Today this happened to me...

...again.

I came home and checked my facebook and one of my childhood friends had posted an update that was sort of borderline racist. I looked at it and thought, jeesh, she must have had a rough day, that's super unlike her. Lol.

Later, I stumbled across it again and her parents/family had taken the discussion wayyyy over into the heart of racism country. I thought, that's odd, surely they don't mean that. Let me read this whole thread....

So at some point I realize that this whole conversation is based on some simple misinformation.

Like the neurotic idiot I am, I am immediately compelled to rectify this. At no point does it occur to me that they are totally happy beating their chests, repeating buzz words, and disseminating false information. All people revel in the quest for knowledge, right? These people, like all people on the internet will value and objectively evaluate any information I bring to the table, right?

Imagine my surprise when the next time I check on it, whole thread has devolved even further, is less rational, and much more ugly.

Upon reading this I do not think, "oh, hey, I should probably leave this alone now, these people clearly aren't interested in what I'm saying".

Nope. That would never cross my mind. Instead I go straight into, 'oh, they obviously didn't understand my point. Maybe I wasn't very clear the first time. Let me just re-phrase/clarify/post more information, that will fix everything.'

*facepalm*

No.
No, LittleFoot, it won't.

(That last cycle then repeats itself once more, just for good measure.)

It is only now, after not one, not two, but three totally useless posts that I realize that the whole thing has devolved into the human equivalent of a bunch of monkeys sitting around throwing feces at each other (well, mostly at me), and nothing I say, no matter how articulate and well supported is going to shift their focus.

At no point is anyone going to say, 'hey, thanks for the information. I've read what you said, and still disagree. Here is why-----. But I really appreciate you starting this dialogue with me.'

Nope. Never going to happen. Instead they're going to shout sound bites from Ann Coulter or Michael Savage (or on the other side of the spectrum, Rosie O'Donnell). They're going to make even more extreme and inflammatory statements, and they're all going to like each others posts and give each other virtual high-fives.




You know what's really annoying about this? If I were watching someone else go through this, I would know what they were doing was futile. I would be able to point out the flaws in their logic, and remind them that people don't go to facebook to have meaningful discussions. They go there to shout out meaningless crap into the abyss.

Yet somehow when it's happening to me I fail to see any of that. I assume that the rules are different when I'm involved. It turns out (every time, mind you), that they're not. The rules are always the same.

Facebook caters to the lowest common denominator. Plain and simple.

But don't assume I've learned my lesson. I'd be willing to bet my entire fossil collection that within a month, I'll be right back here, going through this same process, wondering how on earth this manages to happen to me. Lol ;)


On that note, Dear Friend, I'm going to bed. Midterms all day tomorrow, then sleep, then road trips. <3