Ever get REALLY mad over a Facebook thread?

Professor Smooth · Post by **Professor Smooth** » Sat Apr 09, 2011 3:01 pm

This goddamn thread got me so pissed off that I wound up telling off a campaigning politician today. And, thanks to a half bottle of vodka, I present it to you.

First, the cast of characters!

Person 1: A woman I used to work with who about half my friends have ****ed over the years and somehow wound up on my facebook.

Person 2: A woman who is related to Person 1: Her husband is a US Marine.

ME: It's ****ing ME!

And HERE. WE. GO!

Person 1: Here is a number that is NOT a game, 5825. That's how many Troops have been KILLED in IRAQ and Afghanistan protecting YOU. Now that is a status Id like to see on everyone's page!! Question is... who is thankful enough to re-post this?

Person 2: Or for that matter even pay them!

ME: Protecting me from what, specifically?

Person 2: ‎^ well for starters your freesom

ME: What's freesom?

Person 1: I agree that is is bull **** that they want to cut your guys pay. PERSON 1's HUSBAND and all the other who fight for our freedom should never have to worry like this they are assholes.

ME: That's what drives me crazy. Everybody says, "we support the troops," then sends them out with outdated/inferior equipment and wants to cut their pay. There is more to "supporting the troops," than putting a bumper sticker on the back of your car.

Person 2: Well if you sir would like to get technical I'm married to a marine and do everything daily to support the troops. And know how poorly they are taken care of.

Person 2: Let's get technical it was a typo of freedom.

ME: I'm not saying that you don't support the troops. A lot of people do. But the government has treated them as disposable since the creation of the military. It's a risky and necessary task, but the people on the ground seem to be continually taken advantage of.

ME: And if we're getting technical, I asked "What, specifically, are they protecting me from?" You answered, "..your freedom." So, the military is protecting me from my freedom?

Person 1: PROF don't start. They make sure that you and your family are free to have the wonderful lives they have.

ME: How? Specifically? Simple question.

Person 2: Dude go preach to someone else. Clearly you are one ungrateful asshole.

Person 1: Terrorists. So that we don't end up having another 9-11. So that we can live every day without being in fear. Well that is the ones who don't have family in the military. Cuz we will always worry about our loved ones coming home. But know that if they don't that they fought to keep us safe.

The **** I pulled today after dealing with that Facebook thread... ****

Updated: Added the last addition to the thread before I deleted her (and everyone we share in common on facebook) from my list.

bumblemusprime · Post by **bumblemusprime** » Sat Apr 09, 2011 3:32 pm

Wow...

No offense, but you shouldn't let people who appear to have a serious case of Asperger's Syndrome get you mad.

Then again, since God has Asperger's...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5E3sBBUq6s

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sat Apr 09, 2011 3:39 pm

Professor Smooth wrote:Updated: Added the last addition to the thread before I deleted her (and everyone we share in common on facebook) from my list.

Bit harsh? They might not all be twats.

Professor Smooth · Post by **Professor Smooth** » Sat Apr 09, 2011 3:44 pm

Rebis wrote:
Professor Smooth wrote:Updated: Added the last addition to the thread before I deleted her (and everyone we share in common on facebook) from my list.
Bit harsh? They might not all be twats.

You know how I've managed to enjoy Transformers, consistently, for nearly three decades? By all-but ignoring everything I don't like about the franchise. I try to apply the same reasoning to Facebook. If you're going to take away from my enjoyment of this thing, I'm going to ignore the **** out of you.

JawBreaker · Post by **JawBreaker** » Sat Apr 09, 2011 11:46 pm

Anyone whose Facebook profile image is either of them smooching up a storm with their significant other or of their newborn baby / baby-scan /pregnancy-test get on my goat immensely.

Yay a stick you pee’d on! Wooh!

Professor Smooth · Post by **Professor Smooth** » Sun Apr 10, 2011 12:24 am

Literally every single person I know, after having a kid, uses the kid as their profile picture. And updates them. With NEW pictures of the kids!

If you just glanced at my FB news feed, you'd think I was "friends" with a half dozen or so small children.

Yaya · Post by **Yaya** » Sun Apr 10, 2011 3:27 am

I'm starting to hate Facebook. I really am. Thinking about just getting off it.

So sick of people trying to prove how great their lives are when we all know it's just a front for the ****** ass lives they're really living.

And how about those people out there, whenever anything the least bit less mundane happens to them, the neurons that immediately fire in their brains are the one's that scream "gotta post that, gotta post that!" and they run to their computer or their smart phone to post it when none of the rest of us could really give a rat's ass.

And as far as using their kids picture as their profile pic, I guess a world full of pedophiles doesn't really scare them much, because it sure as hell scares me enough not to want any of my children relatives up on the web.

Post by **Kaylee** » Sun Apr 10, 2011 9:05 am

You need to make Facebook work for you.

For example I use Twitter for public comms: things I'm happy for everyone to read whether friend, family or employer. Its my 'professional' channel and how I talk to other pros.

Facebook I maintain two lists for. You can put your friends into as many lists as you like but I use two.

1. Close friends
I like these guys and am happy to see their photos, updates, thoughts and ideas.

2. Friends
Or 'acquantences'. I know these people, I'm happy to be linked to them but I don't want to share my stuff with them as I would close friends. I'm also not especially interested in their posts.

I tend to click posts from these guys and choose hide: it doesn't unfriend them, but declutters my news feed.

I also do this for apps even my close friends install, due to clutter.

Finally I don't add people I'm not friends with. I direct then to Twitter or LinkedIn (linked in is my professional profile linked to my blog).

So that's how I curate my social networks, it took a couple of years practice but it works.

Use the settings and make them work for you.

Incidentally I have nothing against anybody in any category mentioned above, its based purely on clutter: I can't add everybody or else I'll never see anything important so I limit my attention to people I know are important. Absolutely nothing personal is involved.

Further incidentally I think most everyone here is on my close friend list, or at least those who I am linked to.

Further further incidentally periodically clear out your friends list or it'll just get hard to manage. People I haven't spoken to since I was 15 are not in my friends list since we have nothing in common!
My tuppence on the matter.

bumblemusprime · Post by **bumblemusprime** » Sun Apr 10, 2011 5:33 pm

I like Facebook and Twitter, but I'm a shameless, self, promoting bastard when it comes to my bands and my writing. I've never defriended anyone except some major weirdos, but I have noticed a few conservative friends defriended me presumably for political rants.

Brendocon · Post by **Brendocon** » Sun Apr 10, 2011 6:15 pm

A good Facebook cull every now and then is cathartically wonderful. And wonderfully cathartic.

I tend to just ignore anything about paying troops blah blah because ultimately if I distract myself by going to get a cup of tea or opening Twitter I'll have forgotten about it by the time I get back / it'll have been buried amongst other stuff.

I have an awesome social conscience. If I ignore the issue it literally does actually go away.

Plus I figure half the people have grounds to defriend me for spam / inanity / lack of wit / whatever, so it's swings and roundabouts. The next time you think how annoying somebody's posts are, take a look at how many friends they have and work out how much of their newsfeed is probably clogged up with your crap. Suddenly they might seem an absolute saint.

Any applications/games etc get automatically hidden. I just wish I could do the same for that sodding "question" option they've thrown in now. Argh.

Post by **Kaylee** » Sun Apr 10, 2011 6:33 pm

That new polls feature is utter rubbish and I wish to god I could hide it.

It's no surprise Facebook is now the most hated company in the US, beating even the airline firms and mobile phone companies. Their turnaround in reputation from cool start up to evil empire with no respect for privacy has been startling.

Brendocon · Post by **Brendocon** » Sun Apr 10, 2011 6:41 pm

Also the new messaging feature is a pile of shee-ite.

Impactor returns 2.0 · Post by **Impactor returns 2.0** » Mon Apr 11, 2011 9:36 pm

About 2 months ago I stopped looking at FB, and the world didn't stop spinning.

I have found out of the hundreds of so called mates on FB, I dint care about the majority of status updates they post.
I don't play FB games, or click on links as they are all crap.
My 'real' friends I just call, and meet in real life.

I think FB is a fad, or at least it is for me...

wideload · Post by **wideload** » Wed Apr 13, 2011 6:32 pm

No offense, Smooth, but you shouldn't engage people like this. I think her politics were fairly obvious from the original post. By commenting on her post you were inviting an argument, and it was pretty obvious it was going to be a frustrating argument.

Did you really expect her to turn around and say "Gee sending troops to Iraq really might not be protecting my freedom, never thought of that"

Yaya · Post by **Yaya** » Wed Apr 13, 2011 7:16 pm

Good point, wideload. At this point, those who are convinced about the legitimacy of the Iraq War at this stage aren't likely to change their mind. Ever.

Post by **spiderfrommars** » Wed Apr 13, 2011 7:41 pm

For me, Facebook isn't the place for political debate. I will never understand why people will make blanket statements in their status updates to their 200+ friends and expect either everyone to agree or no one to be offended.

And yet...

And yet...

I really like what Smooth did.

Professor Smooth wrote: If you just glanced at my FB news feed, you'd think I was "friends" with a half dozen or so small children.

Professor Smooth · Post by **Professor Smooth** » Wed Apr 13, 2011 10:24 pm

I guess that I was baiting the person, but I was making perfectly clear that I support the troops. But when somebody says that 5,000 people have died PROTECTING YOU, I think "from what," is a pretty fair question. Since it IMMEDIATELY turned into "your freedom," "I'm married to a marine (so you can't say anything)," and "terrorists," I figured I made a mistake adding this person in the first place.

Impactor returns 2.0 · Post by **Impactor returns 2.0** » Thu Apr 14, 2011 11:21 am

I say post what u like, freedom of speech etc...

Post by **snarl** » Thu Apr 14, 2011 11:23 am

I agree - But, be prepared for people to call you a **** and think you're an idiot.

Impactor returns 2.0 · Post by **Impactor returns 2.0** » Thu Apr 14, 2011 12:34 pm

Exactly, if your going to stick your opinion out there then be prepared for the come back

Post by **Best First** » Thu Apr 14, 2011 1:15 pm

Impactor returns 2.0 wrote:Exactly, if your going to stick your opinion out there then be prepared for the come back

i disagree with this you idiot

Professor Smooth · Post by **Professor Smooth** » Thu Apr 14, 2011 1:25 pm

I want to have a discussion about things. With people who are passionate about them. Without just falling back on talking points. Why? Because it is possible and it's helpful.

Maybe this person starts to think about the risk/reward ratio of her husband's military career. The risk: Super high. The reward: Pretty low. Maybe, the next time hubby is home, they have a little talk about their future. And maybe, if they can't really think of who that career is helping, that future doesn't involve leaving the family for months, years, or permanently.

I would have loved a well thought out response to my original question. "They are protecting us from people who spend their lives to take ours." That's a pretty good place to start a discussion. Even if the response was something like, "terrorists...duh!" We could go from there. But no. Absolutely shut down from get go.

And I'm not just some faceless yahoo trolling an internet message board. I KNOW this person. She cares enough about my day-to-day goings on to add me on Facebook. And even then: BANG! BRICK WALL! NO DISCUSSION!

What the hell does "support the troops," even mean anymore? Does it mean that I can not so much as hint that these wars are not worth fighting and that people should not be dying because of them? Even to my friends?

Post by **Best First** » Thu Apr 14, 2011 2:25 pm

"support the troops" means "shut up"

Bill Hicks wrote::It was a very stressful time for me, the war. I'll tell you why - I was in the unenviable position of being for the war, but against the troops. And ah... Not the most popular stance I've ever taken on an issue.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Thu Apr 14, 2011 3:07 pm

Professor Smooth wrote:
Rebis wrote:
Professor Smooth wrote:Updated: Added the last addition to the thread before I deleted her (and everyone we share in common on facebook) from my list.
Bit harsh? They might not all be twats.
You know how I've managed to enjoy Transformers, consistently, for nearly three decades? By all-but ignoring everything I don't like about the franchise. I try to apply the same reasoning to Facebook. If you're going to take away from my enjoyment of this thing, I'm going to ignore the **** out of you.

Sorry, I might not have phrased that as well as I could have. What I meant was that it seemed a bit harsh to cut out all your mutual friends just because this one person acts like a ****. I'm not saying your decision was extreme by any means, just that I wouldn't have done that if it'd been me.

Impactor returns 2.0 · Post by **Impactor returns 2.0** » Thu Apr 14, 2011 5:28 pm

Best First wrote:
Impactor returns 2.0 wrote:Exactly, if your going to stick your opinion out there then be prepared for the come back
i disagree with this you idiot

I'm not sure if your being ironic or not?

Yaya · Post by **Yaya** » Thu Apr 14, 2011 6:19 pm

As much as I disagree with these wars, whenever I speak with a friend who I know has military ties, particularly one in the field at the moment, I make it a point to not bring up why I feel the wars are wrong.

The last thing a spouse or child of a soldier wants to hear is that their father or husband or wife is fighting, and perhaps dying, for nothing. Or worse, for someone else's personal ambitions. Does that mean we should remain silent about it? I don't know.

Invariably, I think the natural response of someone in that position is going to be to convince themselves, regardless of the reason, that it is worth it, that their are noble principles at stake.

It's simply a coping mechanism, one that I can fully understand. And so, I do walk on eggshells in this circumstance, for the sake of that family member. Maybe I shouldn't. But I do.

Impactor returns 2.0 · Post by **Impactor returns 2.0** » Thu Apr 14, 2011 6:31 pm

I understand being tactful but I think it's safe to assume that if you shout your opinion out to hundreds of people then you can expect that some people won't agree with you, and some might feel strongly enough to shout back at you.

Whether or not you agree with what's being said by either party, everyone has an opinion and is allowed to voice it... Some people are less tactful then others granted!

Post by **Best First** » Thu Apr 14, 2011 6:42 pm

Yaya wrote: It's simply a coping mechanism, one that I can fully understand. And so, I do walk on eggshells in this circumstance, for the sake of that family member. Maybe I shouldn't. But I do.

But the problem is, it's a coping mechanism that is hijacked and abused to shut down debate.

To which there is of course a wry irony given these people are apparently defending our freedom.

Impstar i was just taking le piss.

inflatable dalek · Post by **inflatable dalek** » Thu Apr 14, 2011 7:51 pm

I generally use Facebook to keep in touch with a handful of peeps, to rant about old films and TV and to whore my writing like a big Facebook pimp.

In terms of annoyance, there's one woman on there who is absolutely obssesed with her baby. Pretty throughout her pregnancy there'd be ten minute updates on every kick and thought ("Oh, the Bean [yes, she called her unborn baby "The Bean"] is kicking hard tonight! They're going to be the most wonderful baby in the world! I'm the luckiest woman who ever lived".

Now the little ugly bastard has been born (and yes, babies can be ugly, this one looks like a Conehead) every little **** and giggle he does is shared with the world, along with more "Being a mother is so amazing!" endless prattling. Which reached its nadir when she proclaimed "Being a parent is what life is all about!", which is basically saying "[composite word including 'f*ck'] off and die" to anyone without kids.

I should defriend her, but I've developed a morbid fascination with exactly how banal she can get. Plus me and my quasi-sister in law get to rip the piss out of her whenever we meet up. And I got the ultimate punchline to her posts when on Mother's Day, this perfect,wonderful, lucky and well loved mother put "Am I the only mother in the world not to get a mother's day card?". I was so tempted to put "He's a baby you stupid cow, how's he going to buy it?"

Post by **Best First** » Fri Apr 15, 2011 7:45 am

inflatable dalek wrote:I should defriend her, but I've developed a morbid fascination with exactly how banal she can get.

This. Seems to especially apply to people from school you have pretty much lost all other forms of contact with.

TransFans.co.uk

Ever get REALLY mad over a Facebook thread?

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