Should something be said to correct them? (Facebook and 'infotainment')

[RebeccainGA]

This is one of those "discussion" sort of things - my solution at this point is to not say something directly to the person in question, but I have posted several times about the reality of the issue (not their POV-heavy scare tactics!).

I have a Facebook friend who is very, very, dark Green-with-Orange stripes. I'm also Green, but a very light Green, and with Purple stripes. Oranges and Purples don't get along, frequently, because of their significant clashes in ideology, and dark Greens often think light Greens aren't really Green at all, but really Red. In other words, no matter what personal relationships there may be, it's unlikely we will ever, ever agree.

My Facebook friend (someone I'm not close to, but MANY of my real friends are, and we were cordial once upon a time) posts regular, fact-free rants about Topic X, and why Mr. Z should DO!!!!! SOMETHING!!!!Eleventy!!!! about Topic X. These aren't even her rants - they are repostings from some well known, Orange sites. She states agreement with them, and snarks about Mr. Z, but generally just reposts these things. These are truly fact-free postings - and the facts, which are public records, directly contradict both the letter and spirit of what these things say. Some of them to the point of almost sounding (or actually sounding) a bit like the tinfoil-hat brigade. Truly kooky.

I know what my response is, as I stated above. However, I'd love to know how others would handle this, as at some point I may need to change tactics (just for sanity's sake) and I'd like to be prepared. No, unfriending her, or hiding all her posts, isn't an option - she's friends with too many of my real friends, and posts pictures and things from/about people I truly DO like and want to stay in touch with, from events they go to together (they're all in the same city - I have moved far away). I also worry that perhaps ANY tactic is going to be teaching the pig to waltz - leaving me muddy and annoying the pig, with no success.

Thanks!

[Hillia]

I have a cousin and a BIL on exact opposite sides of just about every major issue of the day, to the point where some of their postings are of the raving, name-calling, tinfoil-hat-wearing variety, so I'm getting hammered from both sides ("Tastes great!" "Less filling!")  It's taken me about 2 years to learn to just scroll past the nutty posts to the ones I'm interested in.

I have to keepreminding myself of the cartoon caption: "I must take action!  Someone on the Internet is wrong!!!", because really, it doesn't matter.  I'm not going to change their minds by pointing out any half-truths/untruths/myths they post; I'm not going to inform or enlighten them or the people who agree with them, so why bother?  Take a deep breath and move on.

[Sharnita]

I would reply with a snopes or factcheck link when available.

[amylouky]

Ignore, ignore, ignore. She has the right to post whatever she wants, even if it is factless and belongs in the tin foil hat brigade.
If you feel like getting in a pointless debate/pig waltz, feel free to comment on her posts but I've found people that post that kind of stuff are just trying to be inflammatory, an dyou'd just be feeding in to it. You're not going to change her mind.
If you can't bring yourself to block or defriend, just skim right over them.

[RebeccainGA]

I have to keepreminding myself of the cartoon caption: "I must take action!  Someone on the Internet is wrong!!!", because really, it doesn't matter.  I'm not going to change their minds by pointing out any half-truths/untruths/myths they post; I'm not going to inform or enlighten them or the people who agree with them, so why bother?  Take a deep breath and move on.

I am beginning to think I should have that cartoon as a tattoo. On the back of my hand.

[Judah]

Ignore, ignore, ignore. She has the right to post whatever she wants, even if it is factless and belongs in the tin foil hat brigade.
If you feel like getting in a pointless debate/pig waltz, feel free to comment on her posts but I've found people that post that kind of stuff are just trying to be inflammatory, an dyou'd just be feeding in to it. You're not going to change her mind.
If you can't bring yourself to block or defriend, just skim right over them.

This, exactly. The most important part is the fact that you're not going to change her mind and you'll just end up aggravated and smelling like a pig if you try. The people who agree with her will continue to agree with her, and the people who don't will continue to disagree, and there you'll be, all muddy and smelly.

[Coley]

Another vote for not dancing with the pig. DH has an old friend from high school who posts what sound like similar diatribes from Orange sites. Her posts really get under DH's skin because there isn't a grain of truth in them. In his case, he asked her to dance a few times in the past and promptly became smelly and muddy. He has hidden and unhidden her several times. She is currently unhidden but still ranting. He mentions her posts to me occasionally because they still bother him, and I remind him to let her wallow.

[JenJay]

I have a few of those. The ones who do it once in a while, I just ignore it. The ones who do it a lot, I have them hidden/unsubscribed. We're still friends and they can see my posts but I don't see theirs so I make a point of checking their page for non-crazy posts a couple times a week. In my experience it's 99% ineffective to try to point them toward facts. If they were interested in the truth they would have checked before posting.

I had one relative who believed every extreme political/religious conspiracy crap out there and would just Freak. Out. about all of it. I learned my lesson trying to post snopes links to him. He stated "You shouldn't believe everything you read on the internet!" which made me splutter and  . He unfriended me, which was awesome. Then he started posting his nonsense on our mutual friends' walls, which caused the junk to show up on mine, so I blocked him.

[Deetee]

This is why Facebook has a " see less posts" option.

Giver over the x in the right hand corner of her posts and choose to see less. This is less severe than blocking do you won't miss the important posts she makes but it will decrease the number of uncommented posts that show up in your feed.

[Roe]

I don't understand why hiding her posts isn't an option?  So what if you have many friends in common.  I hide tons of posts everyday.  Gotta keep my sanity somehow!  I have to remind myself, "FB shouldn't be stressful and if it is, you are doing it wrong."  

[PastryGoddess]

It depends, if it is political or religious then i ignore it.  If it is a meme gone wrong I'll post a response and include a link to snopes

[Surianne]

I was very confused by all of the colour descriptions, but the message I got is that she reposts religious and political posts that you don't agree with?  If you want to stay Facebook friends with her, just hide her posts. 

[Slartibartfast]

Facebook really needs to let you filter specific people's posts by keyword.  "Don't show me anything Bob posts that has the words Glenn Beck, abortion, conspiracy, communist, or Obama."  Would be useful for filtering out posts about exes, too 

[RebeccainGA]

Facebook really needs to let you filter specific people's posts by keyword.  "Don't show me anything Bob posts that has the words Glenn Beck, abortion, conspiracy, communist, or Obama."  Would be useful for filtering out posts about exes, too 

EXACTLY. I want to see her updates about her pregnancy, and about our mutual friends, and pictures of the baby, and of our mutual friends. But I don't want to see another "Bengazi was a plot to take our guns(?)" post.

[CLE_Girl]

You can filter what you see on your news feed from people.  I have a few friends that sound similar, I've changed their new feed status to "Only Important," and that I only want to see photo's and life updates but not status updates.  That way I can for example see pictures of my cousins vacation or her new motorcycle, but not her rantings against the govt.