On The Paleo Project Facebook page, I wrote this, yesterday:
On my personal Facebook page, after waking to status after status containing words I can’t believe people would use toward their fellow Americans, I wrote the status below. I whole heartedly support debates. I support passion. I support democracy, and dammit, I support differences of opinions. What I don’t support? Disrespect, discrimination, closed minds and hateful words.
Luckily, I’m not alone.
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Enjoy these photos (and many more) from the past week, here.
How do you deal with Facebook politics?
24 comments :
Great post Jenna…..I have been avoiding news feeds on FB the last few days…cannot handle the name calling, bullying, ect. I am a proud American and love our country. But the hate that comes from all sides during election season makes me sick. So glad the elections are done and am anxious for facebook to return to pictures of our kids, coffee and food and posts about the weather and workouts!
i just want everyone to ban together over a mutual disgust over Sarah Palin’s emaciated body and shellaced hair-do/don’t in the name of one thing every American believes in: superficiality.
anyway, that picture of little children is simply precious and i love it and i want a poster of it to hang up in my office.
I think the point was to not be mean. Your comment is not appropriate here.
Lisa, Melissa’s tone is often one of sarcasm. I know her very well, she’s one of my best friends, she’s actually joking, which is different than being down right hateful, but I am sorry if it offended you! I hope you can look past this comment and focus on the content of my blog rather than the content of the comments.
aw, thanks jenna! lisa, you don’t know me, but i find the topic of politics rather dull. not because they’re irrelevant or “boring,” but rather because it’s such a GAME now. real issues are swept under the rug and it all becomes a mud slinging contest. so yeah, the actual dialogue between dems and republicans is just a hot, immature mess that i don’t find worth discussing. what i DO find worthy of discussion, because after all, i am an equal opportunist when it comes to snark and judgment, is the oddball grooming of one of the MOST outspoken extremists in politics, notorious for having undergone an extensive makeover for her own campaign only four years ago. does that make me a bad person, yeah, probably, but does that mean i’m not allowed to express myself? hardly. that’s america, and we’re all provided basic human rights, including that of speech. ultimately THAT is the way I interpret Jenna’s post: to be accepting of others’ opinions and words. Freedom of bad taste is an entirely different topic.
You are more than welcome to express yourself. It was a great post about bringing people together, along with pictures of both candidates, their families, and people of every ethnicity. It was a loveley post about keeping civility. Your comment may have been sarcastic, but sarcasm usually comes from truth. It could have contained Sarah Palin, Nancy Pelosi, or any number of people in hollywood that are fake and plastic. Instead you focused on one political person.
I appreciate your freedom of speech, but you just took what was said and did what Jenna was talking against even through sarcasm.
Thank you for allowing my freedom of speech!
I feel your pain, Jenna. I have hidden quite a few people on my Facebook feed in the last couple of months. I know everyone has the right to their opinion, but why does that opinion have to be bracketed with so much hatred and derision of the people who hold differing opinions? And honestly, the people who can’t express an opinion without the hatred and derision have permanently altered how I perceive them as friends and family. Not because of their opinions, rather how they choose to express their opinions. Opinions don’t make people ignorant, but how they express those opinions can make them look like a**h****. I have no room in my life for a**h****. Relative or friend.
P.S. I love the pictures!
i DO appreciate your freedom of speech lisa…i really DO!
but, and i hate to even have to articulate this point at all because it should go without saying that you can interpret many things from Jenna’s post here, BUT one of the things I took from it was the question at the end regarding how I handle Facebook politics, to which I provided some insight into how I might do that–by bringing people of ALL political backgrounds together to agree on one common horrifying thing: Sarah Palin’s hair. I find it interesting you take such issue with my attempt at bringing levity to a situation where many times there is none. It’s almost like you’re stalemating the attempts of “across the aisle” compromise I might be trying to initiate. Kind of like what’s going on in our Congress. Sorry, I have a blog–I get deep like that sometimes. I can’t help but draw the parallels. sigh. annoying, i know. Almost as annoying as the Russian’s might find Sarah Palin’s claims she can see their country from her backyard. In Alaska.
Jenna, feel free to kick me off of this comment thread at any time!
I think your point on FB was stated perfectly. And I have to agree with Lisa on hers.
Thank you, Layla! XO
Those men crying are making me cry. I need to hug them now.
So moving, right? Hugs.
Yes! Thank you, Im so glad this election is over! I don’t think I can handle any more mean political facebook posts.
I do love the little boy in the blue jacket, red hat.. I’m a teacher and I have an appreciation for sassy little faces like that!
Yes… let’s all rejoice and think about turkeys and christmas lights!!!!
I did a mass un-friending after election night. The amount of racism, ignorance, stupidity, blind hatred (the list could go on forever) disgusted me. I decided that there’s really no need to be “friends” with people that I went to pre-school with or ones that post comments or statuses that are argumentative and cruel just for the sake of starting a war in the comments. Life’s too short to surround my virtual self with so much nonsense, especially when politics is what brings it out in people when most (myself included) hardly know a damn thing about the candidates, their stances, their agendas, etc. I’m most upset about prop 37 in California and I live in NJ! Just makes me sad for the state of food in America.
I only defriended one person because they called us “stupid americans.” That hit me hard, because I respect people’s opinions whether they’re democrats or republicans. We all have different beliefs and it goes without saying that FB was where a lot of people went to express anger against one another. It was a form of bullying and I had no part in it whatsoever!
I wish I knew how to unsubscribe to people’s newsfeeds though, help!
Go to that person’s profile. hover over the “Friends” button and unclick “Show in Newsfeed”
Hmmmm…I like that last comment about unfriending…on a totally unrelated topic to this blog post, I have a FB “friend” who is really just engaged to my husband’s cousin, and he has started stalking me. The only thing he ever comments on are my ever changing profile pics. He recently sent me a private message, which creeped me out. I’d like to unfriend him, but then that would start a whole “thing” with my husband’s cousin and mom, and who knows who else. I’m not the only family member who thinks this guy is creepy. What to do?
I would go in to your privacy settings and make it so he cannot see your photos or click on your profile pictures. Also make it so he cannot message you. He will think no one can and he will have to move on.
Did it! Thanks! That feels great! Now my Custom list includes 17 of my (43) friends. I actually do know everyone personally, and that makes it harder. And awkward to unfriend. Now I have a custom list and I feel better about the whole thing. P.S. You made the cut- obviously!
Delete button, best invention ever.
We voted for different people in our house as well. Ugh, facebook. I almost thought about shutting mine down this week. I couldn’t believe how mean people were being to each other.
http://lachapstickfanatique.blogspot.com
Word, girl. I just unsubscribed from someone spouting hateful stuff since last Tuesday. The latest post from him? All about how we need to stop the anti-bullying campaigns and teach kids to suck it up. I can’t even…I don’t know. This is lovely and beautiful and all true. And I’d like to hope that even if elections don’t always go my way, I will always give due respect to Mr. President and the very difficult office (s)he holds.
That last picture made me tear up.
xoxo
Thanks for sharing, Jenna! I avoid facebook pretty much completely. During the election and always. Twitter is a much healthier place!
(Also, I think people, in general, are much more respectful on Twitter. And if they’re not? Unfollow and that’s that.)