Falling out with people over your opinions.

[Hereward87]

I get the impression that this happens a heck of a lot these days. Up until 2020 I had a Friend on Facebook who would genuinely make an effort not to ignore me, but we fell out because I am ideologically in favour of Brexit and I wasn't going to pretend to be pro-EU just to stay on her good side. I think that she liked me a lot and wanted to get with me, but due to our differing opinions we fell out and she blocked me.

 

[LeeG]

Now me personally I'm not going to argue about my viewpoints on facebook. I actually don't post anything on facebook but I really would never post any controversial on there. It's because my family is on their, a lot of people I work with are on there. I don't care about their political option or if it's different then mine, they are entitled to that. If they want to post their opinions, I am responding to them, and I am not posting any of mine there. So if I felt anyone was trying to drag into anything on FB, I might block them instead of engaging in it, because they either use messenger, or they could use email, some other way where it's not done in front of a lot of people, some of which I really don't know very well, or havent seen in a long time and aren't intererested in it.

 

[CenotaphGirl]

Omg people straight up had divorces over brexit. It was like the most polarising thing, I have ever seen.

 

[TheRealCallie]

Politics, abortion and religion are always no no topics, IMO. Too much strife and pettiness involved.
BUT...that said, if people can really toss you out over something like that, did they really care about you that much in the first place? Find the people who will accept you for who you are, opinions and all. Anything less is doomed to fail.
I'm not saying you'll never argue, but they won't toss you out over it.

 

[user15010]

...

 

[LeeG]

My point on this was maybe it's the venue, for me facebook would not be the right venue to challenge my viewpoints. If anyone did it privately I would never block them, but I don't want to start a debate where family and coworkers might see or get involved. Somehow i've got 250 facebook friends were IRL I have maybe 3 friends and they are maybes.

 

[user 188644]

So you wouldn't keep your opinion to yourself and she didn't wanna hear it. The **** did you expect?

 

[charlotte craig]

I get the impression that this happens a heck of a lot these days. Up until 2020 I had a Friend on Facebook who would genuinely make an effort not to ignore me, but we fell out because I am ideologically in favour of Brexit and I wasn't going to pretend to be pro-EU just to stay on her good side. I think that she liked me a lot and wanted to get with me, but due to our differing opinions we fell out and she blocked me.

I never discuss politics. Where I invest my money. Religion or health with anyone, that cuts out a lot of long boring lectures and disagreements.

 

[Norfolk_gal]

Omg people straight up had divorces over brexit. It was like the most polarising thing, I have ever seen.

Yep. Too true. My Daughter and her boyfriend wouldn't talk to me for a while because I voted out . Feelings ran very high. Now she lives in California and we made up eventually. She's remarried now , said if she had the chance to vote again she would vote differently. My Brother also left the UK to live in Poland asap after Brexit lol

 

[Norfolk_gal]

I dont use social media but if I did I wouldn't share political or religious stances or pretty much anything personal

 

[DeadDreamsWhispering]

I honestly wrecked most of my 20s using social media this way. I think ADHD people and people with some similar conditions in particular need to be careful with how they interact with social media. Not using that as an excuse, just explaining how it did me a lot of damage socially and cost me a lot of time and emotional energy.

 

[Cucuboth]

It’s not just politics and religion. I’ve found most people end a conversation if you don’t like the exact same music, movies, TV shows, food, ect ect, or disagree with them on anything at all, no matter how politely you may do it. Sometimes I think a lot of people really just want a clone of themselves.

 

[Norfolk_gal]

I agree, what is going on!!

 

[TropicalStarfish]

I agree, what is going on!!

Prior to 2015ish, or so, in my experience, people weren't so razor sharp disagreeable.

It's really a beyond, night and day change. Most people I interact with, don't seem to be aware of it all, whether they are affected by it or not.

This leads me to believe that, we are all, to varying degrees, susceptible to this type of behavior, but that, external influences, like with anything, can magnify the state of mind.

Back in 2012 or so, I was quite sociable with all kinds of different people with different opinions; and the majority of the time, we were all too busy enjoying eachother in one way or another, to really even care about what our ideological/political/religious/etc.. differences were.

Just like the, Milgram Experiment, I think a vast majority of us, the world over, are being stressed in a particular way, and it's causing an effect on the way we think/feel/behave/ and conduct ourselves...

What has changed since 2015ish? Artificial Intelligence has grown quite a bit since then and become more widespread in it's application (it's been used in, 'social media,' almost since it's inception), computerized cellular phones have become the norm, the economy has changed, and the geopolitical landscape has been altered quite a bit. I'm sure there are other changes...

If you look back to WW2, during that time, radio still relatively new, and had become commonplace for the first time in history, if I'm not mistaken.

I tend to think there is, 'something in the water,' to turn a phrase; that, combined with many of us, on a personal level, dealing with very similarly highly stressful living conditions and experiences, that, collectively, have altered the collective psychological/social climate.

 

[Norfolk_gal]

So many advances in so little time! Can't keep up with it all.

 

[insecure]

I had this black girl remove me from facebook because I put an "ALL LIVES MATTER" banner (I thought of that slogan myself, but apparently so did others).
I just didn't like this BLM slogan, because it's as if the rest of it doesn't matter.
It reminds me of those slogans you used to see over here, these "THINK OF OUR CHILDREN. DRIVE SLOWLY."
As if it only matters if you hurt a child, but it is perfectly ok to run over adults or the elderly.
In my book people should be considered equal, and no race should feel better or worse than another one.
She basically started to argue with me over it, and it was just this "if you don't agree with me, you are ignorant, study history" and "if you don't agree with me, you're not my friend", then she unfriended me, and told me I should not try to contact her ever again.
I didn't, because I think it is futile to reason with someone if they are that radical in their views about a subject.
These days it seems to be forbidden to debate stuff in a civilized manner, instead people tend to isolate themselves into a clique that shares their opinion.

Not that I knew her all that well, we met at a Portuguese summer course in 2016, we had some common activities.

 

[VanillaCreme]

I had this black girl remove me from facebook because I put an "ALL LIVES MATTER" banner (I thought of that slogan myself, but apparently so did others).
I just didn't like this BLM slogan, because it's as if the rest of it doesn't matter.

I don't support the whole BLM thing. It's just a bunch of people who hate on anyone that doesn't want to fall into their narrative. That's not a real movement. But I'm at a point in my life where I don't care who wants to agree or disagree with me. Think whatever, it doesn't matter to me, and I'm not changing my disposition on things because someone else says I should. And I'm not fighting with anyone over opinions either. If it costs me my peace of mind, it's too expensive.

 

[Forgottendanfan]

I'm more than willing to fall out with people if they harbour views I consider to be immoral, cruel or inhumane. I speak my mind. Always have done, always intend to.

 

[Galen]

Discussing matters revolving around politics, religion, even football can become highly charged affairs but on social media platforms, it can be more or less like throwing in a hand grenade with the pin pulled out.

I've been a member on another site similar to this. Though the discussion of politics is generally discouraged, it still does happen. But **** me, I've seen some established members who were considered to be empathetic and placid switch into full blown feral mode. For a site that's meant to offer peer support for people suffering depression, suicidal ideations plus other mental health issues to get invalidated and shot down, well goes to show what a febrile atmosphere these topics can create.

 

[insecure]

Discussing matters revolving around politics, religion, even football can become highly charged affairs but on social media platforms, it can be more or less like throwing in a hand grenade with the pin pulled out.

True, it's something I find hard to grasp, I have a Spanish friend, and we have very opposing political views.
We know this of each other, yet we are capable of each giving their point of view, and there are no rows about this.
This is how it should be, I think.
But it feels to me that many people are not up to that standard.