Filanthropy Friday

Facebook can be a silly place.  It can also be a very mean place.

I rarely get political on Facebook because (1) I'm probably not going to change anyone's mind about something during a 100 word Facebook post and (2) People get very passionate about their beliefs and feel like Facebook is a good forum to spew hate and condemnation and I prefer not to be on the receiving end  of it.

I watched during last year's election as many of my friends posted semi-political Facebook musings only to be attacked by the other side. I'll also admit that I found it difficult to not be offended by what some of my Facebook friends (not real friends) were posting.   Now with gun control, immigration and drones - my Facebook feed looks like the bi-polar ramblings of a tea party socialist.  

The WORST thing about Facebook political postings are those stupid pictures with crap written all over them.  You know, like this:

I have no idea why people think sharing items like this is (1) persuasive (2) informative or (3) ACCURATE.  (For the record, I don't know if the above is accurate, but it shows a complete lack of knowledge for the logic behind gun control - you don't hear about a lot of mass school feetings, I digress.)  Whenever I see a Facebook friend share something like the above (both sides are guilty), I wonder if they researched the information on that clever little picture.  By posting these to their own page, they are essentially endorsing the information and the spreading of misinformation isn't smart. Anyone can take a cute (or shocking) picture and write words on it.  Here - I'll do it.

Lately, I've seen a lot of Hitler references on Facebook - especially regarding gun control.  These references aren't in paragraph form - they're written on a picture of Hitler that someone has just reposted and has done so, probably, without doing much research.  Here's the thing - they're inaccurate and offensive.  I guess, if it's your Facebook page you can decide to be inaccurate and offensive, but tying to pass it off as fact makes you look not so smart.

I really wish we could have debates in the country without resorting to using a  Hitler reference. If someone disagrees with you, that doesn't make them Hitler. 

This week, I'm donating $25 to the Anti-Defamation League.  They fight bigotry in all forms and (in this case) promote civility in discussing difficult issues.