In short, do you think you’ll read/post more? Less? About the same? Differently?
Will you spend more time in different forums than before? Change your tone in any way?
Me, I think spending time on-line - including here - is something I may intentionally reduce. For one thing, I’m going to be paying less attention to political/social matters, as my having tried to pay attention and form informed opinions seems to have had little benefit. I also think I spend a lot of time on-line out of boredom and laziness. So I’m going to be trying to do more things “IRL” rather than virtual. Just my preference for now.
I went ahead and muted the P&E forum. I’d been considering it even before the election, but it has become, for me at least, an unhealthy bubble, very similar to 2016, where readings there gave me unrealized confidence, leading to larger than expected disappointment. I’ll still participate in other fora here, but I am cutting back, way back, on news-watching and reading in general, and politics specifically.
I’ve muted all things political, as much as possible, but other than that I don’t expect much change. There’s a lot of interesting stuff here that isn’t politics.
I was never a heavy participant in the political threads. Maybe an isolated comment here and there, but I didn’t get deep into the political debates and discussions. I did read them, however.
I will probably avoid the politics forums in the future, at least for awhile. I don’t think it’s healthy for me. I’ve been feeling very down since the election, like I’ll never be optimistic again. My wife even posted on Facebook, “If you see my [MrAtoz] today, give him a hug.” I think that the levels of despair and catastrophizing in the Politics and Elections forum is feeding a lot of that.
The thing is that I feel guilty for having such a strong reaction. I’m not likely to suffer all that much. I’m a straight white cis male. Other people, my gay and trans friends, are going to be much worse off than I am if the country does go full-on fascist dictatorship. Which I try to tell myself won’t happen, but I don’t know. I feel almost petty being this upset, when people I know and love have so much more reason for it than I do.
So I’ll probably keep reading the stuff that isn’t political, to try to find something entertaining, and do what I can to get back to some kind of positive outlook. But I’m going to avoid political stuff for a the foreseeable future.
I feel like I need to change my online patterns. For so long I’ve bounced back and forth from my news sites, polling sites and here. Now I’m trying to avoid the news sites, have no reason to go to the polling sites, and I feel like I need to avoid this place for a while the same was an addict needs to avoid his old party buddies when getting sober.
I will answer fewer polls. I’m starting with the one in this thread. Don’t think it will help.
Yes, wasting less time in the internet in general would be sane, but I don’t think I can really quit it all. So I don’t think I will cut down the one site that is better than most.
I will for the forseeable future ignore P&E, but other than that, not much change. I started to read the Times this morning and gave up when everything was political (except for two heartbreaking stories about a one month old and a 4 year old being starved to death by their parents–leading to manslaughter charges in both cases). That why I am on SDMB earlier in the day than usual.
No changes. I don’t participate beyond FQ, CS, IMHO, Mipsips, some light sports chat.
I read-only the Pit as a recreational doomscroll time kill, not unlike the comments following an article or youtube. “Let’s see what those wacky goofs have to say” while I wait for my oil change, telephone on hold, etc.
Yesterday seeing all the election-related doom & gloom threads in other forums like IMHO and MPSIMS, I seriously was debating reading the board much less, or only sticking to Cafe Society. (I have always had the Politics forum muted and never had any desire to go there.)
Then I read how to mute all threads tagged with a certain name, and now it seems much better here!
I dropped the entire front section of my newspaper into the recycle bin without even looking at it. I think I might start doing that whenever an article on the front page mentions that guy.
I’m already posting more here. I’ve been very active on Reddit over the past eight years or so, but I just don’t have the heart for it anymore- the constant taunting and crowing from the right-wing Redditors is going to be relentless, and there’s absolutely nothing I can do about it.
Honestly, I’m very tempted to try to become one of the invisible “undecideds” who are constantly surprised when confronted by the excesses of either party. It must be very calming to be so blissfully unaware, and to be able to easily absolve yourself if things go badly.
Yesterday I felt quite sad. But at some point, I realized that I could simply focus on things within my control - like exercise and music. Which allows for a positive mindset.
I’ve long had issues with the idea of American “values” and our failure to acknowledge/deal with our racist, misogynist, genocidal past. This election frees me to accept that that is not just past, but continues in the present. I don’t have to wonder why people and policies seem selfish and mean. I can accept that people ARE selfish and mean, and they elect representatives whom they wish to enact such policies.
After 40+ years of trying to be quite informed and active in politics and social issues, I think I’m done. I’m a strong supporter of the governmental services and safety net. But if more than half of my fellow citizens are going to actively work against that, I’m not going to exhaust myself in the time I have left trying to counterweigh a freely elected government. It is somewhat sad to KNOW that my country is a rich bully, but knowing is in some ways more comfortable than suspecting.
Over the past couple of days I noted myself being a little hair-triggered in personal interactions at work, at home, on-line. So obviously I’m experiencing some personal unease. Will work on that.
But the time I gain by checking out of political and social interest matters on-line, in the news, in my head, will free me up to do whatever constructive I wish.
Yeah, I know I’m being a very selfish older, wealthier, cis white male. Sorry for everyone who is not. Your country - and your countrymen - really let you down. I hope you are as safe and comfortable as possible in our current society which will be unsupportive - and possibly openly hostile - to you.
