There are days when Facebook becomes unbearable. Yes I know people who don't go there at all and not without merit refer to it as Fedbook. Yet many of us still use it as our digital water cooler. I actually keep two profiles, one to engage with family and old friends and the other to engage with my poetry and artistic friends, many of whom I've known since the early Myspace days. Some of my old school friends don't know and probably don't care about my poetry or that I'm fairly widely published in the underground poetry literary scene and that works fine for me. I'm really not great at tooting my own horn anyway, which isn't great for selling books but helps me stay true to my need for solitude.
I avoid politics on Facebook. I was quite involved in politics during Ron Paul's presidential runs and still visit some libertarian-ish forums, but have developed a sour taste for all of it in general. I don't feel the need to label myself this or that. I don't believe if you are not for "A" then you must be for "B". I really don't believe it's anyones business one way or the other,yet that concept seems to escape many. The old saying "No man is an island"...well..I'm not a man but I would be very happy being an island. Leave me alone. I even had one friend point blank tell me I should post my political leanings on Facebook. I guess she was really bugged that I never responded to her Pro-Trump memes. I have another who is solidly anti-Trump. Sorry, I'm not responding to your quasi junior high school internet challenges. I don't care if you know my stance. I don't care if you think I'm not a good American. I don't care if you know I think you are all a bunch of brainwashed statists who buy whatever the snake oil du jour is.
To many, this attitude is just unthinkable. By not letting myself be labeled, apparently I will be responsible for the next world war, the honeybee apocalypse, the incursion of refugees and terrorists from every third world country known to man and the eventual demise of the Pumpkin Spice Latte.
It's almost as bad as those old chain letters begging you to forward to ten people in order to get a million dollars by midnight. It's manipulation and I'm not playing.
photo courtesy 1bpblogspot.com