I finally did it. I have made up my mind to get this monkey off my back. No, I’m not quitting drinking, although my doctor and my liver would approve. And I’m still eating pizza because I love it and it’s as American as apple pie.
I’m talking about quitting Facebook. And it’s way past time to give up this addicting, time-consuming, guilty pleasure.
I have to give this up. At first, I was on to keep up with family and watch my nieces and nephews grow up since I can’t be with them often. Of course, I also was on Facebook for the same reason most are. To see how the hot girls in my high school turned out. But now, it’s turned into a hate-filled, negative parade of bigots, racists and mouth-breathing idiots. But enough about my family.
I give it up because I’ve wasted too much of my time arguing with trolls, bots and people who obviously are a few bricks shy of a load. I love the new friends I made and the old friends I’ve reconnected with. I’ve learned that since Facebook started, opinions fly from everywhere and from all orifices. And as a great comic once said, “You can’t fix stupid.”
You can’t have a rational discussion with most people anymore because that would require that people listen to your argument, think about it and then give a reasonable response. Now it’s giving your point, then the other person or persons either resort to word parsing, name calling, denial of actual facts, or lies.
Facebook does give us some positives, however. We are able to spot the racists, bigots and idiots more easily. We can spot the simple minded of us, who instead of offering an opinion, continue to post the same faux patriotism memes of five years ago. And it did get us talking about important social issues we may have been sweeping under the rug for years. And that’s always good because sweeping things under the rug just leads to a lumpy rug.
So, I’m out. I’ll miss staying in touch with some of my friends, but they have my emails. I’ll miss some of the funny videos, the new recipes out. But I won’t miss the hate, the divisiveness, and the ignorance. Basically, I’m too tired to fight anymore.
And I already saved the photos of the hot girls in my high school. Some things don’t change.
Todd Nuttman, a Kent resident, contributes to the Kent Reporter.
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