Conversations about who we are online.
What happened when I eliminated political dissent from my Facebook feed
What happened when I eliminated political dissent from my Facebook feed
I normally refrain from posting political content on social media, but in the aftermath of the San Bernardino shooting last December I shared a video on Facebook. It was too disturbing not to. Dana Loesch, a conservative radio host, narrates the video, which appeared on the National Rifle Association's news site.
"Researchers also found that 'liberals tend to be connected to fewer friends who share conservative content than conservatives who tend to be linked to more friends who share liberal content.' No wonder I found my classmate's dissenting view so odd.
Wherever you are in the world, chances are there are some vocal people talking politics in your social media feeds.
Any thoughts on echochambers, seeking out those who are like-minded and culling the old school friends from your Facebook feeds who have differing opinions?




I adore the safe-space cocoon of the echo chambers I have built around me!
The carefully curated selection of like-minded virtua-friends.
Things grew bumpier when my safe liberal echo chamber(s) were torn apart by the War of Bernie/Hillary -- and honestly, I had to mute a few of the shoutier friends who felt compelled to club everyone over the head with their worldviews.
Some people LIKE arguing. A lot of those people are not very good at listening.
The world can be a frightening, dangerous place. It can be an enormous solace to have spaces that are "safe".
That said.... it can be pretty jarring to venture into what OTHER people consider to be THEIR "safe spaces"...
You're right, some people just like arguing. So they'll always go with the opposite side of whatever you're trying to say. I've also muted a friend or two. I think sometimes 'safe' is confused with 'doesn't want civil discussion'. I'm happy to discuss differing points of view, but I'd prefer that without a side serving of name calling and abuse please.
A couple of years ago, some friends of mine from New Zealand thought the election at the time was definitely going to be won by X party. When that didn't happen, they were shocked - their Facebook feeds had been so positive for weeks, they'd forgotten that their FB demographics were not representative of the rest of the population.
I have abandoned Facebook at this point. If I don't post something from time to time people think I have died, so mostly I just share pictures of animals and far away beautiful places.
The progression from a social networking platform to quitting took a trip through the village of echo chamber. It was inspired by the Declaration of Independence actually. I was on Facebook and quite unhappy, but stuck with a habit and of course FOMO. Then after too many unpleasant (actually toxic) interactions on Facebook I declared that I was going to pursue a commitment to happiness. I invited people to unfriend me, and I unfriended a huge gaggle of people as well. Then I went through my friend's list and selected about 40% of my friends and family and put them in a group I called "NOWALL" and then I backed that up with their membership on the Restricted group. So we are friends, and they can see my basic information, but that's it. No sharing, no details, nothing at all.
Then I went out and unfollowed every page that even mildly harshed my happiness. Pretty much all of them.
And then while commenting on a friends post, I received a "HOW DARE YOU..." blah blah blah flame/troll post from someone I never met. And I had a visceral reaction, "How dare I? You fucking son of a bitch. This is how I dare!" and I walked away from Facebook. I didn't say anything; I just turned my Facebook volume to zero. I was upset and very smashy-bitey for a while. And then I found Imzy. I love this service so much, and it comes up a lot for me because it's that important. It is lovely. And for me to say that is huge.
So now, I post stupid pictures on Facebook through the social sharing panel on my iPhone, and I limit my exposure to that cesspool more and more. Breaking the habit of floating in the human latrine that is Facebook has made me much happier.
I don't want to go back. It's crap. And I'll enjoy my time here until humanity turns Imzy into another garbage heap. I admit that I half expect that to happen, so while Imzy is beautiful, I will treasure it. I will hold out hope that it doesn't get swallowed up by the Pit of Eternal Stench, but the chances that this, all of this, can survive is slim when just beyond the gates are all the awful, terrible trolls just waiting to ransack the place and smear it with their awfulness.