Politically Twittered Out
I made a bold decision tonight, while sitting at the bar, eating a steak and drinking gin & tonics.
It all started with a tweet, then a direct tweet. And another. Then another. Then I went back to finishing my steak and discussing tech stuff with my friend Tim.
After ignoring Tim to tweet a reply, trying to multitask and do more things at once, and having my focus so focused on that reply instead of the person-to-person discussion I was having, I decided that I can no longer tweet about politics.
It’s not that I don’t enjoy conversing about politics. Quite the contrary. I like it. I try to keep an open mind and learn, admitting when I’m wrong [most of the time] and engaging in a mostly healthy discourse of differences.
But my concern is this: I don’t want to know people by what political party they side with. And on the same token, I would like to know people by other things that are not related to anything political. For example, it would be a shame that people knew me for being a bleeding liberal than someone who made funny scooter videos and posting clever tweets.
So with that, I am signing off replying to and posting anything political. I will still follow political figures like Barack Obama and Al Gore and I’ll still laugh and pause at some of the tongue-in-cheek and politically-geared tweets I read.
Because I’ve had an issue before and I don’t care for that to happen again.
At the same time, I should be enjoying a real person-to-person conversation than worried about a discussion that will only prove two wrongs don’t make a right.
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I understand the sentiment and it’s okay to keep one’s political opinions to oneself. But aren’t you missing the bigger picture here? Whether it was politics or sports or religion or whatever that you were tweeting, it was distracting you from a real life conversation with a friend. Isn’t that the real issue?
By the way, I’m not judging. I’m guilty of texting and checking email (I have a Twitter account but I don’t use it) when I’m out with friends myself. I try to put the phone away when sitting down for dinner, but I can’t honestly say that I always do. But I try. Because I know it sometimes bothers me when my friends seem like they are more interested in their phones than they are with my conversation.
Great post Marty ! I recently got into a Twitter fight with someone over politics, mixed with alcohol, and even though I apologized and said I was wrong I was still vilified and called, and may I quote, a “NUTBAG right-wing chick”…. this person labeled me that just from a series on Twitter…knowing nothing else about me or my political beliefs and background. Her blog readers followed blindly along, calling for people to block me on Twitter , some of her followers attacked me via Twitter , and I got messages that they were going to report me for spam, etc.
How open-minded and forward of them, huh?
And you are so right, whether I agree with someone politically or not does not determine whether I like them – nor does it make them any less of a person. It certainly doesn’t warrant the kind of names and labels some party members label other party members with. Unfortunately, there are many people that don’t feel the same.
It’s almost easy to pity them.
Wow. You will have no tongue left if you’re still planning on following @whall… you’ll bite clean through it.
The problem I have is that it’s all baiting and no discussion. @whall makes a random Obama attack directed to me out of nowhere that I didn’t even ask for or invite. I reply by asking if he thinks Bush was any better. He never answers the question, but instead makes some stupid-ass comment about me being an Obama apologist, which is categorically false. While I do like Obama better than the Worst President Ever (Bush2), the only reason he got my vote was because he was a lesser evil than the McCain/Palin fiasco. And yet, somehow this paints me as a liberal to be bashed, even though I vote Republican in local elections, criticize the Obama Administration regularly, and have ZERO party affiliation.
It’s insane, and it’s the exact same every time.
Which is why I would gladly join in your solution to ignore all political tweets… but as soon as I do, @whall will unleash some FOX News propaganda bullshit (like Obama demanding that Spanish be required in schools, or whatever) and I can’t just sit there without setting the record straight. As a friend of @whall, I can’t let him get away with it. 🙂
I used to get upset about people on twitter tweeting dumb un-researched facts about politicians from both sides of the fence….like REALLY upset and downright angry; enough where it would really fuck my day up. Now, I just unfollow people or mute them on Brizzly. It’s much easier for me to ignore it that way.
Politics is a real passion of mine, and I truly love learning about it, talking about it and debating about the issues. Because politics IS a passion of mine, I take great strides to learn about BOTH sides of an issue before forming an opinion and engaging in discourse about it. It irks me GREATLY when people tweet shit that REEKS of bullshit propaganda; mainly because someone can take that (most of the time WRONG) information and make a decision or form an opinion about someone or something that isn’t necessarily true. It’s just really lazy.
At the end of the day, I can’t control other people….I can only control myself.
b.e. earl – Oh, I know you are not judging and you make a very valid point about the gadget/phone distracting from a real life conversation. Which I am guilty of at times as well. But normally, when I tweet or text, it’s because I’m bored with the conversation I’m having. That was so not the case tonight. Normal tweets can wait if the conversation I’m having is interesting. For some reason, I became consumed with knowing the the reply was. And that’s the part that bothered me. That I took away from an intelligent in-person conversation to check a reply I already knew what the answer was going to be. I know my friend understood, as he is a gadget fan, too. Call it a wake up call in case I am with someone that isn’t as understanding.
kim – Ok, that’s just uncalled for what the other person(s) did. Civil and healthy differences are good. Out right name calling and blocking over one’s political differences is just wrong.
I think the division that politics can create is huge and it goes way too far at times. Sure, we all hold political and moral beliefs personal to us for various reasons. But I openly admit that it consumes me with some conversations than it should. I’m passionate about what I believe in, but I also know that those political figures I trust don’t always do the right thing. And that’s nothing to lose a friend over – online and remote or local and sitting across from you.
dave2 – You guessed what inspired this blog post. And yes, I have to admit that @whall’s politics is very biased. I’ve openly admitted that I am not happy about many things that Obama has not done that should have been done. There’s a few things he’s done that have me in a WTF mode. And I would have much rather had another candidate than him or McCain, but I’m also not in such a hate over him that I’m willing to overlook anything positive he’s done/tried. As much of a non-fan I was of Bush, I found things he did that were positive. I didn’t like his policies or most of what he did/didn’t do in 8 years. But that was in 8 years. Obama has barely finished his first year and we have people claiming he is going to take down this entire country.
All I wanted from tonight’s twitter conversation from @whall was to hear from someone that mentions in detail things he doesn’t like about Obama to specifically note something he didn’t like about another politician that was not a Democrat.
And while I’m a Democrat, I’m also willing to vote for the person regardless of party. For example, Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. was a Republican I was proud to have voted for. He represented all people, not just those of his selected party.
I like Wayne. I really do. We connect on a technical level, but it’s obvious both of us share a passion for our politics. Maybe I need to criticize Obama more, but that’s not the kind of friendship I want with Wayne. I’d rather we chat about DITLs and VMware than worry about trying to correct each other on a political level.
As for FOX NEWS, I’m know that @whall does watch other cable news channels (well, maybe not MSNBC, but at least CNN)
robin – Repeating “facts” without using unbiased research and unbiased news sources (NewsMax, I’m calling you biased) irks me, too. I hate that people believe one thing, repeat it to many minions only for it to be proven wrong. Sure, there’s some appalling things that happen and that’s newsworthy. But when you are only able to use one or two sources that are obviously slanted in your stated political direction, credibility gets lost.
I’m just saying to protect both a friendship and my own sanity and future distractions, I can’t tweet anymore politics. Others will have to carry the “I call that bullshit” mantle.
I hear ya. I kept my usually outspoken mouth shut when the election was going on, because I saw people getting ugly all over the effing place, and it just pissed me off. Basically, it’s rare that anyone is going to change anyone else’s opinion, and everyone thinks they’re right, and it gets ugly, so what’s the point?
Debating politics with a friend can be an infuriating experience. Just like Religion. I really really try not to get into it nowadays for the sake of everyone involved. Sometimes though I find it really hard to bite my tongue. Especially when I hear people just regurgitate the lies they’ve heard on TV.
But Sybil Law is right – no one’s opinion is ever going to be swayed so really, in the end, the debate is pointless. Choosing to spend one’s energy elsewhere is probably the wiser choice.
Politics suck. I already (pretty much) stopped blogging politics at my site, and I actually tweet a lot less than my reactionary fingers want to. I didn’t want to keep losing blogger friends.
While the perception of me may indicate the contrary, I actually do prefer a good debate, and I think without debate we as a people get stale. We need agreeable dissent and we need to sharpen each other. I don’t consider myself biased, but I can see that if people only saw my tweets or past blog posts, they would get that idea.
Twitter, with it’s 140 character barbs, is hardly the place where you can debate. Pretty much, you can only throw lobs, attack, defend and then leave. There is a little bit of the education factor (ie, news headlines with links), that can help keep people informed, but it’s rarely used like that. It’s usually used in combination with a snide remark.
I apologize, dave2 for my tribbing (tweet-ribbing). I’m glad you didn’t rollover and not engage.
sybil law – I’ve never considered my thoughts and opinions as being right. They are simply mine. I’m all for human rights and fairness, but there’s no one politician that gets that. And I don’t care to change people’s politics or opinions, just hope that everyone treats everyone with fairness and respect and given common rights.
kevin – Religion is the other topic that can raise concerns. I try to stay away from both subjects at work and most public places due to how passionate people can get.
whall – Wayne, I know you are about the debate and it is healthy to have good conversations. I think my point on twitter was all we hear is bad for Obama, but when asked about another politician, there were no specifics, or there was always defending the other politician. I’m not out to find out what’s bad in politicians. Most can do that on their own during their elected term. But when 95% is all focused on one person and others get a pass when asked specifically, it comes across as biased, even if you don’t consider yourself biased.
Politics do suck, but I don’t want friendships to suck because of politics.
BTW, I already saw your other blog post and commented over there. I apologize if my perception does not match the real thing. Twitter, with it’s limitations, can distort the real thing.
Yeah, I did the politics thing once with my Why I’m Not Sure I’m Ready to Vote for Obama and, although the comments were overwhelmingly nice, I don’t ever want to do it again. The pit in my stomach that was created during the writing and posting process was more than I want to endure again.
Here’s another thought. During those person-to-person meetings, why not put the phone down altogether. Forget just ignoring political tweets. How about no tweeting, texting, emailing or anything else. As much as I love technology and my technologically enabled phone, I really hate that our society is moving in a direction where it’s ok to ignore the person in front of you in favor of a phone.
kapgar – I like blogging about political subjects, but it’s hard because it’s such a divisive subject and I’d like to stay friends with my readers and fellow bloggers without having that pit in my stomach, too.
nilsa – You know, for the most part, I do, but my friend also gets texts and phone calls during our bar visits and we both understand the occasional gadget interruption, but your thought is right. Put away all gadgets when talking to the other person. I have issues with how our society has moved to, so it’s time to take a check on the tech when you are in person.