Member-only story
Why I’ve Started Unfriending and Blocking People
I used to pride myself for never unfriending anyone on Facebook. I just wouldn’t do it. I wanted to show that I would reject no one, that I was perfectly inclusive. When things got really out of hand, when someone was attacking me intensely, one of my other friends would step in and join the fight. That friend would invariably say something that would lead to the aggressor unfriending me.
Recently, I have noticed that much of my time online was spent sparring with people who neither understood what I was talking about nor were capable of (or interested in) finding out. There was a kind of arrogance that suggested they knew better than me, that I was wrong, and that I needed to learn something from them. However, no matter how much time I would spend to understand their point of view, it never seemed to satisfy them. They seemed to need me to change so that I supported their perspective wholeheartedly. I had to become a different person to validate them. I just couldn’t do that. I can’t convert to a religion and I can’t lie about how I feel, what I know, or what I am experiencing.
The reality is that my social media profile is mine. I am presenting myself to the world as best I can. Just because I seem open to other ideas, it doesn’t mean that I’m naïve. I can’t be brainwashed to make these people feel better. My wife, Cindy, has told…
