“While I would enjoy political discussion, I can understand it being banned, the work load on the moderators would be tremendous, to say the least, because people basically can’t discuss politics without it becoming personal and ugly. Leaving it open would be tantamount to a bar room brawl I suspect.”
That is only because of the other TOS rules on this site.
On my tennis site we can swear as much as we want - tell someone they are out of their minds (in even more harsh terms than that,) etc, etc, etc, and no topic of discussion are off limits. I often forget when I am posting on this board that I can’t say something that I give no thought to on my other site. I’ve taken to, “writing, reading, editing, deleting” posts on this board on any slightly controversial thread topic, because I like a lot of the posters on this board and I don’t want to get banned.
Well if it mirrored FB who are supposed to be friends that you actually know I can see why.
Part of the trouble is that before politics became so prevalent on FB is that I really didn’t know how some people felt. Some have put such vitriolic things on FB that it colors my opinion of them–and I’ve known them for years as good, caring people. It saddens me–not that they have an opinion different from mine but that they are appearing to be intolerant of any view other than their own.
I am grateful for comedians. Anyone who can make me laugh about the current state of things is an angel, IMO.
I wasn’t big on the old political forum but I miss it. It seems trivial when we can only talk about women’s dresses and not what they are saying. But, I can understand the practical considerations, especially now.
The CC political forum was the most civil political forum on the web (lol!), but I am glad it got shut down back then. The overall level of nastiness on the web shot up dramatically in the past couple of years, so I could only imagine how much emotional energy and time the moderators would be spending cleaning out the virtual manure.
Not on Facebook, but do Twitter. I only follow a few organizations and individuals, so my news feed is mostly politics-free.
I don’t understand human nature, I suppose. People are much meaner on FB than they would be to your face.
Then there are the people who just repost newspaper articles. I read the newspaper all by myself, thank you. I don’t need you telling me what to read.
Then there are the newspapers and cable news themselves. Never forget that without big headlines, they would go out of business. (Newspapers are barely holding on as it is and cable news ratings for some channels are way down). So they gin up stories to keep eyes glued.
@TatinG. You don’t get those things unless you’ve decided to follow their page - and if something you haven’t followed gets on your newsfeed you can click on arrow to not get stuff from that site anymore. Takes one second.
There are lots of ways to limit what one can see on their newsfeed. Sounds to me that most people just don’t do anything about it.
I also only have about 30 or so friends on Facebook and they are all close friends or relatives - no one I knew in high school 40+ years ago who I haven’t seen since or people who are merely aquaintances. Probably cuts down considerably on clutter.
Sounds like some of you need to “curate” your Facebook friends list better if you have issues with what you see. I’m pretty selective but I don’t mind seeing a diversity of opinions. I like to see and hear what the “other side” is thinking so I’m not in a bubble. I’ve only unfriended one person and that was 5 years ago. I have one cousin on ignore.
One of my facebook friends posted this yesterday and I found some truth in it and might help one realize that other people’s posts aren’t there to convert you.
“I don’t post the things I do on my wall to change anyone’s mind. I post them so friends who think like I do will know they aren’t alone.”
Another tip: If all the stuff on Facebook is stressing you out, instead of reading your wall as Facebook gives it to you, go to your page, click on Friends. After “All Friends” and “Recently Added”, you’ll see “New Posts”. Click on that and you can see friends who have posted recently. Then you can look at those friends you want to (safe friends with cat and vacation photos ) and avoid clicking on the “friends” whose posts are too political for you or whose politics make your good boil.
I don’t mind the diversity of opinions. I mind the constant barrage of garbage.
And I mind that people that I really do want to hear from are being drowned out and getting off FB.
@Thumper1 why would you get rid of NPR? There are many (many) days when I feel like they’re the last group out there that really looks at issues in-depth, with caring, and without yelling
@gouf78 Then avoid your newsfeed by looking at “new posts” as I mentioned above. You can then look only at the posts of people that interest you. Then you can “like” their posts and show them the love.
My FB feed is now filled with people saying "Stop posting politics! More cat photos!’ which I think is silly as well. You can’t control what people post, only your reaction to it. There are many ways to filter posts, for goodness sakes.
It’s not as if it’s going to get any better from here on out. Though I do agree about the excessive news articles and especially a huge influx of dumb political memes. I’ve had to “see less from…” a few people I like and even agree with, because JEEZ.
Let’s see, my happy: I volunteer at a Head Start program and our new children’s playspace just opened and they LOVE it.
@Thumper1, wow! NPR is the only radio station I listen to in the car. I can’t live without it. In fact, I just made a donation to my station this morning and it’s not even pledge drive week!
My happy diversion is watching tennis. There is a tournament somewhere in the world every week. I can remain blissfully unaware of the world outside for months on end.
Yes, I’ve seen more cranes in many cities I’ve visited over the past year or so. To me, that is a good indicator of economic growth and it does provide jobs. Some of that investment is definitely coming from abroad.
@bunsenburner:
I just hope your buildings department is better than the one in NYC, having cranes a thousand feet up can be scary (a crane arm broke off at the building site of One 56, over by Carnegie Hall, during Sandy, they were worried the arm was going to fall, penetrate the street and set off a gas explosion…some brave people climbed the crane like 1100 feet above the street and secured it).
A lot of the building is being driven by foreign investors, especially from China and Russia, looking for safe havens for their money. From my office I can look at the (ugly as hell) building on Park Ave, the tallest apartment building in the western hemisphere, where the top apartment is like 60 million dollars…
No kidding about the foreign money. Twice we tried to beat the Chinese, and they were unbeatable. To overpay $100k for a home to get it for sure - not our kind of a RE game.
I don’t think there is anything wrong with political posts on FB as long as they are informative and not nasty and obviously false. I have unfriended one person who was more an acquaintance as she will not stop with the mean stuff constantly. It makes me mad evetytime I see it. I want to get crappy with her, but it is her FB page and she can put up there what she wants. I just don’t have to read it anymore. My thought of her have changed. I have good friends who are very much opposite me in terms of political views, but we refuse to talk about it, it’s just a moment in our lives.
) and avoid clicking on the “friends” whose posts are too political for you or whose politics make your good boil.