Facebook and Social Media
In an earlier article titled “Pick a Side,” I said social media thrives on conflict. It does!
Years back, I was on Facebook multiple times a day. I used it to connect with family and friends, and to promote business. But career choices made Facebook a luxury, consuming time, without providing much value. For many years, I paid little attention to Facebook. Then I wrote my book, How to NOT Lose Friends and Fight with Other People.
Books need to be promoted. Since I have had my Facebook account for years, I decided to reengage. Amazing how much has changed!
Now I see political posts every day. One side says despicable things about the other side. They even go after individual people in an attempt to destroy reputations! No holds are barred. What I don’t get is this:
Why Vicious Posts?
What do people think a vicious post will accomplish? They might get agreements from those who are already on that same side. What else? Will it change minds? Will it create unity? Or is it only divisive—and nothing else?
There is another side too. There are spiritual posts put up to lift our spirits. There are congratulations and condolences. Both help us cope and heal. Uplifting is usually void of conflict—very positive! I was pleased. At least these did not disappear.
New to me was “reels.” These are short videos. Too many promote scantily clad women. I don’t see any purpose. Maybe they are auditioning for a porn acting job? I can’t figure these out. How much money could these generate? Another consistent topic is fishing. It seems fish are more easily caught when a hot woman in a bikini is holding the rod. There are occasional comedy videos, but many of those have some sexual inuendo. Then there are skits put up like they were spontaneous. Really? Who recorded the video? And who did the edits? I like the how-to videos, though I will never be making those innovative things these people come up with. At least “reels” doesn’t build on a platform of conflict!
I will not tell you how I vote, but I do not totally agree with any politician out there. Do you? But we have many things we can agree on. We need to start there. We need seek out things we can and do agree on, instead of digging to uncover flaws that might destroy the competition. Why not first admit we may never agree on everything. So what? As long as we all strive to find a small part of the argument we can agree on, we can build on that! We can work toward eliminating conflict!
