Goodbye Facebook

[mom@shiloh]

Maybe most of you have already left Facebook. I just made the decision to log out and I'm sad. It used to be a good way to stay up-to-date on family and friends, but now it just makes me feel lonely. I never post anything political and only try to post things that could not possibly offend anyone, but I have several family members who won't like or comment on anything I post because we disagree politically. Maybe I'm overly sensitive, but you can't even like a picture of my grandbaby or my flowers or the sunrise?   I always comment on what they post and I can see that they comment with others who they agree with. I feel ostracized. 

[hjffkj]

I'm sorry, that seems like such a petty thing for people to do. I like the platform for staying in touch with an aunt who lives far away and no longer travels. She uses Facebook to stay in touch with all her family and knows all our kids well even though she hasn't met all of them. If not for her I'd likely never use Facebook other than for buying on Marketplace, posing info for our homeschool group, and posting in my families private group about holidays and such.

When certain things about it became negative I just got rid of them without hesitation. I unfriended or unfollowed anyone who was regularly negative or posted things I didn't want to see. I unfriended my mom a few months ago because her posts and the conversations she would get into on them were sometimes offensive to me and she lives with me. We have a great relationship but she is bad about thinking before she posts sometimes so I just decided to just be done with her online.

My friends list is minimal and only filled with people that are regularly supportive people. Disagreement is fine but social media of that nature isn't the place for it.

[mlktwins]

Is it possible to unfriend, unfollow, or snooze the people that do this and keep the people who make you happy?  I keep my FB page light and positive as well.  Most of my FB friends do the same, but I unfollow the ones that don’t so I don’t have to see their negative posts, but can still check on them if I’m so inclined.  I want to keep FB as several of our school groups and my boys’ sports teams use FB to send out notifications.   I’ve also recently joined several crafting FB groups that are enjoyable.  If you want to keep FB, make it work for you.  I get it though...

[ktgrok]

They may not be seeing your photos. I've unfollowed most people on facebook. So I haven't unfriended anyone, but I also don't see their stuff in my feed unless I search out their page which I only do now and then. It isn't even just people i disagree with, and it isn't that I dislike them. But it got overwhelming as I'd read an upsetting news article posted by one person, and then as I scrolled through my feed would keep seeing different versions of the same horrible event posted by another dozen people. The primitive part of my  brain doesn't understand it is the same event - to my stress hormones it is a dozen different horrid things and it was stressing me out. 

So I'm betting they just stopped following, not purposely seeing what you post and ignoring it. 

Also, I often don't hit like if I'm say, scrolling while eating or holding a baby or whatever. 

[catz]

I also use unfriend and unfollow liberally.   If you like it otherwise, I think it is totally fine to do that.   I use Facebook mostly as a photo album for myself and far flung relatives.  I really enjoy many of my homeschool friends and boards.   And it’s nice for tracking local events.  Homeschool and otherwise.  

[Kassia]

I love facebook for some things - mostly keeping in touch with old friends and also things like local news for where I live and where my adult kids live, but I also get a lot of information there like weather, road conditions, the parents group for the college my child will attend, homeschool groups, our school district, the colleges where my daughter does DE, deals from businesses, etc.  Many times I get information from social media that I wouldn't get anywhere else.  I would miss out on a lot by not using facebook.  And I really love seeing my friends and their families.  

I don't like drama or debate so I unfriend or unfollow people who upset me. At this point, I use facebook mostly for information, but I keep my friends on there who make me smile.  

[regentrude]

If it's certain people who irritate you, why don't you unfollow them, unfriend or block them, if they make your experience miserable?

But that said, are you sure they are even seeing your stuff? You may be fb friends, but they may not actually follow you. Which means, your posts aren't part of their feed; they'd have to go specifically to your page to see them. Even if they do follow you, the algorithm prioritizes posts in a specific way. Posts from people one interacts with frequently get bumped up, so your relatives are much more likely to see the posts from folks to whom they responded previously - yours may not show up in their feed, even if they have not unfollowed you.

None of this may be the case for you and your relatives might be jerks. But I like the approach of not attributing malice where thoughtlessness is a perfectly good explanation.

[mlktwins]

Going back to something @Ktgrok said above, I have actually had problems with friend’s post never shoiwng up on my feed.  People I know post a lot of pics or whatever.  I end up clicking on their page to see them.  I haven’t figured out why that happens.  Also, she mentioned they (your family and friends) may have unfollowed you and don’t see your posts.  

 

[regentrude]

3 minutes ago, mlktwins said:

Going back to something @Ktgrok said above, I have actually had problems with friend’s post never shoiwng up on my feed.  People I know post a lot of pics or whatever.  I end up clicking on their page to see them.  I haven’t figured out why that happens.  

Have you tried changing the setting for that person to "See First"? The people for whom I do that show up reliably on the very top of my feed.

[mlktwins]

1 minute ago, regentrude said:

If it's certain people who irritate you, why don't you unfollow them, unfriend or block them, if they make your experience miserable?

But that said, are you sure they are even seeing your stuff? You may be fb friends, but they may not actually follow you. Which means, your posts aren't part of their feed; they'd have to go specifically to your page to see them. Even if they do follow you, the algorithm prioritizes posts in a specific way. Posts from people one interacts with frequently get bumped up, so your relatives are much more likely to see the posts from folks to whom they responded previously - yours may not show up in their feed, even if they have not unfollowed you.

None of this may be the case for you and your relatives might be jerks. But I like the approach of not attributing malice where thoughtlessness is a perfectly good explanation.

 

^^^ was what I was trying to say.  It is so annoying that FB prioritizes the posts I see on my feed!!!

[mlktwins]

Just now, regentrude said:

Have you tried changing the setting for that person to "See First"? The people for whom I do that show up reliably on the very top of my feed.

Do I go onto each person’s page to do this?

[regentrude]

1 minute ago, mlktwins said:

Do I go onto each person’s page to do this?

yes. it's the button where you choose whether you want to follow them. If you follow, you can choose between default and see first.

[mlktwins]

1 minute ago, regentrude said:

yes. it's the button where you choose whether you want to follow them. If you follow, you can choose between default and see first.

THANK YOU!!!!!

[Bambam]

I never pay attention to who liked my posts/pictures and who doesn't. I have no idea what is going on in anyone's life - and I know when life gets busy here, FB falls to a low priority. Other times I miss things, other times I get distracted. Sometimes I'm sick or mad, and FB isn't interesting then.  Sometimes I don't see someone's posts - but then a week later something shows up that they posted last week (??). And there are some people I unfollowed (variety of reasons). I try to go to their pages monthlyish and see what they have been up to - and post or like if I feel motivated to. 

I like FB because I get to keep up with friends and a few family members who I rarely see. I like that. I post pictures/statements/questions (nothing political!) because I want my friends/family to see them - and it also serves as a neat memory for me! 

I am responsible for my own actions - not that of others. If someone was making negative comments on my posts, I'd unfriend them and be done. If they aren't liking my posts, whatever. 

[PeterPan]

31 minutes ago, regentrude said:

If it's certain people who irritate you, why don't you unfollow them, unfriend or block them, if they make your experience miserable?

But that said, are you sure they are even seeing your stuff? You may be fb friends, but they may not actually follow you.

Exactly. I unfollow people who annoy me, even if they're "family" or whatever. I don't unfriend them to be polite, but I unfollow. So odds are they aren't seeing op's posts even. Maybe make new friends or send your pics as messages to people you know will find them interesting. It's pretty bad when our measure of ourselves is connected to how many likes we're going to get on FB, sigh. It seems like a visible measure, but it's so high school.

[marbel]

37 minutes ago, Bambam said:

I never pay attention to who liked my posts/pictures and who doesn't. I have no idea what is going on in anyone's life - and I know when life gets busy here, FB falls to a low priority. Other times I miss things, other times I get distracted. Sometimes I'm sick or mad, and FB isn't interesting then.  Sometimes I don't see someone's posts - but then a week later something shows up that they posted last week (??). And there are some people I unfollowed (variety of reasons). I try to go to their pages monthlyish and see what they have been up to - and post or like if I feel motivated to. 

I like FB because I get to keep up with friends and a few family members who I rarely see. I like that. I post pictures/statements/questions (nothing political!) because I want my friends/family to see them - and it also serves as a neat memory for me! 

I am responsible for my own actions - not that of others. If someone was making negative comments on my posts, I'd unfriend them and be done. If they aren't liking my posts, whatever. 

This is me exactly. I have family members who post kid pictures a lot. I know I don't see all of them, and since I don't see them, I don't like them or comment on them. And, those people don't always comment on the (rare) posts I put up. I just assume people don't see everything, either because they have a lot of stuff in their feed and can't keep up, or because of the way Facebook presents things. I can be on my phone looking at a post, FB will refresh and add more posts, and I won't be able to find what I was just looking at. The feed on my phone and desktop are different, even though the settings are the same (because it's still my account).  

So, I wouldn't necessarily assume anything because people aren't commenting.

My feed is family, friends I enjoy keeping up with, and lots of cooking sites and a few news sites. I unfollow liberally - a long-lost cousin of mine just friended me, but she constantly posts ugly political memes so I'm about to unfollow her.  

Not trying to sell you on facebook, mostly trying, like others, to help you not take it personally if people are not commenting on your stuff.   Hugs to you, I know how it feels to be isolated and left out!

Edited February 11, 2020 by marbel

[Scarlett]

1 hour ago, mom@shiloh said:

Maybe most of you have already left Facebook. I just made the decision to log out and I'm sad. It used to be a good way to stay up-to-date on family and friends, but now it just makes me feel lonely. I never post anything political and only try to post things that could not possibly offend anyone, but I have several family members who won't like or comment on anything I post because we disagree politically. Maybe I'm overly sensitive, but you can't even like a picture of my grandbaby or my flowers or the sunrise?   I always comment on what they post and I can see that they comment with others who they agree with. I feel ostracized. 

Why don’t you just unfriend the ugly people.  
 

I have a friend who has gone insanely political.....I am politically neutral so I never comment on any political posts....but her posts make me so uncomfortable I do feel like unfriending her some days!  Instead I just focus on her posts of grand babies and family.  

[PeterPan]

Fwiw, I've unfollowed most people and I use my FB feed to keep up with discussion groups for topics I find interesting, cooking videos, politics. I just got tired of the whole my husband loves me so much, my kids are so great, my trip was better than your trip, I have more faith than you have, whatever. It just got old, so I began unfollowing those people. 

[Scarlett]

4 minutes ago, marbel said:

This is me exactly. I have family members who post kid pictures a lot. I know I don't see all of them, and since I don't see them, I don't like them or comment on them. And, those people don't always comment on the (rare) posts I put up. I just assume people miss don't see everything, either because they have a lot of stuff in their feed and can't keep up, or because of the way Facebook presents things. I can be on my phone looking at a post, FB will refresh and add more posts, and I won't be able to find what I was just looking at. The feed on my phone and desktop are different, even though the settings are the same (because it's still my account).  

So, I wouldn't necessarily assume anything because people aren't commenting.

My feed is family, friends I enjoy keeping up with, and lots of cooking sites and a few news sites. I unfollow liberally - a long-lost cousin of mine just friended me, but she constantly posts ugly political memes so I'm about to unfollow her.  

Not trying to sell you on facebook, mostly trying, like others, to help you not take it personally if people are not commenting on your stuff.   Hugs to you, I know how it feels to be isolated and left out!

 

[catz]

Oh I was going to say, when I post I have no expectation that anyone is going to like or comment on my posts other than maybe my mother.  Everyone uses FB differently.  Sometimes if I post, I am somewhere interesting and I'm not able to scroll through my feed that day.  I suspect I'm seeing a small subset of my friend list regularly.  If someone doesn't like your posts for a while,they just don't show up in their feed. So I don't take it personally if no one comments/likes.  

I know it may be hard for some people to think that way, but that end of facebook has never bothered me.  Just another thought.

[maize]

Facebook's algorithms can mean that people never see posts from most of those on their friends list.

And whether you agree on politics seems to play a big part in that. I rarely see posts from people who I disagree with politically, even my own grandmother; presumably because the posts I click like for and those she clicks life for are so different that Facebook figures be we shouldn't see each other's posts. 

Facebook is super good at creating echo chambers, I hate that aspect. I wouldn't however make any assumptions about other people based on whether or not they reacted to your posts; you have no way of knowing whether your posts ever show up on their feed.

 

[J-rap]

I think if you're the type of person who takes everything very personally, then it's probably not a good idea to be on Facebook anymore.  (Please know that I don't mean that as a criticism at all.)   Or, you could change your thinking a bit...  For example, if you already know that some family members will not comment because you have different political views, then try not to set yourself up for disappointment by still hoping they will.  Or unfollow them.  Also, I know lots and lots of people who do enjoy looking at photos and such, but they go through them quickly and it doesn't really occur to them to "like" the ones they see, if they do enjoy them.  That would be me -- I check Facebook from time to time in order to quickly keep up with some people, but not to interact with them there.  (I'll interact with them in other ways.)

But again, it sounds like you might be happier finding a different way of keeping in touch with family and friends who are important to you.

ETA:  Also wanted to add that I agree that you never know which posts even pop up on other people's Facebook page!

Edited February 11, 2020 by J-rap

[Carrie12345]

1 hour ago, mom@shiloh said:

Maybe most of you have already left Facebook. I just made the decision to log out and I'm sad. It used to be a good way to stay up-to-date on family and friends, but now it just makes me feel lonely. I never post anything political and only try to post things that could not possibly offend anyone, but I have several family members who won't like or comment on anything I post because we disagree politically. Maybe I'm overly sensitive, but you can't even like a picture of my grandbaby or my flowers or the sunrise?   I always comment on what they post and I can see that they comment with others who they agree with. I feel ostracized. 

There’s been a ton published about people whose mental health is impacted by social media’s likes or lack of likes. You’re certainly not alone.

My posts generally aren’t like-magnets, but I don’t really post for the likes the way my husband does! He’s the kind of person who thinks a “successful” post makes him way cool.  I don’t get it, and I never will.  But it makes him happy, so 🤷‍♀️.  I’m just over here being weird, and occasionally hit other weird people the right way, lol.

Edited February 11, 2020 by Carrie12345

[ktgrok]

1 minute ago, Carrie12345 said:

There’s been a ton published about people whose mental health is impacted by social media’s likes or lack of likes. You’re certainly not alone.

My posts generally aren’t like-magnets, but I don’t really post for the likes the way my husband does! He’s the kind of person who thinks a “successful” post makes him way cool.  I don’t get it, and I never will.  But it makes him happy, so 🤷‍♀️.  I’m just over here being weird, and occasionally hit other weird people the right way, lol.

Yup, when my husband tries to explain who someone is by saying they have "x number of followers on twitter" I barely manage to keep from rolling my eyes. 

[alisoncooks]

I've unfollowed most of my FB friends, lol. I mostly just get my daily fix of cat videos and BBC One comedy shorts. 

(Even for my immediate family, I don't always like or comment on their posts...)

[ktgrok]

2 minutes ago, alisoncooks said:

I've unfollowed most of my FB friends, lol. I mostly just get my daily fix of cat videos and BBC One comedy shorts. 

(Even for my immediate family, I don't always like or comment on their posts...)

Same. Even when I see my mom's posts, I almost never "like". It doesn't even occur to me, not sure why. 

[Scarlett]

I unfriended my brother just last week.  I am not sure  if he noticed.  

Edited February 11, 2020 by Scarlett

[catz]

4 minutes ago, alisoncooks said:

I've unfollowed most of my FB friends, lol. I mostly just get my daily fix of cat videos and BBC One comedy shorts. 

(Even for my immediate family, I don't always like or comment on their posts...)

I have said social media is an important platform of cat boards/photos/videos.  😂

If it doesn't "spark joy" I don't follow.  LOL.  

I also regularly look at and enjoy posts without liking them.  Especially if I'm scrolling on my phone or iPad.  I'm more likely to click if I'm scrolling on my PC.

[marbel]

Thinking about this more, I am more likely to post when I plan to tag someone I think will specifically enjoy it. For ex, I'll come across an old song my sister and I used to  love back in the 60s/70s; I'll post the youtube video and tag her. She will most likely respond and some of our other family might as well. 

I do know that measuring one's worth by likes is a thing; I think I was susceptible to it early on in my FB days till I realized how much stuff is out there and how little I see or like.

I also tend not to wish people happy birthday on FB, and I don't have my birthday displayed. Not really interested in birthday greetings from people who are simply responding to a prompt by FB.  

It's just all so artificial in some ways, and random in others, hard for me to take seriously. 

 

[SKL]

Yeah, I have unfollowed some people who post too much.  It's not that I don't like them, I just can't spend the entire day on facebook admiring their adorable children.

Recently I un-unfollowed some of them on a trial basis.  So far so good.

Even with people I follow, I don't always see their posts.  I am not sure I entirely understand why.  For one thing, if you leave the page for any reason and then come back to it, fb may randomly decide that you have already seen all the posts and remove them from your newsfeed.  You have no idea that you missed a friend's post.  It's very annoying.

[mom@shiloh]

I am likely over-reacting and being too sensitive because I'm feeling melancholy about some other things. I am the only one geographically separated from my family and I'm the type of person who works overtime to make sure that everyone feels included. So it stings when I feel as if I'm being deliberately snubbed, but it's possible that isn't the reality of the situation. 

[regentrude]

15 minutes ago, marbel said:

Thinking about this more, I am more likely to post when I plan to tag someone I think will specifically enjoy it

arrrgh! I hate it when people tag me on stuff like this because then I have to go into the timeline approval and decide whether I will allow it on my timeline or not. I am curating my timeline carefully, so this means extra work.

[Lady Florida.]

I also unfollow people liberally though I unfriend more conservatively. I haven't unfriended any family but I've definitely unfollowed several. I try to periodically go to their page so I can like or comment on photos and other such things that they've posted.

I like to make political posts to discuss with those who agree with me so I made a specific friends lists for people I know won't be offended by my politics. I call it My Tribe and when I post anything political only they see it. It's not because I want an echo chamber but because sometimes I want to talk politics with like minded people. It allows me to do that without offending others whose friendship I don't want to push away.

You can have multiple friends lists and it's pretty easy to use the drop down list to choose which group of friends see which posts.

[marbel]

5 minutes ago, regentrude said:

arrrgh! I hate it when people tag me on stuff like this because then I have to go into the timeline approval and decide whether I will allow it on my timeline or not. I am curating my timeline carefully, so this means extra work.

I only do it to people who I know are OK being tagged.  I see that wasn't clear.  

"Know your audience" as they say. 

[Garga]

If I click on “see this person’s posts first” for EVERY ONE of my friends...what will happen?  I want to see it ALL.  

 

ETA:  ok, I found where I could do this in a batch, and there is a limit.  Not sure what that number is, but I started clicking and finally reached the limit of the people I could ”see first.”

Edited February 11, 2020 by Garga

[Lady Florida.]

36 minutes ago, SKL said:

Yeah, I have unfollowed some people who post too much.  It's not that I don't like them, I just can't spend the entire day on facebook admiring their adorable children.

Recently I un-unfollowed some of them on a trial basis.  So far so good.

Even with people I follow, I don't always see their posts.  I am not sure I entirely understand why.  For one thing, if you leave the page for any reason and then come back to it, fb may randomly decide that you have already seen all the posts and remove them from your newsfeed.  You have no idea that you missed a friend's post.  It's very annoying.

I neither understand nor like facebook's algorithm for choosing what posts you see. I often found myself commenting on days old posts and missing the latest because facebooks chooses "top posts" for me. Now I always look for the most recent posts. On the app I go to the three lines on the right (on Android) and choose Most Recent from the list it brings up. On my laptop I use an extension called Social Fixer that allows me to permanently set it to Most Recent. 

Social Fixer has a lot of wonderful features like hiding sponsored stories (which are really just ads), allowing you to navigate comments more easily, filters, and more. With filters they have some ready made but also allow you to customize by keyword. It's free but they periodically ask for donations. Your privacy is protected and they don't share your information.  It's available for all the big browsers - Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Opera, and even MS Edge. The only thing I don't like is that it's not available on mobile; they explain why not in the FAQ (spoiler: it's facebook's fault).

Edited February 11, 2020 by Lady Florida.

[Tree Frog]

FB sometimes changes settings on my account and doesn't tell me. My sister wondered why no one was posting on her pictures/videos. I realized I wasn't getting any on my feed and when I went to look on her page, couldn't see any, either. Turned out somehow fb had made the pictures/videos private and didn't add any friends. Once she changed her settings, others could see her postings and commented. So she was in the same boat you're in, but it was something she needed to change when she posted. 

[mlktwins]

25 minutes ago, mom@shiloh said:

I am likely over-reacting and being too sensitive because I'm feeling melancholy about some other things. I am the only one geographically separated from my family and I'm the type of person who works overtime to make sure that everyone feels included. So it stings when I feel as if I'm being deliberately snubbed, but it's possible that isn't the reality of the situation. 

Sometimes our mood over other things makes us take things too personally.  I know it happens to me!!!  Maybe take a week or 2 off of FB and see how you feel :-).  Fill the FB time with something you enjoy - a craft, a good book, a hot bath, a glass of wine :-).

I was unexpectedly required to help my elderly father in September 2018.  I packed him up, moved him to a new place, unpacked him, medical appointments, etc.  You get the drift.  I had no time or energy to post or respond to anything (or even like anything) on FB.  But...when I was exhausted at the end of the day, I loved scrolling through to see everyone's posts and pictures.  Most people didn't know what I was dealing with during all of that.  I just went from commenting and liking to nothing.  Who knows what is going on with the other people.

I hope you find something that works for you :-)!!!

[regentrude]

50 minutes ago, wilrunner said:

FB sometimes changes settings on my account and doesn't tell me. My sister wondered why no one was posting on her pictures/videos. I realized I wasn't getting any on my feed and when I went to look on her page, couldn't see any, either. Turned out somehow fb had made the pictures/videos private and didn't add any friends. Once she changed her settings, others could see her postings and commented. So she was in the same boat you're in, but it was something she needed to change when she posted. 

I believe this may have happened because she set one post as private; the next time you post, the default is the same privacy setting as your last post. Same with making a post public; if I post something public, it will make the next post public unless I change it to friends only.

[hjffkj]

1 hour ago, mom@shiloh said:

I am likely over-reacting and being too sensitive because I'm feeling melancholy about some other things. I am the only one geographically separated from my family and I'm the type of person who works overtime to make sure that everyone feels included. So it stings when I feel as if I'm being deliberately snubbed, but it's possible that isn't the reality of the situation. 

 

Thank you for this post. I appreciate the vulnerability you have shared with us because I can understand how hard it is to be away from the rest of your family. And this post reminded me to respond to a Facebook post by my sister(the one who moved away from everyone else.) She specifically tagged me and made a really nice compliment to me.

When I read her comment I really appreciated it and had intended to on replying but I was out running errands and forgot. It would have hurt me so much if she had felt snubbed by me for not responding, knowing I likely saw it since I use Facebook at least once a day.

[Pen]

I never joined.  Sometimes I feel left out of the whole FB world, but would like to thank you for your post as it makes me feel like my non joining was a good thing. 

[mom2scouts]

I have a love/hate relationship with Facebook. Sometimes it makes me feel really bad and I just want to get rid of it. Annoying politcal posts, posts that make me envious, tragic news stories and similar things make me want to log out forever. I often set it so I have to log in every time and that keeps me from too much mindless scrolling. Whenever I think I want to get off it completely, I get important information from Facebook that I wouldn't get otherwise. It could be costuming videos for dance, the dates of the activity signups, a community event, a social activity I would enjoy, or information about homeschooling such as law changes. I also have a few far away friends and relatives that I mainly keep up with on Facebook, so I just haven't able to completely give it up.

Edited February 11, 2020 by mom2scouts

[Katy]

I'd blame facebook, not the relatives.  It frequently doesn't share stuff with me until 3 days later, but will re-show the same dumb post 5 times as if it's new.  It's really obnoxious.

[Tree Frog]

3 hours ago, regentrude said:

I believe this may have happened because she set one post as private; the next time you post, the default is the same privacy setting as your last post. Same with making a post public; if I post something public, it will make the next post public unless I change it to friends only.

That's good to know. I've never changed mine from friends...I'm afraid of posting something to a particular group of friends and one of my friends discussing the info with an irl friend with whom I'd chosen not to share the info. I figure if I don't want the world to know, I shouldn't post it (even though FB assures me my info is safe.) 

ETA: I'm not sure this was the problem because she didn't know she could change the settings until I showed her.

Edited February 11, 2020 by wilrunner

[HS Mom in NC]

OP, I just want to encourage you to explore all your FB setting options, including opting out FB all together, and then doing what you know to be best for yourself. 

I'm gearing up for FB  political unfollow season over here myself. I unfollow chronic political posters, even those I agree with, which isn't many as I vote 3rd party.   Yeah, people can post some political things now and then and I'm fine with it.  If they post political thing regularly then I'm done with their excessive political blather.  Nothing they have to say about anything is new to me, and anyone who is a one topic poster is painfully boring anyway. That doesn't contribute to my FB experience, so unfollow it is. After the next election and its cool down period, I'll consider following them again.

[HS Mom in NC]

Every day is unfriend/unfollow day!
 

 

[Lady Florida.]

3 hours ago, regentrude said:

I believe this may have happened because she set one post as private; the next time you post, the default is the same privacy setting as your last post. Same with making a post public; if I post something public, it will make the next post public unless I change it to friends only.

Yes. The same thing happens when I post to my set of friends allowed to see my political posts. I have to pay attention next time if I'm posting something to my whole friends group. It defaults to the last privacy setting you used.

[Lady Florida.]

38 minutes ago, Homeschool Mom in AZ said:

OP, I just want to encourage you to explore all your FB setting options, including opting out FB all together, and then doing what you know to be best for yourself. 

I'm gearing up for FB  political unfollow season over here myself. I unfollow chronic political posters, even those I agree with, which isn't many as I vote 3rd party.   Yeah, people can post some political things now and then and I'm fine with it.  If they post political thing regularly then I'm done with their excessive political blather.  Nothing they have to say about anything is new to me, and anyone who is a one topic poster is painfully boring anyway. That doesn't contribute to my FB experience, so unfollow it is. After the next election and its cool down period, I'll consider following them again.

I filtered some people out of my political group even if I know they agree with me but I know they don't like political posts. It's too bad your friends didn't do the same. 

Again, I want to recommend the Social Fixer extension. You can filter out all political posts, just those with names of politicians you don't want to read about, or certain political parties. You can really customize what you filter out and you can always change it back if you want.

Edited February 11, 2020 by Lady Florida.

[Janeway]

7 hours ago, mom@shiloh said:

Maybe most of you have already left Facebook. I just made the decision to log out and I'm sad. It used to be a good way to stay up-to-date on family and friends, but now it just makes me feel lonely. I never post anything political and only try to post things that could not possibly offend anyone, but I have several family members who won't like or comment on anything I post because we disagree politically. Maybe I'm overly sensitive, but you can't even like a picture of my grandbaby or my flowers or the sunrise?   I always comment on what they post and I can see that they comment with others who they agree with. I feel ostracized. 

I got rid of all my relatives on FB. I was sick and tired of their junk. They disapproved of me having more than one child because they felt I should have had a career. They said when I became a SAHM that it meant I could not handle work and parenting so I needed to give up parenting. They felt newborn babies belong in daycare where they can be cared for by "professionals" and "properly socialized." Yes, they actually said that. When I had my second child, not one person clicked like. BUT, when my brother married a woman who was a school drop out, had multiple children by multiple men and did not have custody of any of them, and then one of them had a baby, I noticed several cousins clicked like. I do not post anything political at all, but I did notice, before I removed all relatives from my page, that anything I posted became fodder for some creative narrative. And three relatives put me on block for no reason at all. Those were the relatives, the one would post terrible things and memes about home schoolers and then tag me in them. The other two were her adult kids. I still have FB, but without relatives, it is drama free for the most part.  I do very limit who I allow on there. Every time I turn around, someone else wants to add themselves to my FB page and I tell them I have a page, but really don't use it so not to bother. 

[HS Mom in NC]

12 minutes ago, Janeway said:

I got rid of all my relatives on FB. I was sick and tired of their junk.

I'm sorry you had to deal with that and good for you for getting rid of them!  No one has time for that kind of toxic crap.