If anything, the election last week has made social media even more hateful than it was before the election. I don't know if the lefties on my feed can keep their dudgeon high for the next four years, but it sure seems that is the goal. The signal to noise ratio has never been worse.
I keep my politics here; only rarely do I bother with commenting on posts of a political nature on social media, primarily because so many of my college friends are so far off the deep end that it's not worth risking friendships over engaging in, ahem, discussions. I want to see their family pictures, or stories about their lives. I don't really need to see them denounce Stephen Bannon for the 13th time today; I got the point at least a half-dozen posts ago.
Perhaps it will change, though. I'm noticing this -- while the number of propaganda posts are increasing on my feed, the actual number of comments and "likes" I see on each are going down. We aren't into discussions any more, we're all about the virtue signaling. It would be easier if Facebook and other similar sites simply gave you the option to add a halo to your icon, much as you can superimpose a French flag screen over your icon every time the French get hit with another terrorist attack. It would be a real timesaver.
3 comments:
I'm wrestling with this as well--working with a lot of immigrants, I certainly did not make a huge deal of my disdain for Mrs. Clinton at work for obvious reasons, nor did I put a "Drumpf" bumper sticker on my truck. But I am starting to open up and mention things I know well--things like "my experience as an employee for defense contractors suggests that Hillary got a sweet deal from James Comey." There is a point at which even the most brain-addled leftists need to hear the truth.
i work with mostly hispanics. some from family that have been here for generations, and others migrants themselves. Trump probably took 1/2 the workforce. Maybe a fraction a bit higher.
i was vocal, took a few arrows and delivered some too. but i'm not known to be always polite sometimes.
I think people are seeking catharsis. But social media makes for lousy catharsis. Instead of getting their negative emotions out by physical means, they are skipping the physical aspect and exacerbating their problem. They'd be better served by hiking or worshiping (the non-political variety.)
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