Jump to content

Menu

FB Rant and a question


Recommended Posts

So tempted to post this today on FB (no, I won't really but argh.)

PSA - your witty (and insulting) FB post will not cause me to change my political beliefs. Your posting from a biased news source will not make me change my political beliefs. If you are really my "friend" stop posting obnoxious political statuses, please!

 

Whew! Thank you for letting me rant. I did not realize it would get this bad this early. This election year may be the final push I needed to bail outta facebook. So, anyone recommend another decent social networking site? Is this why people are now all on pinterest?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So tempted to post this today on FB (no, I won't really but argh.)

PSA - your witty (and insulting) FB post will not cause me to change my political beliefs. Your posting from a biased news source will not make me change my political beliefs. If you are really my "friend" stop posting obnoxious political statuses, please!

 

Whew! Thank you for letting me rant. I did not realize it would get this bad this early. This election year may be the final push I needed to bail outta facebook. So, anyone recommend another decent social networking site? Is this why people are now all on pinterest?

 

It's not FB, it's the people.

 

On one hand, I think that we've developed an attitude that everyone is entitled to our opinion, no matter how baldly it is expressed. (My favorite recent example was a shared link to "controversial social issue for idiots". I was less than enamoured of being called an idiot because I'd come to a different conclusion.)

 

On the next hand, I think we tend to forget how wide our FB network is. If you were at a party, or at church, or at a soccer game, you'd have a pretty good idea if you shared a lot of political and social commonalities or if you needed to be more reserved. FB allows you to send out raging notes to your close friends without considering that your older relatives, business contacts and neighbors may also be getting it.

 

On the third hand :D, I think we tend to take dissent poorly. It is hard to see something show up in my newsfeed and not take it as a personal jab or at least as something worth responding to.

 

On the other hand, you can try to limit announcements that you receive to big life events. And I try to remember to be restrictive on who gets certain posts. And I know my eye rolling muscles are going to get a workout.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That's why I post sparingly on Facebook. How much of what I think/say is really suitable to EVERYONE on that "friend" list? And even the social things -- do I really want to post about our fabulous Superbowl Party that only a handful of families were invited to? To me, Facebook is more valuable in regard to getting info from others that I might not have come across. And I've noticed that people who in other settings are pretty circumspect, somehow have these stream of consciousness ramblings on FB. And I have to say I've come to look at certain people differently because of it. I think a lot of people DO forget how wide their friends list is, and they get careless.

 

Also as an aside, I was reading recently how easy it can be for stalkers to know exactly where you are, or have a tendency to go, based on pictures you post. For example, this one group (that exists just to point such things out) showed how they were able to track a particular girl, could identify her daycare center, what time mom shopped at varous places etc. etc. just based on posted photos and GPS info embedded in that.

 

A lot of people have NO IDEA how much info is available from a photo. Hopefully a family doesn't have its own stalker, but you never know.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I had a friend on fb who loved to post really abnoxious status updates bashing Christianity on a daily basis. I finally decided to hide his posts. My fb is a much happier place now.

 

Sure, some people posts things I disagree with. I usually just ignore. I have far more people on my fb who I'm interested in hearing from.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's not FB, it's the people.

 

On one hand, I think that we've developed an attitude that everyone is entitled to our opinion, no matter how baldly it is expressed. (My favorite recent example was a shared link to "controversial social issue for idiots". I was less than enamoured of being called an idiot because I'd come to a different conclusion.)

 

On the next hand, I think we tend to forget how wide our FB network is. If you were at a party, or at church, or at a soccer game, you'd have a pretty good idea if you shared a lot of political and social commonalities or if you needed to be more reserved. FB allows you to send out raging notes to your close friends without considering that your older relatives, business contacts and neighbors may also be getting it.

 

On the third hand :D, I think we tend to take dissent poorly. It is hard to see something show up in my newsfeed and not take it as a personal jab or at least as something worth responding to.

 

On the other hand, you can try to limit announcements that you receive to big life events. And I try to remember to be restrictive on who gets certain posts. And I know my eye rolling muscles are going to get a workout.

 

 

One the other hand....yes, you are right. I do not respond to these posts. That would remind me too much of the fantastic comic "Can't come to bed now. Someone on the internet is wrong."

 

I guess I just don't understand what people think they are accomplishing with the bashing posts. I don't like 'em when they are pro or anti my position. They just seem to add nothing but rancor to any issue.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That's why I post sparingly on Facebook. How much of what I think/say is really suitable to EVERYONE on that "friend" list? And even the social things -- do I really want to post about our fabulous Superbowl Party that only a handful of families were invited to? To me, Facebook is more valuable in regard to getting info from others that I might not have come across. And I've noticed that people who in other settings are pretty circumspect, somehow have these stream of consciousness ramblings on FB. And I have to say I've come to look at certain people differently because of it. I think a lot of people DO forget how wide their friends list is, and they get careless.

 

Also as an aside, I was reading recently how easy it can be for stalkers to know exactly where you are, or have a tendency to go, based on pictures you post. For example, this one group (that exists just to point such things out) showed how they were able to track a particular girl, could identify her daycare center, what time mom shopped at varous places etc. etc. just based on posted photos and GPS info embedded in that.

 

A lot of people have NO IDEA how much info is available from a photo. Hopefully a family doesn't have its own stalker, but you never know.

 

Yikes. That is scary. Not surprising, though. I know a lot of people post countdowns to their fabulous week long vacation.

 

I don't post much, but will keep that in mind and post even less.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I guess it's never bothered me. I see plenty of poorly expressed opinions, whether it be on facebook, the news, bumper stickers, posters, or random people who feel the need to share their opinion. It's mildly annoying in person, but really doesn't bother me on Facebook.

 

Sometimes I agree, often I do not, sometimes I agree but get annoyed with the tone of the opinion... Shrug. They are welcome to their opinion, even when I think it's a bad one. I am welcome to either respond or ignore. If someone posts a ton of stuff that I don't want to read and not much of value, I tend to turn off their posts. Problem solved.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I like having differing opinions expressed on Facebook. I would hate to live in a secluded bubble where I would feel like I can't adapt or change and where I would surround myself with opinions that only reinforce the opinions I already hold. People post political things on FB because those things matter to them. If you are their friend, you should probably respect that. Now, if they are offensive, repetitive or just annoying, feel free to hide their status updates.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...