Thursday, February 28, 2013

Love and Hate on Facebook

I love Facebook for many reasons, mostly because I am nosy and like to know what everyone else is doing.  I like to know what Jen on the Edge is cooking for dinner, the cute things your kids and pets have done, when the Skipping Club will meet next, and the love poem my son wrote to his girl.

But where there is love, there is also hate.  Besides politics, I really hate the sharing of things that aren't true.   It only takes a few moments to do an internet search on these warnings and reminders to see if there is truth or some doubt.

The latest ones that have been bugging me...
I don't like to see misinformation spread but I also feel like a bitch if I point it out.   What would you do?

8 comments:

Jenny Hart Boren said...

Wait--so do you think that giant goldfish in Lake Tahoe might not be real? I feel so let down. If only because I tried so hard to keep the darn tank warm, back in our goldfish-as-pets days.

As the mother of an extremely right-wing daughter, I'm used to clicking "hide" on ridiculous posts. It's good exercise to love 'em in spite of how darn wrong [I think] they are.

Janet said...

oh, I am SO with you! I am forever posting Snopes links ... I think I might've hurt someone's feelings recently by doing so, but ... damn it, it wasn't true!

Cassi said...

At least with FB you can "hide" or block. I have an uneducated, right-wing, sister. She posts the most ridiculous things!

My FIL forwards way too many right-wing, falsely-attributed, email rants. I just delete them, but they drive my husband nuts.

Anonymous said...

Seems like we all are the lucky benefactors of an overposting, right wing relative or friend - or twenty. I resisted blocking them for a while, because as the poem Desiderata says, "even the dull and ignorant; they too have their story." Then I moved on to the second paragraph where it says "Avoid loud and aggressive person, they are vexation to the spirit" ... so I blocked the suckas!

Patience_Crabstick said...

These things annoy me too. I like genuine updates, but I hide people who are constantly posting irritating links.

Karen (formerly kcinnova) said...

Oh, facebook -- the thing I love to hate! I keep people in lists (many of them are multiple lists) but lately I am only checking a few: my blogging friends, my local city friends, and immediate family. The rest have been driving me a bit crazy. It might be the hormones talking, or I might simply be trying to simplify my life and de-stress. The first things to go are the political rants of the right-wing gun lovers and the people who pass things on without an ounce of common sense.
I keep reminding myself it is good practice in "loving the sinner, hating the sin." (Oh, how my ultra-conservative friends would twist that!)

Karen (formerly kcinnova) said...

Confession: I did un-friend someone a few months ago. She was toxic. Most people I simply "hide."

Jen on the Edge said...

I always point out the urban legends and untruths. I would imagine that people would want to know that something is false and I always try to be polite and respectful about it.