Who are you not speaking to?

[ExFlyBoy5]

Indeed. I would have thought it would have been clear what specific social media I was referring to, since most of this thread was about FB and similar applications, but since it wasn't...apparently....I should have my I.Q. checked.


The constant use of cell phones to check in with what others are doing, and incessant need to take pictures of what your are doing, or eating, or wearing and share that somewhere online, the selfies....and more selfies.....and then checking to see what selfies others have posted....yikes.

Watching an entire family sitting at a very nice restaurant for dinner, each with their heads down over their phones rather than speaking to each other.....wow.

Getting run into walking on a sidewalk because the person walking toward me is totally absorbed with their "social media"....disturbing.

Some of it is texting, but much what I hear people talk about is FB'ing, Snapping, Tweeting, and that all dangerous "etc." Really? There does seem to be a correlation to level of intelligence and these behaviors.

As my DW says, "If you aren't paying my bills, cooking my dinner or CENSORED me, then it's none of your damn business."

Outside of some idiot running into you on the sidewalk or in a car, what does it matter if they are so preoccupied with technology at THEIR dinner or activity? Have you ever taken young children on an airplane or out to dinner? Then I bet that annoyed a bunch more people than some folks engrossed in their electronic devices.

Sent via mobile device. Please excuse any grammatical errors.

 

[redduck]

...Zero involvement in social media and honestly believe that any involvement in social media ( i.e. FB , Twitter, etc) is inversely related to I.Q..

This forum is a form of social media.

Hmmn, so maybe Silver is on to something afterall.

 

[explanade]

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.

Or it could be the start of a national nightmare ...

 

[brewer12345]

Or it could be the start of a national nightmare ...

.

 

[Katsmeow]

The Facebook thing is difficult. While I don't post a huge amount on Facebook, I am Facebook friends with a number of family members. They live within a few hours of me (mostly - a few exceptions farther away), so I don't see them often. But, I am interested generally in them and so like to see their FB posts that relate to their life. So I don't want to unfriend them or block them. But, some of them post a lot of political stuff (most of which I don't agree with). I don't post political stuff (I see no reason to alienate people who don't agree with me and don't feel FB posts will change the views of anyone). But, some of the family members do post political stuff and are very own-sided. But, I don't challenge any of it because I feel there is no point.

I am tempted to unfollow them, but then I miss their posts on personal stuff that I do want to see. So, it is an issue.

For the past few months I have actively avoided FB, just to avoid the political stuff. And, I find that I am constantly not knowing about things I want to know about (personal stuff posted by family) so that isn't working well either.

I am not going to unfriend family members - who in person we get along with fine and usually don't talk politics with - but I sure wish I could just hide their political posts but see all their other posts....

 

[explanade]

Do you think they purposely suppress political views in person but get very vocal online?

Twitter can also be very toxic but in a lot of cases, a lot of Twitter names are fictional whereas FB tries to aggressively enforce real names.

 

[ivinsfan]

The Facebook thing is difficult. While I don't post a huge amount on Facebook, I am Facebook friends with a number of family members. They live within a few hours of me (mostly - a few exceptions farther away), so I don't see them often. But, I am interested generally in them and so like to see their FB posts that relate to their life. So I don't want to unfriend them or block them. But, some of them post a lot of political stuff (most of which I don't agree with). I don't post political stuff (I see no reason to alienate people who don't agree with me and don't feel FB posts will change the views of anyone). But, some of the family members do post political stuff and are very own-sided. But, I don't challenge any of it because I feel there is no point.

I am tempted to unfollow them, but then I miss their posts on personal stuff that I do want to see. So, it is an issue.

For the past few months I have actively avoided FB, just to avoid the political stuff. And, I find that I am constantly not knowing about things I want to know about (personal stuff posted by family) so that isn't working well either.

I am not going to unfriend family members - who in person we get along with fine and usually don't talk politics with - but I sure wish I could just hide their political posts but see all their other posts....

Kats, I have a young adult relative who will make a dozen posts a day and one on them will original and the rest will be cat videos or something similar. I just unfollow them and one other political rabid poster and remember to check their page on the weekends. I can usually tell in 30 seconds if there is something I want to see and I only expose myself to the crap once.

 

[MRG]

Kats, I have a young adult relative who will make a dozen posts a day and one on them will original and the rest will be cat videos or something similar. I just unfollow them and one other political rabid poster and remember to check their page on the weekends. I can usually tell in 30 seconds if there is something I want to see and I only expose myself to the crap once.

I just block posts from offensive sites(to me). Eventually I've blocked most political sites on either side.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using Early Retirement Forum mobile app

 

[gerntz]

Women posts 50% items on FB walls than men per the data I just looked up.

 

[EastWest Gal]

Kats, I have a young adult relative who will make a dozen posts a day and one on them will original and the rest will be cat videos or something similar. I just unfollow them and one other political rabid poster and remember to check their page on the weekends. I can usually tell in 30 seconds if there is something I want to see and I only expose myself to the crap once.

Some cat videos are quite amusing, though.


Sent from my iPhone using Early Retirement Forum

 

[EastWest Gal]

My family, except DS and DH are >1000 miles away from us. I am politically more in tune with my high school classmates and former teachers than my other extended family and anyone I have met here except my son's friends. In our local one-sided political climate, people are either mute or rabidly noisy about their politics and religion, which gets not only annoying but frankly boring.

I like being in a community that shares their bike rides or their personal photography or announces their upcoming performances on social media. I like reading about someone's wonderful day. These sorts of posts give us a window into the everyday lives of people we consider friends. The "What did you do today?" thread here is such an example.

There are many layers of friends. Even this forum represents a layer of friends. Very few people are in our inner circle.


Sent from my iPhone using Early Retirement Forum

 

[easysurfer]

The Facebook thing is difficult. While I don't post a huge amount on Facebook, I am Facebook friends with a number of family members. They live within a few hours of me (mostly - a few exceptions farther away), so I don't see them often. But, I am interested generally in them and so like to see their FB posts that relate to their life. So I don't want to unfriend them or block them. But, some of them post a lot of political stuff (most of which I don't agree with). I don't post political stuff (I see no reason to alienate people who don't agree with me and don't feel FB posts will change the views of anyone). But, some of the family members do post political stuff and are very own-sided. But, I don't challenge any of it because I feel there is no point.

I am tempted to unfollow them, but then I miss their posts on personal stuff that I do want to see. So, it is an issue.

For the past few months I have actively avoided FB, just to avoid the political stuff. And, I find that I am constantly not knowing about things I want to know about (personal stuff posted by family) so that isn't working well either.

I am not going to unfriend family members - who in person we get along with fine and usually don't talk politics with - but I sure wish I could just hide their political posts but see all their other posts....

For me too, the decision to unfriend or unfollow isn't black and white. Some folks I do want to know what's going on with their lives, but too much political posts or other extremes (one loves to talk about his favorite topic -- himself, another is really nice but became a bit fanatical about religion, some others have potty mouths).

What I do is "demote" them and put them as an acquaintance instead of a friend on FB. That way, I rarely have their posts showing up on my FB news feed, yet at the same time can still look them up when I wish.

 

[garyt]

OK, I understand. I misinterpeted your post.

I read it the same way you did.

 

[gerntz]

Outside of some idiot running into you on the sidewalk or in a car, .

Outside of Those are pretty dang significant outside ofs to me.

 

[Shanky]

Some of my best friends are very diverse from each other politically.

In fact some of the most fun & generous people I know are financial "grasshoppers" living entirely in the present, or a bizarre parallel universe. They would not make good employees, probably financially irresponsible by this boards standards and they accept me as I am. They would give a friend their last dime, or drop everything to help someone who needs it. Politically, they may be socialist or anarchist, but it makes for great conversations. Surrounding oneself with likeminded folks can stagnate the mind.

 

[brett]

Not speaking to any telephone solicitors, any door to door salespeople, or any of those annoying proselytizers who want to convert me to their faith and/or pick my pocket.

Feel the same way about politicians who doorstep me as well.

I strongly suspect that my spouse has not voted in the same way I have over the years and has thus cancelled my vote many times.

Not bothered by it at all since it makes for interesting discussions. Don't care how anyone votes as long as they take the time to vote.

 

[easysurfer]

The Contest - Election Style

Remember the classic Seinfeld episode "The Contest"?

Well, regardless of how the election turns out, I'm gonna try and refrain from commenting anyway which is porky worthy here (trying my best at being a good guest) or on social media like Facebook. See if I can hold out .

Drops mic ... Easysurfer out

 

[Choices]

Remember the classic Seinfeld episode "The Contest"?

Well, regardless of how the election turns out, I'm gonna try and refrain from commenting anyway which is porky worthy here (trying my best at being a good guest) or on social media like Facebook. See if I can hold out .

Drops mic ... Easysurfer out

Well, Bless You. I am considering buying a funeral wreath for the front door if things don't turn out MY WAY.

To OP's question: will never again see or speak to my greedy, theaving SIL.
And some of my less evolved in laws.

Out

 

[ABQ2015]

As a federal employee, one of our attorneys briefed us on the Hatch Act and advised us that we are not even allowed to "like" or comment on a political FB post until after the election. So especially if my candidate wins, I am dying to say something on FB but will have to wait until tomorrow. But I'll be nice.

 

[MRG]

Guess I'm not speaking with a former co-w*rker.

I just learned that I was a contributing factor to his inability to perform as a desktop developer. Caused him to change his career path in 1991? I was one of ten folks he blamed. Interesting as when I last saw him he was blaming a different group of people for his failures as a server developer around 2000. Somehow that's also costing him part of his SS benefits?

 

[scrabbler1]

Like many others here, I have no interest in FB at all. I often remark about FB what Betty White said about in 2010 during her SNL monologue: "I think it's a big waste of time!"


I stopped discussing politics with my brother years ago although once in a while there was a break in our cease-fire. I can't discuss politics with my dad any more, either. When the two of us were at my brother's house back in February, my brother raised the topic. I replied, "You sure you want to go there?" We did, briefly, although I was outnumbered 4-1 (my LF was not with me on this trip).

 

[NW-Bound]

I stopped discussing politics with my brother years ago although once in a while there was a break in our cease-fire. I can't discuss politics with my dad any more, either. When the two of us were at my brother's house back in February, my brother raised the topic. I replied, "You sure you want to go there?" We did, briefly, although I was outnumbered 4-1 (my LF was not with me on this trip).

My best friend was a card-carrying libertarian, and he was quite vocal about his political beliefs. He told me that one Thanksgiving dinner, he got into a heated debate with his family, which included his mother and his siblings. They all ganged up on him. I could imagine out how it went, because he and I got into heated debates too, even though I was a lot closer to his political belief than his liberal family.

At one point, he said his mother screamed at him "Get out of my house!".

To which he replied "But, but, this is MY house".

But that did not mean they did not talk to one another again. They annoyed the heck out of each other, but then pushed it aside, to do it again, and again.

Don't we see pols doing that all the time? They called each other names, and when it was over, they praised and thanked each other for a good fight, like nothing happened. They were buddies before they became adversaries (partying, attending weddings, being each other's houseguests, etc...), and there's no reason to think they will not be partying and take vacations with each other again. It was all posturing. No hard feelings.

 

[kcowan]

If only Democrats and Republicans could act that way!

 

[Ronstar]

I use Facebook to follow niece and nephew, bil. But the last few weeks have been crazy with political crap. I unfollowed or unfriended all of it. Now all is well.

 

[Big_Hitter]

I've had to unfollow several people today