites like breitbart (and not even enclose them in quotes). He’s generally full of shit and regurgitates FOX talking points. He’s a racist, a bigot and a religious zealot who’s also obnoxious and unmoved by either the facts or logic. He’s been a bully since we were kids, and, if I’m honest, I never really liked him them. And he annoyed most of the people I respect (including other extended family). I felt like I was basically enabling him by just posting how I felt (again, because he felt the need to interject). But he’s family. Anyway, it was difficult to bring myself to actually blocking him, but once I did, I felt very good. Since then it’s been easier and easier, and I routinely block the stupidest, most bigoted and least productive of friends of friends. I’m at 24 now.
@lisaviolet I FB messaged you. But I’m not at all hard to find. I was able to get my username as a FB address (as in here, and Twitter and Wordpress and a few other places):
https://www.facebook.com/<username>
As easy as I am to find, I’m somehow nervous about making it any easier. But let me know if you’re still having trouble.
@joelmw I definitely overpost. Now, instead of a smattering of the usual shares, occasional rants, and general fuckery, there are a (probably) annoying number of baby pictures. I have become the shitty fb friend.
@Thumperchick Most of the people I respect (including me )–and many more that I don’t–love baby pictures. One of our favorite couples just had a kid and I feel deprived that they don’t post more. I’d rather see the child of someone I know than some other random “cute” mammal. And FB has gotten better about aggregating photos, so it’s not so overwhelming. Moreover, human offspring are arguably the most interesting things on the planet, and the pinnacle of human creation.
Okay, I’ll be honest: I don’t like to look at some people’s spawn, especially as they age and the parents are sure that the kid’s minor accomplishment is both singular and a sure indication of, oh, a future Nobel or Pulitzer or some shit like that; it really does very much depend on the parents and whether and how much I like them. Plus, infants get a special dispensation. I think you’ve got a few months left.
@joelmw so I get called Bigoted when I’m not in the least. I could go on… but I’m not going to get political on here… However, people are quick to jump to assumptions instead of listening to the reasoning. Not all things are face value as they seem.
Anyone that doesn’t listen to reason, or agree to disagree… I can’t stand it when someone doesn’t agree with me but won’t accept a mutual agreement that we won’t agree… I can live with you not agreeing with everything I agree about… But when I’m done and say we won’t agree lets leave it as that and they won’t accept it… it makes no sense.
Oh that’s easy…Candy Crush requests
@somf69 You can turn those requests off. No need to shun an actual friend.
With any luck, by the end of election season, my newsfeed will be completely empty.
I got rid of my FB account about 3 years ago, and I’m better off for it.
Anyone who I was “friends” with on FB, I could always just reach them using Hangouts (there’s only one person though who falls into that category, since other people I just text)
@FroodyFrog Just rid myself of mine a month ago. Better off for it is indeed the right words. Couldn’t drop it for awhile since it was how my church organized itself. Hangouts YES!!
I deactivate for months at a time. If I need to find someone/something’s contact info I log back in and deactivate.
Twitter, I usually mute offenders. I blocked my mom when my phone notified me she joined Twitter.
In b4 all the people who think not having fb makes them better/cooler. (Damn, didn’t hit save fast enough.)
@Thumperchick Wait, what? I must be doing it all wrong. I thought it made me a nerdy outcast.
@Thumperchick
I don’t think it makes me cooler. It’s just that I have a certain level of tolerance for idiocy, and by not having fb, my daily level isn’t reached before noon.
@FroodyFrog the quality of your interaction on any social media is directly related to the people you choose to interact with. If your fb was filled with idiocy; that’s not the fault of the platform.
@Thumperchick
You’re right, it’s @dashcloud’s fault.
@FroodyFrog
Unlike you, i tolerate…and i know who not to read. I am lucky to have an excellent family;
and good families, according to my notion, involve lots of toleration and very selective hearing. When the assholes and idiots go forth, i just forget to notice, if they are family members or old and somewhat dear connections.
People are allowed to be stupid. If we werent, where would i be?
@f00l
I’ve never associated you with stupidity, so I can’t answer that question.
Oh, I tolerate stupidity, but I am not filled with endless patience.
@Thumperchick
Do you enjoy being logical?
@FroodyFrog not nearly as much as I enjoy being an insufferable know-it-all.
@Thumperchick
Those are always fun to have around.
@FroodyFrog
If you dont associate me with stupidity, you havent seen me operate In Real Life.
My incompetence at Real Life used to cause me considerable pain/shame, but now i’m kinda fond of it.
As for the unpleasant among us, i try for a mix of good manners, a need to be elsewhere, a bit of compassion, psychological deafness, and having gotten good at turning all conversations to my own purposes in a way people dont seem to mind.
Perhaps this suffices because i am largely solitary and like it. If the irritaions from others were common or daily, i would start either acting worse or becoming very avoidant.
@Thumperchick
Know-it-all…i am very practiced at grabbing the apparent KnowItAll title at gatherings when i get bored or annoyed. Very nice technique for causing people to move away. I like.
@f00l
I think this may possibly explain why I like avoiding people.
@FroodyFrog
@f00l
Don’t get me wrong though, I would gladly socialize in real life. Except…
@FroodyFrog
Well i like my friends, even the ones that (to me) need an attitude correction
In smallish doses.
They are mostly similar in having low desires for companionship, so it works.
I’m way cooler than that, I have a Google+ profile!
@Thumperchick Wait is this an elitist attitude about people with an elitist attitude?
@MrMark who watches the watchmen?
@Thumperchick
The butterflies.
@Thumperchick The technical term is “knowallogist”.
I’ve got the teeshirt and hat.
@lisaviolet
Not a professional Know It All, just a pretender. I wing it. The point is to cause people to find other people to talk with.
@f00l @lisaviolet
I achieve that, but with a different tactic.
THIS is my “social media.” As far as I can tell, you either participate or not, but WTF is “unfriend?”
/giphy unfriend
I get it. You’re religious and/or conservative. Posting 25 memes and fake articles a day about it is annoying enough to earn an unfriend.
@medz but, if you don’t hit “like” enough times, Jesus won’t save the dog with ham on its face!
@medz
@medz That’s my limit. Only post religious stuff and you’re gone. It’s not the benign stuff, it’s the obnoxious Christian “I’m better than you because God”
@Thumperchick share if you love Jesus, ignore if you hate kittens
Only 20% of people are brave enough to share, the rest kick puppies
I remember to log into fb about once a month, but I do love it for family pix.
Most of my best friends don’t use it/hate it. I have a huge fam w lots of kids, am a sucker for the kidpix and petpix.
@f00l by far, sharing pictures and video with far flung family is the best part about fb.
@Thumperchick
Also there are people i would lose the connection with if i didnt use it.
In years and years, I’ve dropped only one friend. I think the world of Hillary Clinton, & the friend in question supported (probably still supports) Bernie & posted really insulting crap about Hill. I get enough of that in the litterbox every night.
@gertiestn I’ve managed to slowly remove almost all political bashing pages from my newsfeed. This way I get to keep my friends on all sides and don’t have to scream obscenities at the ridiculous image macro they posted before they had coffee.
Give me your kids, pets, even your lunch - but try to keep the overly-cantankerous politics to yourself. At least until Thanksgiving, where it will have maximum crazy impact.
@gertiestn @Thumperchick I have a habit of debunking political lies (usually found in memes), which seems to piss people off more than actually posting something supporting their most hated opposition. It often causes them to explode with seething, misspelled anger. How dare I actually tell the truth about someone! I find it quite comical. Just yesterday I had a friend of a friend block me after I made him look like a complete idiot. The only reason my buddy keeps him on his friend list is for the entertainment of watching others shoot down the troll.
I don’t have many friends that use Twitter, so really the only notifications I get are from those cam whores. They’re dumb enough to randomly follow me, or to like tweets that I send out for voting for events, so I block them to keep my ‘good’ rep.
As an expansion on what I mean for ‘event’ I mean when I tweet something for a contest that I could win something, and which means I’m not actually expressing myself or sharing anything.
When my friend’s boyfriend broke up with her, I was instructed to unfriend him.
@heartny
I am so very bad at following instructions.
Oops.
@f00l Well, it didn’t stop me from going to his page to see what’s going on with his new girlfriend
@heartny
I would accidentally forget to follow such instructions on principle. Or simply tell the order giver that i would not comply, altho i sympathised w situation.
I would try to forgive the order giver, excusing them on grounds of temp insanity if at all possible.
@f00l Well, he was cheating on her and broke up with her via text after dating for 18 months, so he was a bit of a jackass.
@heartny
I might unfriend over jackass qualities. Just not on order or for solidarity.
I generally un-follow people that post stuff that is annoying, but I will unfriend them if they are being unruly with their comments on my stuff.
Occasionally, I will un-friend people I never talk to and/or don’t post stuff that is worth while.
I only have an fb account because I drunkenly let my best friend drunkenly create one for me one drunken night. She spelled my name wrong. I hate the damn thing and wouldn’t use it at all except my tiny core group of friends likes to schedule things through it. Which, still doesn’t work since I hate it and rarely check it. I have drunkenly friended a few people I have no desire to be in communication with, so my unfriending criterion seems to be ‘sobering up.’
On Twitter, however, pretty much anything goes. Really only unfollow accounts that repost the same crap repeatedly and/or no longer interest me.
Not sure I’ve ever unfriended anyone on flickr.
@brhfl You can change your name on your account, you know.
@jciatti What, no, that’s like the only thing about it that makes me even remotely happy.
I tell you, the political stuff is getting close…
I would say when politics start flying but I’m not weak minded so…
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
@DrunkCat
@DrunkCat But what if you’re weak-stomached? Or just tired? It’s the Internet, and idiots have unbounded energy.
@FroodyFrog You win.
/giphy a winner is you
I have a few people who manage to turn to the most innocuous posts in political platforms. Seriously, just stop!
Social media is like so 2009.
@mehtherfucker Social deal of the day sites are so 2010, but here we are.
Yeah, I need to clear out my friends lists of people whom I don’t know, all these friends-of-a-friend and ppl. I only friended during that thankfully brief period of “social games.”
I think “unfriending” is the worst invention of the 21st century to date. It has cheapened all human relationships. I refuse to unfriend anyone for any reason. It’s fucking disgusting that two clicks is now all it takes to end a friendship. That’s horrible. I’m getting even more depressed just thinking about it.
@Dizavid I think that social media helped to cheapen the overall quality of friendships. It starts with the adding of friends - people you usually would have had a one off conversation with are now on your friends list. Those folks would not have made it into your social circles in the past.
While this is a great way to get to know people you may have otherwise overlooked, it does add a level of superficiality to friendship, making the unfriend a necessary piece of the equation.
As an example, I have very little hesitation for unfriending an annoying acquaintance, but will simply unfollow an actual friend.
@Thumperchick You’re still being part of the problem. Everyone is “annoying.” That should not mean they get cut off from friendship.
@Dizavid No, they’re not. I’m not annoying. At all. Ever.
@lisaviolet @Dizavid
@Dizavid Relationships have always been selective. They should be. Social media opens up the opportunity of connecting with people you probably wouldn’t have ever met (and may yet never meet IRL). It’s only logical that it would be just as easy to close the door on someone who’s not making a positive contribution to your life. I don’t need every uneducated, unteachable, irrational, hateful idiot in the world influencing me. Plenty of them get through anyway and I have obligatory (and even affectionate) relationships with several already, so why shouldn’t I filter most of the rest of them out?
When people start cramming their political agenda down everyone’s throat!!
My FB unfriending strategy goes like this: I log in to the book of faces on any given day and take a look at the birthdays listed for that particular day. I then think back to what, if any, meaning this person has to me at this point in my life and whether or not their presence in my feed adds any value for me/are they related to me/would I get any grief for deleting them. At that point I either keep them or remove them.
TL;DR As a birthday present I unfriend people on the reg.
@MEHcus basically the same strategy here, except I include a conditional, would I say hello if I saw you at a store?
My only use for social media is as a high tech rolodex. Everyone keeps updating their contact info for me. As for using it to be social? Meh.
On a side note, my job has a “social media interactions” department. They decided a couple months that the name was too long, so the official name they use now is “SocMed.” Imagine seeing that on legal documents.
To this day, I have yet to get on facebook. I hear enough from other people all the garbage my younger family posts and I’d smack every one of them if I were on it.
My method is quite simple for unfriending. Facebook notifies you on birthdays. Once I see that notification I ponder, would I say hello to that person if I saw them in a Grocery Store. If no I then unfriend them…Happy Birthday!
/image “happy birthday”
I love it so much I would marry it!!!
I unfollow, not unfriend. The last unfollow was a longtime acquaintance who agreed with a meme with Obama being arrested. Seriously? I had unfollowed her husband when it became obvious that he thought the Jade Helm thing was real.
I can handle a lot of stuff, but sometimes the crazy is just too much.
Social Media works by removing “the filter”… I for one need a filter. Most everyone else does as well.
Besides, who wants to sit around all day reading about <insert entrenched political, social, or religious view> friend arguing with other <insert entrenched political, social, or religious view friend>. Ain’t nobody got time for that.
I got blocked this week though. For pointing out that this old video is a fake. Some old fart was screaming that it was true (I think he’s not real fond of women) and I asked him if he’d checked out the snopes link and I was told that snopes is a lie and that he’s a journalist and he’s 75 years old. Then he told me he went to my timeline and that I was a nutjob (public sees a shit ton of crafting stuff and anti-trump links). Then, he took me off of his facebook.
I was so sad. I had to go watch kitten videos for about an hour, then I was okay.
@lisaviolet Being blocked by an idiot is a badge of honor.
@lisaviolet WAIT… you want me to verify if it’s true or not… The internet is only for Arguing and buying Stuff at MEh… and not in that order
@sohmageek Hey, is your first name Summer and are you a berniebro? Damn, got into it yesterday that with someone who kept telling me to RESEARCH. I did, I posted links to polls, (“tRUMP STOMPS $hillary! Bernie STOMPS tRUMP! RESEARCH! Don’t vote for $hillary, you’ll give tRUMP the elections” were the words posted to me) and since I still wasn’t on Summer’s side of the fence, the screams of RESEARCH kept coming.
Damn, you want me to join your point of view, tell me why I should, don’t think you’re going to bully me into it. YOU talk ME into it. YOU show ME why your way is better, don’t expect me to go RESEARCH until I find your opinion put out there in such a way it becomes mine.
It just ain’t gonna happen.
@lisaviolet logic is hard for some people. I have a friend that is passionate about Bernie. But he’s trying to convince us that Hillary is a good 2nd choice. He had good points. And before I just posted #neverhillary #CrookedHillary and hit send I had to think and realize I would have been doing the same thing others do that piss me off. So I thought and came up with good arguments posted them instead and talked it out intellectually.
He still feels his way I still feel my way.
I didn’t post my complete view and I’ll keep that to social media not meh. I used this as an example. I like to debate. I’ve debated on the side of Hitler to practice research and debate. If people want to know my complete side they should be able to figure out how to find me if they want to continue discussion
@sohmageek Exactly. I wanted Bernie. I really, really wanted Bernie. But I really, really, REALLY don’t want Trump. Bernie would have wiped the floor with him. Bernie would have kicked his orange ass from here to the Mexican wall.
I just don’t want Donnie Little Hands holding the reigns to this country. And yelling at me because you (not you, but the royal you) think I’m a sellout certainly isn’t going to change my mind. If anything, it will further entrench me into my position.
@lisaviolet rift is happening in the political scene. It’s all over. Find me on facebook (not hard again) if you wish to talk politics with me.
@sohmageek Thanks. I’m really not big on political discussion, I’m actually getting burned out on it at this point. I hate the vitriol.
I appreciate the offer.
@lisaviolet
I’m on Facebook because I have shit to say. And because I’m interested in what some other people have to say. I have 600 “friends” but pretty much only read what’s posted by a small list of family (all of my immediate and a handful of extended) and another list (currently at 57) made up of my most intelligent, creative, compassionate, interesting and articulate friends–and most of them don’t overpost (some people on the list may post once a month). They rarely lapse into the sort of inanity that I hear others complaining about (and, yes, I do see that stuff when I look at an unfiltered feed; though I also unfollow semi-stupid people). My interesting friends are badass motherfuckers. I’m also in several groups (a few closed and secret) groups that are similarly select, where we talk–sometimes without filters–about language, politics, religion, art, culture, weed, music, etc.
Why the fuck wouldn’t I want to participate in that kind of community?
I basically get on Twitter and interact during political debates and when I’m at events, because those venues provide a focus to the relative chaos. Twitter is noisy.
Most of the bitching about Facebook is bullshit. It’s not perfect, but it does a decent job of connecting people and giving us at least some sort of platform where we can interact. I’d much rather have it than not. And, yes, words are my thing. And I like images too. So, duh.
The problems with Facebook are largely the problems with people: most of us are idiots and assholes. But while Facebook might bring stuff to light (actually a good thing, but there’s shit we’d rather not look at) and, as any other technology, amplify, it also provides tools to ameliorate.
One of the first people I blocked was a cousin who was always interpolating himself into every political or religious thing I posted. He’d often copy large blocks of text from sites like breitbart (and not even enclose them in quotes). He’s generally full of shit and regurgitates FOX talking points. He’s a racist, a bigot and a religious zealot who’s also obnoxious and unmoved by either the facts or logic. He’s been a bully since we were kids, and, if I’m honest, I never really liked him them. And he annoyed most of the people I respect (including other extended family). I felt like I was basically enabling him by just posting how I felt (again, because he felt the need to interject). But he’s family. Anyway, it was difficult to bring myself to actually blocking him, but once I did, I felt very good. Since then it’s been easier and easier, and I routinely block the stupidest, most bigoted and least productive of friends of friends. I’m at 24 now.
Because, stupid people, . . .
@joelmw Hey , be my fb friend. If you don’t like my rants, you can unfollow me. lol I’m the one behind the camera.
@lisaviolet A pleasure. And thank you. I think I found you, but I think you need to send the request, because I’m unable.
WARNING: I’m very outspoken and can be a bit of an asshole. But I think you knew that already.
@joelmw To whom do I send the request?
@lisaviolet I FB messaged you. But I’m not at all hard to find. I was able to get my username as a FB address (as in here, and Twitter and Wordpress and a few other places):
https://www.facebook.com/<username>As easy as I am to find, I’m somehow nervous about making it any easier. But let me know if you’re still having trouble.
@joelmw With the girls? That’s you with the girls? Because if it is, small world…oh, wait…
I’m so confused! Friend request sent…
@joelmw I definitely overpost. Now, instead of a smattering of the usual shares, occasional rants, and general fuckery, there are a (probably) annoying number of baby pictures. I have become the shitty fb friend.
@Thumperchick Most of the people I respect (including me
)–and many more that I don’t–love baby pictures. One of our favorite couples just had a kid and I feel deprived that they don’t post more. I’d rather see the child of someone I know than some other random “cute” mammal. And FB has gotten better about aggregating photos, so it’s not so overwhelming. Moreover, human offspring are arguably the most interesting things on the planet, and the pinnacle of human creation.
Okay, I’ll be honest: I don’t like to look at some people’s spawn, especially as they age and the parents are sure that the kid’s minor accomplishment is both singular and a sure indication of, oh, a future Nobel or Pulitzer or some shit like that; it really does very much depend on the parents and whether and how much I like them. Plus, infants get a special dispensation. I think you’ve got a few months left.
I doubt you’re a shitty FB friend.
@joelmw so I get called Bigoted when I’m not in the least. I could go on… but I’m not going to get political on here… However, people are quick to jump to assumptions instead of listening to the reasoning. Not all things are face value as they seem.
@sohmageek
How dare you assume that we will make assumptions?
@FruityFraug
Fans of recursive assumption chains, unite!
Anyone that doesn’t listen to reason, or agree to disagree… I can’t stand it when someone doesn’t agree with me but won’t accept a mutual agreement that we won’t agree… I can live with you not agreeing with everything I agree about… But when I’m done and say we won’t agree lets leave it as that and they won’t accept it… it makes no sense.