Maybe I'm in the minority, but I get on Facebook to see my friends' photos, where they're checking in on vacation, what they had for dinner, etc.
I didn't become friends with them because of politics, so it's very disconcerting when so much of my Facebook timeline is chewed up with friends' political tirades, posting of political articles and other stuff that just gets in the way of my enjoyment of the medium. It was really big after Election Day, seemed to cool off a little in December but is even worse now after the Inauguration and the Women's March over the weekend.
Then there's Twitter. I see politics creeping in to my follows there, too. I follow Chris Brown for football analysis, Adam Zagoria for basketball recruiting info, Chef John for cooking and recipes, and We Rate Dogs for cute doggy pics (their shtick is that every dog is way over 10 on a 0-10 scale--hey, everybody needs a little diversion to get them through the day). And they've all been posting political stuff over the last few days. It's like sour notes on a piano when that's the last thing I want to see when I read them.
I'm not saying they can't post whatever they want. To me, it's just a sign that everything is getting politicized. This excerpt from a column on the subject discusses this:
It's just annoying as hell to me. I think it's part of what many people found annoying about the Ashley Judd/Twitter episode. We know she speaks out on political issues, but when she tries to mix that into UK basketball, it's grating. And I'd feel that way if she were promoting conservative ideas while talking UK basketball. Can we not have one thing that's politics-free?It’s a time when a movie was boycotted because the guy who wrote the beloved source novel hated Barack Obama. It’s a time when roving bands of outrage mongers decided that a random pizza place in the middle of Nowhere, Ind., needed to be destroyed because its owners refused to mouth the day’s proper platitudes. It’s a time when the phrase “hate chicken” makes sense. It’s a time when tech geniuses and artistic minds alike were deprived of their livelihood for daring support a political proposition in California. It’s a time when people attempt to organize boycotts of entire publishing houses because said publishing house signs a deal with a guy who annoys them. It’s a time when whole states are subject to sanction for laws about where people pee. To say nothing of Target and Starbucks and any number of rightwing reactions in response to this rediscovered responsibility to resort to economic warfare.
This is the time and place in which we live.
It is, frankly, not the world I wanted. The idea that the political and personal and professional should all be hopelessly intertwined—that we should all live a politicized life—has long struck me as foolish and unhealthy. But it’s the world we have. Hooray, you won: the politicized life is here to stay. Donald Trump shilling for outdoorsy athletic wear is really just the next step down the ladder. Now all Good Men must decide whether or not to boycott the company in an effort to impoverish their employees stick it to Trump or waste their money on political signaling help Make America Great Again.
Maybe that's not possible anymore, I don't know. I guess this is just a vent--on a political board, no less. But I like the way we try to segment it away from other discussion. I wish life were that simple.
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