Anyone else have problems with facebook?

[Marble Dragon]

Warning: this is a rant!

Disclaimer: I'm not trying to offend. If you can't get enough of facebook, then good for you! I'm not attacking facebook, I'm attacking the problems my facebook friends are causing and trying to find a solution.

Now on to the rant...

I used to love facebook because I could keep in touch with friends from all over that generally weren't very good at responding to emails and phone calls. But now it's just gotten freakin ridiculous. I have a plethora of people on there that are pro-gun people, and while I have nothing against gun ownership(in fact I've always wanted to learn to shoot), I do not enjoy having every single thing they talk about turn into a fight for gun rights.

And then there are the military and political people that can't stop posting on everyone's page why their views are the right ones and how everyone else is stupid for believing otherwise. Every time someone posts the opposite opinion they jump on their butt about it. I would have been happy to delete most of those people, but that would have probably ended up being most of my friends list.

So why is it that people who are super nice in real life decide that they can force their opinions on you in a digital format? They are obviously not anonymous on facebook, because I know them personally.

Anyway, I gave up facebook for the MLPTP since people are wayyy way nicer here and respect other people's opinions. But I would like to keep in touch with some of my facebook friends, but I don't know how I should do that since every time I post anything on facebook, they turn it into a political argument and then I get angry and fume for days. I thought these people were my friends. Maybe they are not.

Anyway, thanks for reading this far. I would love to hear your thoughts on the matter. Let me end by saying I really love you guys and the community everyone has created on here.

 

[pikapal]

I have that same problem and a lot of people I've friended there are relatives.

Ok here are a few things I've done on there to keep my sanity. I use a program called Social Fixer. It helps a lot. Unfollowing a lot of people can help too.

 

[Deleted]

So why is it that people who are super nice in real life decide that they can force their opinions on you in a digital format? They are obviously not anonymous on facebook, because I know them personally.

That statement is just so true. I find it fascinating that people can be totally different in a digital format. Speaking generally, they need to stop and think that there is a real person behind that screen, a real person who has feelings. Thats the thing, they are totally different in real life, I often wonder which is the real person, the nice person face to face, or the snarky person online. I use Facebook to read groups, I don't say much, nor do I have a friends list, or any profile information. I like to keep family matters private, ( just me I guess), social media is a bit scary to me.

 

[ladyofthenight]

Delete those people. Like they say, quality over quantity.

 

[MustBeJewel]

It can definitely be challenging when you want to be friends/acquaintances/network with a person and not cause any turbulence to your relationship, but at the same time, you don't want to be subjected to the drama and nonsense associated with their social media account.

Rather than upset someone by unfriending them despite being friends in person, I've taken to un-following someone, so their nonsense doesn't end up in my news feed. I also have it set so that I have to approve things that get posted to my wall, in case the nonsense spills over onto my own space. You can also filter your entries so that certain people can't see or comment on them, which is especially helpful if you have someone in your friends list who is overzealous or extreme about controversial topics and has a tendency to crash any rational conversation you have going with others.

Aside that, it's kind of a three-strike rule for me in terms of keeping friends on facebook. I don't need anyone in my life who stays readily involved in drama, reposts horrific things for shock value, or can't act with tact and maturity.

 

[Marble Dragon]

pikapal, that is a great resource! Thanks for that.

Slinky, that's not a bad way of going about it. I just some of my friends were more e-mail or telephone friendly as opposed to facebook frequenters.

ladyofthenight, thanks! I think I will delete some of them lol. Or unfollow them at the very least like MustBeJewel recommended, although I don't think that keeps them from posting on your page, does it?

Jewel, thanks for the tip. I think I will make use of the filter thing if I can figure it out.

These are all great comments, thank you!