This hits home - the 'self censorship'. I see so many vomiting their opinions online, yet I refrain from doing so - I tell myself 'social media isn't the place for it', and to be fair, I stay true to myself if I'm having an in-person conversation. During the pandemic, I posted a meme critical of vaccine passports, and got jumped on by a couple of friends (I was living overseas, hadn't seen either individual in years). I was happy to defend my viewpoint, and stayed friendly, but the same friendliness or civility was not granted to me. My friend in the UK often complains that the new 'thing' seems to be decided behind closed doors - 'this is what we have to care about now' - who is deciding this? Well, the more of us who are silent, the worse it will get. I think it's finding a way to converse about these topics without being a screeching banshee (which is what I feel inside). Calm and reasonable disagreement. Tackling the difficult issues will pay off in the long run. And if you lose friends over civil discussion... were they even friends to begin with?
Social media has built an Earth sized pillory and we can't wait to stick the next person on it. It's like all of high school English had a baby: The Scarlet Letter, The Lottery, 1984, Brave New World, Animal Farm, and The Handmaid's Tale.
“We are a nation of 4 yr olds that need a nap.” Couldn’t agree more. Adults caving to the wants of children never ends well. I will say if your friendship with someone is solely based on politics it probably won’t fair very well long term. Good friends love you and support you no matter what your personal opinions on the issues are. Also, caring so much about what others think of you is exhausting. I can be pretentious as hell, I know that, and there are certainly people who probably don’t like that about me but there are those who do accept me (and remind me to come off my high horse 🥴 occasionally) despite that. I do always try and be kind, but I also won’t be dishonest.
I tell people they are my friends. They never tell me that. I don't know what being a "dick" online even means besides the egregious examples. I got blasted drunk the other day and re joined Michael Malice's Locals page. I thought something had happened because every post I made would vanish. I wasn't trying to be a dick but I asked him about it on Twitter and he was naturally confused because I had suggested maybe I was blocked. I'm so paranoid everyone has something shitty to say about me because no one ever has the balls to talk to me directly. But when Michael tweeted back to my concern "wtf" and "I don't block anyone on Locals" I felt immediately embarrassed like I had ruined my one chance with the dude.
I haven't drank since. I hate alcohol but sometimes I can be an escapist addict. Malice did nothing wrong and honestly neither did I but I felt like I looked like I was being a dick online. I consider Malice and Bridget and those type of awesome people as my friends even if that sounds sad because I'm just essentially a fan. I root for these people's success.
I consider myself a writer. I've written books, had a poem about a slug published in high school. I don't care about pleasing standards others have for me. I'm a chronic trope buster and sometimes it gets me into trouble. I'm insecure. I'm flawed. I make mistakes. I get too emotional. I'm human. But for the life of me I still don't understand why I'm a human no one seems to want to talk to in real life. I love you all, even if I'm a pain your ass. ❤️
Thank you for sharing your thoughts. You are not alone. Actually, you are part of an exhausted, intimidated majority. If you want to join others who are tired of the polarization we’re experiencing, I suggest you take a look at Braver Angels (www.braverangels.org), a nationwide, non-partisan movement bringing people together across differences to find common ground and encourage politicians to do the same. A good place to start would be a Red-Blue workshop or 1:1 Conversation across Differences. (Note: All offerings are free.) You can also subscribe for free or become a member for only $12 per year, and/or reach out to the NJ state coordinators, so you can join the NJ alliance. You’ll be happy you did.
I totally get where they're coming from. I generally avoid making declarative statements about politically difficult topics. At least not beyond the issue of CoVid. Mainly because I can get into trouble for pointing to things. I try to stay politically neutral on my social media.
This hits home - the 'self censorship'. I see so many vomiting their opinions online, yet I refrain from doing so - I tell myself 'social media isn't the place for it', and to be fair, I stay true to myself if I'm having an in-person conversation. During the pandemic, I posted a meme critical of vaccine passports, and got jumped on by a couple of friends (I was living overseas, hadn't seen either individual in years). I was happy to defend my viewpoint, and stayed friendly, but the same friendliness or civility was not granted to me. My friend in the UK often complains that the new 'thing' seems to be decided behind closed doors - 'this is what we have to care about now' - who is deciding this? Well, the more of us who are silent, the worse it will get. I think it's finding a way to converse about these topics without being a screeching banshee (which is what I feel inside). Calm and reasonable disagreement. Tackling the difficult issues will pay off in the long run. And if you lose friends over civil discussion... were they even friends to begin with?
Social media has built an Earth sized pillory and we can't wait to stick the next person on it. It's like all of high school English had a baby: The Scarlet Letter, The Lottery, 1984, Brave New World, Animal Farm, and The Handmaid's Tale.
“We are a nation of 4 yr olds that need a nap.” Couldn’t agree more. Adults caving to the wants of children never ends well. I will say if your friendship with someone is solely based on politics it probably won’t fair very well long term. Good friends love you and support you no matter what your personal opinions on the issues are. Also, caring so much about what others think of you is exhausting. I can be pretentious as hell, I know that, and there are certainly people who probably don’t like that about me but there are those who do accept me (and remind me to come off my high horse 🥴 occasionally) despite that. I do always try and be kind, but I also won’t be dishonest.
I tell people they are my friends. They never tell me that. I don't know what being a "dick" online even means besides the egregious examples. I got blasted drunk the other day and re joined Michael Malice's Locals page. I thought something had happened because every post I made would vanish. I wasn't trying to be a dick but I asked him about it on Twitter and he was naturally confused because I had suggested maybe I was blocked. I'm so paranoid everyone has something shitty to say about me because no one ever has the balls to talk to me directly. But when Michael tweeted back to my concern "wtf" and "I don't block anyone on Locals" I felt immediately embarrassed like I had ruined my one chance with the dude.
I haven't drank since. I hate alcohol but sometimes I can be an escapist addict. Malice did nothing wrong and honestly neither did I but I felt like I looked like I was being a dick online. I consider Malice and Bridget and those type of awesome people as my friends even if that sounds sad because I'm just essentially a fan. I root for these people's success.
I consider myself a writer. I've written books, had a poem about a slug published in high school. I don't care about pleasing standards others have for me. I'm a chronic trope buster and sometimes it gets me into trouble. I'm insecure. I'm flawed. I make mistakes. I get too emotional. I'm human. But for the life of me I still don't understand why I'm a human no one seems to want to talk to in real life. I love you all, even if I'm a pain your ass. ❤️
Thank you for sharing your thoughts. You are not alone. Actually, you are part of an exhausted, intimidated majority. If you want to join others who are tired of the polarization we’re experiencing, I suggest you take a look at Braver Angels (www.braverangels.org), a nationwide, non-partisan movement bringing people together across differences to find common ground and encourage politicians to do the same. A good place to start would be a Red-Blue workshop or 1:1 Conversation across Differences. (Note: All offerings are free.) You can also subscribe for free or become a member for only $12 per year, and/or reach out to the NJ state coordinators, so you can join the NJ alliance. You’ll be happy you did.
I totally get where they're coming from. I generally avoid making declarative statements about politically difficult topics. At least not beyond the issue of CoVid. Mainly because I can get into trouble for pointing to things. I try to stay politically neutral on my social media.
It appears that this person's problem is really social media. They should simply get off of it as so many have.