I'm one of those annoying members whose posts are over 50% political, probably closer to 75%, with a few LOL cats sprinkled in to defuse the tension. Only my most radical like-minded friends dare to comment or "like". Others, I'm assuming, prefer to avoid controversy in their own Mr. Roberts Neighborhood. We all know there are plenty of adorable cats, babies and Fails to keep it going for years, or until the next social media fad comes along.
I've read posts from friends who, for the life of them, couldn't understand why someone would post political rants on their page just after posting their (big snooze) tenth recipe of the day. Don't get me wrong, I've printed out some of those recipes, but it seems everyone has their niche whether it be recipes, muscle cars or grandchildren. Mine is politics.
I've been defriended by people who disagreed with me and I've defriended others whose bat-shit crazy tea party posts made my blood boil. I've also blocked postings from others who weren't necessarily crazy but certainly misinformed. I've tried engaging in respectful dialogue with some of them to no avail so blocked they go. I do have one friend from grade school whom I have fondest memories of (she gave me $1.80 for the Saturday matinee when I'd left my allowance money at home and to this day I can't say for sure if I paid her back). She is the one, only one, who will respond to my posts or allow my response to her tea party memes to stay up on her wall. I've even gotten her to admit there were good things about the ACA and consider that maybe disenfranchising thousands of people just in case somebody somewhere might do something at some time isn't necessarily a good idea. We even had a long discussion where I was able to convince her that the shortage of rural doctors was not a problem the ACA would exacerbate but a situation student loan reform could deal with.
However, I may have overplayed my hand last night and I feel a bit bad about it. I'd posted my rant about Boehner's lie regarding the ACA "destroying" 2.3 million jobs with links to the Washington Post Fact Checker. Apparently she didn't bother to read the article. Her response was that Boehner was simply "quoting" the nonpartisan CBO. I kept it very civil but assured her he most certainly was not quoting anything and posted four more links including Politifact, yahoo.financial and the You Tube video of the CBO director himself explaining that the ACA will actually decrease unemployment. Looking it over this morning, and not seeing any response from her, I feel my over-kill may have done more harm than good and I plan to privately message her this evening to hopefully make amends. It is not my intention to anger her. I would give anything to convert her. It won't be easy. She lives in central Kansas (her congressman is the one who thinks women over 50 don't need gynecological services) and I believe all her friends and family are hard-core Tea Party. If anyone has any advice how to handle this, I'd be most appreciative.
In my defense, though I'd like to say I've also had several friends privately message me in regards to a posting about the ACA or SNAP benefits because they've heard blah, blah, blah and could I clear it up for them. And that is why my posts are political. I may not be changing the world, but if I can help one or two friends get health insurance or find the social services office in their area, then it was well worth pissing off the others.