Who are you not speaking to?

[Dd852]

I actually think this is part of the problem. I realize that in all my facebook friends and twitter followers I have almost 99% uniformity of political views - that left me surprised when it became clear half the country thought differently! I wish we had more open, civilized calm discussion leading to true understanding. Would it have changed my mind? Probably not, but it would have made me a better person, a more informed person and a more understanding person. I really worry that we are all in our bubbles, never connecting.

 

[NW-Bound]

I have no friends on Facebook other than my extended family, and I already know about the political inclination of everyone. The older generation tends to be quiet, and makes no political post, or if they do, it is in a very subtle manner. The young generation tends to be more vocal.

I generally do not "like" someone's post or argue with anybody; people in my family are generally quite reasonable, and I try to understand how they see things as they do. Very rarely, I would point out something when someone got it wrong factually, and do that to people on both sides, and try to do that as tactfully as I know how.

 

[Midpack]

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.

I was excited about using FB at first. But I got to know some people a lot better (politically) after friending them, it was alarming how blindly and offensively partisan they were - I never knew as they never said such things in person. Made FB a lot less appealing.

I was dead wrong about the effect the internet and social media would have on our society. I thought it would bring us together. It has just made it easier to find our own like minded silos, ignore others, and be more divided than ever. Very sad. And cable TV has contributed, with partisan "opinion" "news" drowning out balanced "objective news."

 

[NW-Bound]

Some people get carried away. Not just in politics, but after a soccer match, a football game, they went nuts, rioting, burning stores, overturning cars. It's just a freaking game, for crying out loud. There are always fanatics in this world.

 

[easysurfer]

I was excited about using FB at first. But I got to know some people a lot better (politically) after friending them, it was alarming how blindly and offensively partisan they were - I never knew as they never said such things in person. Made FB a lot less appealing.

I was dead wrong about the effect the internet and social media would have on our society. I thought it would bring us together. It has just made it easier to find our own like minded silos, ignore others, and be more divided than ever. Very sad. And cable TV has contributed, with partisan "opinion" "news" drowning out balanced "objective news."

I blame the old fashioned media (tv, radio) and social media for some of the meanness. Just saw something today about Twitter going to crack down on by adding new ways to curb abuse and hate speech. Duh, it's about time. If FB and Twitter had easier filtering, the experience would be so much easier to take. We've become a voyeuristic society, but sometimes better with things left unseen or heard.

 

[CountryGal]

I think social media had a huge impact on the results of the election. Between having candidates tweeting and the fake news stories being spread even after they have been debunked. Then there is the ability for ANYONE to create a blog or "news" outlet that other folks believe. SO many folks don't look at the source of their posts or even care if they are legit. I think it was very damaging.
While Facebook looked the other way, I think a lot of people have stopped or limited their use of Facebook because of it all.

 

[explanade]

Unfortunately, I don't think people have limited FB at all. In fact a very high percentage of people based their decisions on what they read through FB or Twitter.

Back in the day, a large percentage of people under 30 were getting their news from The Daily Show.

Now old people of a certain political bent were reading the fake news through FB, because they distrusted the media.

 

[audreyh1]

Yes, I'm amazed at how many people will just swallow obviously ridiculous and easily debunked news on Facebook and pass it along. They just swallow it hook, line and sinker, not investigating at all. And I'm not talking political news alone either - lots of silly "scientific" stuff too.

What is with this knee-jerk FB user instinct to "share" so often anyway. I understand some stuff, but when it's an obvious chain-letter type eyeball grabbing setup from a source you don't know?

 

[RockyMtn]

I don't face/twit/snap/Instagram! I talk to people via phone, in person or via email. Oh..and I don't talk to my ex wife via any mode of communication.

 

[easysurfer]

Unfortunately, I don't think people have limited FB at all. In fact a very high percentage of people based their decisions on what they read through FB or Twitter.

Back in the day, a large percentage of people under 30 were getting their news from The Daily Show.

Now old people of a certain political bent were reading the fake news through FB, because they distrusted the media.

I miss the nights of getting all my news on the evening monologue of the Tonight Show with Jay Jeno .

Fake news surely is in the news recently. Just saw something today about the controversy of inaccurate news on [-]Fakebook[/-] Facebook.

 

[MichaelB]

The same day they invented news, fake news appeared. Who knows - fake news may have even been there first. It is human nature.

When I see some of the truly crazy, obviously false stories posted or passed along by people I used to work with, I wonder how they functioned so well in a demanding environment with such limited reasoning and judgement.

 

[W2R]

Yes, I'm amazed at how many people will just swallow obviously ridiculous and easily debunked news on Facebook and pass it along. They just swallow it hook, line and sinker, not investigating at all. And I'm not talking political news alone either - lots of silly "scientific" stuff too.

What is with this knee-jerk FB user instinct to "share" so often anyway. I understand some stuff, but when it's an obvious chain-letter type eyeball grabbing setup from a source you don't know?

I didn't know they really swallowed all those silly stories. That thought is pretty scary! For some reason I assumed they were just posting them because they didn't have anything else to say, and yet wanted to signal "Hey, I'm OK, still alive here even though I haven't posted anything in a week".

 

[audreyh1]

I didn't know they really swallowed all those silly stories. That thought is pretty scary! For some reason I assumed they were just posting them because they didn't have anything else to say, and yet wanted to signal "Hey, I'm OK, still alive here even though I haven't posted anything in a week".

Well, the occasional fake one that I respond to the poster (sharer) usually mentions something like duh-I should have looked into it more, too bad it's not true or something along those lines. That's on the non-political ones. I just kick the political ones off my FB feed without comment because there is no way to correct those and you'll just get flamed.

 

[CountryGal]

I think there are the obvious fakes - like "Mother swallows a cow" vs. something that might be true. If someone likes or dislikes someone they are more prone to confirmation bias about their views.

I have a Facebook friend that posted something that didn't smell right to me with regard to the election. I researched the source and suggested it may not be true because the source was a Russian news outlet. ...she deleted my post. :face palm:

There are a lot of non-techie people on Facebook that have the attitude - if it is "on the internet", it MUST be true. I know it influenced political views.

 

[RobbieB]

I made a lot of dough because my advisor bought facebook. Good thing he bought it too because I never would have.

I don't even have an account and I never will.

 

[GalaxyBoy]

+1 on not having an account

Reading this thread made me realize why the silly "scientific" email chain letters have dried up in my inbox - they've moved to FB. Thank goodness!

Folks know I'm an amateur astronomer so they felt compelled to forward me all the emails about Mars appearing larger than the full moon, fake photos of an earth without oceans, etc. When I gently corrected them, usually with less than 60 sec of research, it just tended to annoy them.

 

[2017ish]

+1 on not having an account

Reading this thread made me realize why the silly "scientific" email chain letters have dried up in my inbox - they've moved to FB. Thank goodness!

....

I think my mom is active on Facebook, while I'm not. Unfortunately, she seems to harvest the "best of" stuff from facebook and emails it to me.

 

[braumeister]

Going back many years, I've been removed from countless contact lists due to replying with a link to Snopes or a similar source debunking the nonsense. These days, I spend about 10-15 minutes a week looking at Facebook, and much of that time is using the "I don't want to see posts like this" button.

 

[audreyh1]

+1 on not having an account

Reading this thread made me realize why the silly "scientific" email chain letters have dried up in my inbox - they've moved to FB. Thank goodness!

Folks know I'm an amateur astronomer so they felt compelled to forward me all the emails about Mars appearing larger than the full moon, fake photos of an earth without oceans, etc. When I gently corrected them, usually with less than 60 sec of research, it just tended to annoy them.

I still get a kick out of the fervently shared amazing twilight photos of a huge full moon rising in front of a gorgeous fading sunset, or in front of clouds. These are often accompanied by comments full of kudos to our creator. I have to explain why the scene, although truly beautiful, could not occur in real life and that it was photoshopped.

 

[Mdlerth]

I don't even have an account and I never will.

Roger that. Aside from the misinformation controversy, it appears to be an enormous time hog. I'd never get anything done.

To answer OP's literal question, I haven't sundered any FB relationships because, like RobbieB, I don't do FB.

To answer OP's question more generally, I have not ended communication with family due to political disagreements. However, I observe that we don't talk all that much anyway, regardless of the topic. Distance and the passage of time work more slowly than explosive disagreements, but they cause just as many families to dissipate.

 

[braumeister]

All this talk about it prompted me to look at my FB account this morning. I've had it for seven years and made a total of 52 posts, mostly just photos. That's far more activity than I thought it would be. I'll have to cut back.

 

[Meadbh]

Wolf Blitzer to the rescue....

Here’s how Wolf Blitzer can save your Thanksgiving meal - NY Daily News

 

[Walt34]

I still get a kick out of the fervently shared amazing twilight photos of a huge full moon rising in front of a gorgeous fading sunset, or in front of clouds. These are often accompanied by comments full of kudos to our creator. I have to explain why the scene, although truly beautiful, could not occur in real life and that it was photoshopped.

You mean to tell me this photo isn't real?

 

[easysurfer]

You mean to tell me this photo isn't real?

Let me guess, the mailboxes are Photoshopped?

 

[Totoro]

The rings are tilted too much. That, or the neighborhood is built on a pretty steep hill.

Yeah, that must be it ..