Shawn, you’re absolutely right. It’s us, and it’s a demand-side problem. Your insight in Maui is one I continually remind myself of when I’m out and about - I can “hang” with people who might vote differently than I do as much as I always have, and likely they with me. The real world is far less terrifying than the virtual one. I have stopped being extremely online and deleted Twitter and never go on Facebook and only read news and subscribe to emails like yours. I can tell you I am far better at understanding and appreciating the clear divide between virtual and real than I’ve been in the last 7-10 years.
I am also on a news and social media fast of sorts. I deleted the Twitter app recently, and I'm using a Chrome extension to allow only 10 min per day spent at twitter.com. I stopped using Facebook long ago. My intent is to limit my exposure to *political* news and especially political commentary, not social media per se, because that's where the toxicity is coming from (as opposed to sports pundits and comedians for example). I thought I might curate my Twitter experience accordingly, but right now I'm enjoying complete abstinence.
On the topic of "hanging" with people who have different views, I agree. Although there are a couple of common counterpoints that people offer, which I plan to address at some point.
And....actually I love your comment about the real-world political fights that DO happen being almost entirely outgrowths of garbage that started online. Proud Boys, Antifa, MAGA showboating, QAnon and so on....never really thought about it that way before.
Shawn, you’re absolutely right. It’s us, and it’s a demand-side problem. Your insight in Maui is one I continually remind myself of when I’m out and about - I can “hang” with people who might vote differently than I do as much as I always have, and likely they with me. The real world is far less terrifying than the virtual one. I have stopped being extremely online and deleted Twitter and never go on Facebook and only read news and subscribe to emails like yours. I can tell you I am far better at understanding and appreciating the clear divide between virtual and real than I’ve been in the last 7-10 years.
I am also on a news and social media fast of sorts. I deleted the Twitter app recently, and I'm using a Chrome extension to allow only 10 min per day spent at twitter.com. I stopped using Facebook long ago. My intent is to limit my exposure to *political* news and especially political commentary, not social media per se, because that's where the toxicity is coming from (as opposed to sports pundits and comedians for example). I thought I might curate my Twitter experience accordingly, but right now I'm enjoying complete abstinence.
On the topic of "hanging" with people who have different views, I agree. Although there are a couple of common counterpoints that people offer, which I plan to address at some point.
And....actually I love your comment about the real-world political fights that DO happen being almost entirely outgrowths of garbage that started online. Proud Boys, Antifa, MAGA showboating, QAnon and so on....never really thought about it that way before.