Run, run, run away
May. 30th, 2017 08:19 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
philoteraToday I received yet another notice from another friend who is fleeing FB. I haven't been keeping count, but it is noticeable. The reasons are pretty much all the same. It's too depressing, too many jerks, political rants that are not productive and wearing.
This is a thing I get. FB right now exhausts me. I try not to post much political stuff because I don't see the point. My friends list is mostly people of my mind set -- I'm not going to apologize for that. I have yet to see or hear any proof that anything I say will change anyone's mind. That's just not how minds change. So my friends list is the proverbial "echo chamber" and I'm good with that.
That being said, I find the constant deluge of negative political news and images completely exhausting. People post images of things that are painful to me. I've blocked some people who post pictures of suffering animals. Yes, I get it, but it strikes me as one more kind of porn and I'm not going to look at tortured animals. It's bad for me, and if I were to act on the feelings it engenders, it would be bad for other people as well.
But I have made friends, and some good ones, on FB. There are people I value, and unless I begin writing even more letters to people, FB is the easy way to keep in touch. And occasionally, like today, I post a political action I took and I get a message that I have inspired someone else to call or write or whatever to their representative, and I do feel good about that.
But it is exhausting, and I do cringe a little when I check in on it in the morning. So my mental jury is still out, but I see it. I understand it. And I wonder, if the departure is noticeable to me, how many other people are seeing the same things with their friends?
This is a thing I get. FB right now exhausts me. I try not to post much political stuff because I don't see the point. My friends list is mostly people of my mind set -- I'm not going to apologize for that. I have yet to see or hear any proof that anything I say will change anyone's mind. That's just not how minds change. So my friends list is the proverbial "echo chamber" and I'm good with that.
That being said, I find the constant deluge of negative political news and images completely exhausting. People post images of things that are painful to me. I've blocked some people who post pictures of suffering animals. Yes, I get it, but it strikes me as one more kind of porn and I'm not going to look at tortured animals. It's bad for me, and if I were to act on the feelings it engenders, it would be bad for other people as well.
But I have made friends, and some good ones, on FB. There are people I value, and unless I begin writing even more letters to people, FB is the easy way to keep in touch. And occasionally, like today, I post a political action I took and I get a message that I have inspired someone else to call or write or whatever to their representative, and I do feel good about that.
But it is exhausting, and I do cringe a little when I check in on it in the morning. So my mental jury is still out, but I see it. I understand it. And I wonder, if the departure is noticeable to me, how many other people are seeing the same things with their friends?
