Friends IRL may have noticed that I have taken a little break from social media. Mostly from the facebook because it's depressing to learn and continually experience that friends and family are racists and willfully ignorant.
I define willfully ignorant as someone who blindly accepts facts as truth, no matter the source. i.e. "my coworker said" "I read it on Twitter" or Fox "news".
Take some responsibility and confirm something is true before spreading it around. It takes less than a minute to google something.
And the racist thing, well, that just sucks because there isn't a cure for that other than intolerance. Which is difficult to do when it's family members or friends you thought you knew.
There are many worst parts for the past few years but for me the worst part is discovering which friends/family have these beliefs. It's disappointing and exhausting and leaves me feeling powerless.
Because all I want to do is hit comment and point out that it is a lie or state how disappointed I am. But that is a can of worms that I do not want. Instead I will like the snot out of posts that I do agree with, knowing that they'll possibly pop up on others feeds. It's passive aggressive but it makes me feel a little better.
And sometimes I will post something and know that there may be blowback. My plan in that case is to not feed that monster and ignore any comments. Luckily, I've not had that happen in quite a while.
There used to be decorum but that is a social skill that has passed, it seems. Because of my beliefs, I have been referred to as a libtard, been "pwned", and all kinds of things. To add to the frustration, most of these folks would never say it to my face but giddily do it on social media. I've never hidden nor shouted my beliefs but it's not difficult to know who I am so it's difficult not to take it personally. (side-eye at close family members)
Like I've said before, this isn't a simple disagreement about the death penalty or abortion. These are disagreements over fundamentals like every one is equal and free and taking care of the poor and the weak, and basically: don't be an asshole.
These are things that in my 50 years of life I would have never guessed would be a thing.
ANYWAY...
Instead I post puppy photos and family photos. I repost memes. I don't deep dive like I used to. The only downfall of this is that I have missed stuff occasionally. Then I think: we didn't use to have facebook and it was okay, we all survived.
My former sister-in-law lamented that there was nothing good on the facebook anymore so I suggested to recultivate her feed. I recommended some pages for her to follow so she sees positivity instead of the utter shitshow that is our government and social media right now.
Here is the list:
Word Porn, Love What Matters, Purple Clover, Goodwill Librarian. For Reading Addicts, The Idealist, PostSecret, Cup of Jane, Uplift Connect, Bookish Buzz, Humans of Tumblr, Humans of New York, Ann Moore (no relation at all) Calvin and Hobbes, Snoopy , The Bloggess!!!
I also follow dog pages like Crusoe the Celebrity Dachshund, Dog Feelings and Dog Rates. My f-s-i-l is a cat person so they weren't on the original list.
Follow authors or performers that you like. I only do that if they post content other than upcoming performances/appearances though. That one can be tricky.
Follow your state/province. For example, I follow Washington State History Museum, local town(s) history, and Only in Washington. I'm a nerd so I realize this might not be interesting to everyone.
Of course, I follow car stuff. Follow your hobby.
My twitter feed is different because I use it differently. However, I do follow writers, comedians, pundits, and friends. I try to retweet the funny, the poignant, the important on that platform. (Firegirl03)
My point, other than the rant, is that social media is what you make it. It can be super negative or super positive. And VERIFY for eff sakes before reposting. #morepuppyphotos
1 comment:
Ug, I hear you.
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