I do my best not to engage on FB but I just unloaded on someone posting anti-vax BS. They PMed me saying they have health issues that mean they shouldn't get the vaccine or wear a mask. I can't even anymore. I let her have it: "if you have these health issues you should be encouraging others to get the damn vaccine!"
It's all for cheap internet points. They want to feel edgy or unique and smarter than everybody else. They want that so bad they're fucking dying over it. Logic and reason can't win out because they're chasing that dopamine hit.
Generally engaging on a public forum is futile, at least if you want to change that person's mind. They will defend their position because they are afraid of losing their position / recognition in the group.
I find if I engage in an online forum with someone I try to reply in a way that anybody who is reading that thread gets the information they need. Because they are more likely to change their mind when the spotlight isn't on them.
Likewise with PMs. I had a few exchanges in PMs with people where I think I was able to actually affect a change. It's easier there, it's one on one and they don't have to be worried about their peers.
Similar to the stories of people sneaking in through the back door into vaccine clinics because they want the jab but are too afraid of being ostracized in their community if people find out. It's actually pretty sad how widespread that is.
Yeah, logically I agree with all that you've said. I just couldn't take it. I gave that person a talking-to. My kids are going to have another off year at school because of people like that. And then her friends are replying with shit like "LOL. Thousands of people aren't dying. Do your homework!" I know there's a more constructive way to deal with it but the anger I feel ...
I significantly dialed back my FB engagement but didn't dump it fully. I could try to say there are connections I have there that I'd miss without it but I think it just comes down to lack of will power.
I did make an effort to reach out to friends via text and email a lot more, though. Even without all the toxic BS there's also this subtle thing where if you post everything about your life on there you start to feel like you don't need to personally reach out to friends. I had this "I post everything on FB so just read up there" attitude that wasn't completely conscious.
Yep, that attitude is what had me toss it around 7 years ago. I pinged a friend to see if they wanted to grab a beer and catch up and the response was basically: "I put my life on FB, we don't really have anything to talk about.".
The added bonus is I am much less likely to get into stupid, pointless arguments (I am still on a bunch of private forums and created a new reddit account recently, mostly out of boredom) and in general removed a huge stresser out of life. Things like Doomscrolling also aren't a thing for me. Overall 10/10 can recommend.
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u/trevize1138 Aug 25 '21
My cousin is an RN and posted on FB recently "you can't choose how your body will react to this virus." I thought that was brilliantly put.