Who are you not speaking to?

[SumDay]

I'm listening to a story on NPR about the demise of friendships on Facebook due to the current political environment.

And I also just read this last week: Trump and Clinton wreck Facebook friendships - POLITICO

I've muted many "friends" and family on Facebook because I just don't care to hear what they have to say right now. In real life, we're also finding ourselves steering away from people who are very vocal about their views that differ from ours.

I suspect this is happening to others as well. Have politics impacted who you talk to, or what you talk about?

 

[W2R]

Not yet. I don't assert my political viewpoint with those who tell me they are voting for the other candidate. Changing the topic helps sometimes. I must admit that I can hardly wait until the U.S. Presidential election is behind us.

In 69 days all of this will be over.

 

[Major Tom]

I deactivated my FB account a month or so ago. Politics was part of the reason, though not all of it. My new account is under the name of one of my cats (with profile pic to match) and I only have 12 friends on it. I haven't missed the old account yet.

Although I will pay attention if there are any big developments in this election cycle, I am, for the most part, checked out. I am far more interested in getting along with the people I know than in arguing politics with them. Huge waste of time, IMO. As far as they're concerned, I'm an idiot and as far as I'm concerned, they're all idiots. By that logic, we are all idiots.

Perhaps indeed we all are idiots, but I'd rather enjoy the company of my fellow fools than argue with them

 

[FIREmenow]

Not yet. I must admit that I can hardly wait until the U.S. Presidential election is behind us.

In 69 days all of this will be over.

.....until the next one.

 

[aja8888]

I don't "do" Facebook.

The only people I am not currently speaking to are all dead. I wish I could have a few words with some of them again, but that may have to wait a bit.

If any of my current friends or family start talking about the current political situation, I make myself absent from the conversation.

 

[MichaelB]

Not yet. I must admit that I can hardly wait until the U.S. Presidential election is behind us.

In 69 days all of this will be over.

+infinity


Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end

 

[MRG]

I've been busily telling FB to not show posts from certain websites. I've not unfriended or stopped following anyone, yet! I very well may before the election is over.

I don't care to hear others political views even if they have the same viewpoint as me. So I'm turning off both sides of the silliness.

I did have a great conversation with my sister. She's lived in TX for 40 some years and our DF was somewhere to the right of ATH, my views are somewhat different. But she started the conversation with "what do you think our DF would do if he were alive?". We both laughed as DF disliked showmanship to an extreme. I don't know what the old man would do but it is laughable to think about.

 

[Major Tom]

I don't care to hear others political views even if they have the same viewpoint as me. So I'm turning off both sides of the silliness.

+1

When I noticed that even people who had the same political views as me were becoming annoying, I knew it was time to stop paying attention altogether and shift my focus.

 

[2017ish]

I don't really do facebook either. Get on only when one of our kids says that is the best place to see, for example, proposal pictures--so a handful of times a year? Once upon a time, I blocked all posts/messages from the vast majority of my "Friends," so my homepage is usually pretty empty.

As for real life, the few people who I talk to seem to be in agreement as to the putrid quality of both major nominees. They are either picking their poison or feeling the Johnson. No real need to discuss....

 

[Jack_Pine]

We have good friends who are polar opposites of our political views and have been for years. We steer clear of any conversations that head that way and if they do we laugh and agree to disagree............................

 

[ShokWaveRider]

We do not have any friends that do not agree with us politically. We do not socialize with members of the opposing party on an intimate level where we discuss such things, they are merely acquaintances and while we respect their opinions, it stops there. As all our friends are smart, intelligent level headed and successful we all agree by default.


We and our friends vote the party and not the candidate. The President cannot do anything for the overall populous really of substance without an accommodating congress, we have experienced that for ages now.

We are only interested in a few policy things anyway now as we get older, that is Healthcare at prices we can afford without stressing, Maintaining SS, paying folk a living wage, one more that I cannot mention and that kind of thing. All the rest is noise and should not even be part of the debate.

That is a change in itself as we voted VERY different when we were younger.

 

[gerntz]

I've heard of FB, but don't really know how it works. As for politics, I keep my mouth shut till someone feels free to tell me theirs. If I disagree, then I unload double barrel. They usually don't bring the subject up with me again.

 

[Major Tom]

As all our friends are smart, intelligent level headed and successful we all agree by default.

Aaaah, I see. So anyone with a differing viewpoint must, by definition, not be smart, intelligent, level-headed and successful?

Sounds pretty broad-minded to me.

 

[gerntz]

We do not have any friends that do not agree with us politically. We do not socialize with members of the opposing party on an intimate level where we discuss such things, they are merely acquaintances and while we respect their opinions, it stops there. As all our friends are smart, intelligent level headed and successful we all agree by default.


We and our friends vote the party and not the candidate. The President cannot do anything for the overall populous really of substance without an accommodating congress, we have experienced that for ages now.

We are only interested in a few policy things anyway now as we get older, that is Healthcare at prices we can afford without stressing, Maintaining SS, paying folk a living wage, one more that I cannot mention and that kind of thing. All the rest is noise and should not even be part of the debate.

That is a change in itself as we voted VERY different when we were younger.

 

[ShokWaveRider]

Aaaah, I see. So anyone with a differing viewpoint must, by definition, not be smart, intelligent, level-headed and successful?

Sounds pretty broad-minded to me.

No, Just we choose our friends and they fall into that category. The OP post was Who at you NOT speaking to. It just happens to coincide with our choice of friends. Now family you cannot choose, that can be a problem.

 

[MichaelB]

One of the reasons I try to avoid politics - on forums and in the real world - is it doesn't take much to set some people off, while others sort of sneak their views into unrelated conversations. Either way, though, conversations can get ugly very quickly.

 

[easysurfer]

Met up for dinner with some former grade school classmates about a month ago. The dinner going really nice, getting caught up about each others' lives. Then one of they folks mentions, perhaps kidding, "So, are we all gonna vote for ____?".

The tone of the dinner changed. I was saying "Why did you have to bring up politics?" This place taught me well as, though biting my tongue, I refrained from diving into the heated conversation.

 

[Major Tom]

No, Just we choose our friends and they fall into that category. The OP post was Who at you NOT speaking to. It just happens to coincide with our choice of friends. Now family you cannot choose, that can be a problem.

OK, I understand. I misinterpeted your post.

 

[COcheesehead]

I've have learned that I don't have to react to everything said on the internet. Most things, just not everything. LOL.

 

[nash031]

I have two unwritten, unannounced rules:

1) If you post or share political content to my timeline, it will be deleted and you will be blocked. (I blocked two of DW's family members who were sharing Bernie Sanders content on my timeline before the CA primaries).

2) If all you post is political statements, commentary, or "shares" from political blogs, you will be blocked. (I have blocked probably half a dozen people whose only contributions to my social media feed are shared Brietbart, HuffPo, AllenBWest, etc., postings).

So, in total, I'd say there are about 8-10 folks that have been "unfollowed" or blocked due to politics this season.

 

[RunningBum]

I've unfollowed FB friends on both sides who have felt it is their duty to inform everyone else of everything good their candidate/party stands for and how bad the other is. One said it was like 60s activism. It's just too much.

 

[athena53]

I un-friended one person because she was militant on one particular issue. Her posts were emotional, sometimes sensationalist, and she refused to respond to any other points of view, discuss possible mitigating factors, etc. She'd just parrot back her beliefs and that was that. It was a shame- I can usually find common ground with just about anyone- but I felt better immediately after detaching.

I pretty much ignore all the political crap but I am finding it interesting who supports whom and why. I just don't respond to them.

 

[Big_Hitter]

I just unfollow, not unfriend.

 

[GrayHare]

Like others here I distance myself from emotionally-charged political discussion. There may be a particular element of personality that causes us to both shun that and be FIRE-capable. That's an interesting and unexpected (to me) correlation.

 

[Just_Steve]

I can't not speak to my 2 political opposites as one shares my bed and the other one I helped create. My home is divided 2 -2, wife and daughter on one side me and my son on the other.