lagilman: coffee or die (brain.  hurts.)
Laura Anne Gilman ([personal profile] lagilman) wrote2011-03-01 12:56 am

The Crazy Bag Person of Facebook

So there is a Person on Facebook who requested to friend me. Since I didn't recognize the name, I did a basic looksee -- account seemed legit, there were no obvious warning signs (being a member of NAMBLA, FantasyWritersRTheAntiChrist, etc etc), had a number of other writers friended, so probably was a reader -- so I said yes.

Didn't think too much about it until I happened on a post this Person had made, and -- being somewhat taken aback by the comment -- left a comment asking for clarification. Had Person -really- meant what they said, and did they realize how offensive it was?

In response, my legitimacy to question Person's statement was questioned, as was my education, my relevance, and my being there in the first place. And nope, never did actually respond to my request for clarification.

I have since come to realize that Person is the Crazy Bag Person of Facebook. Seriously, certifiably, somewhat pitiably full-out loony.

Should I keep someone on my friends list just because their wall is like reading surrealist theater? Mmmmm probably not. I don't have time to go down rabbit-holes, and people who wear tin foil hats make me itch. And yet... it's like watching a slow-mo train wreck where you know the sole passenger is too drunk to get injured. I just can't look away.

And it reminds me to be gentle with people, because sometimes they really aren't coming from our part of reality and it's not their fault.

But wow.

{in the end, I defriended Person, mainly because I didn't want anyone to see me on their f-list and think,"ok, Person must be all right, then" Because, no.)


And, to counter all that, a quote from a nicely rational human being:

"I’ll tell you one thing: I was a card-carrying Republican until he did this. Republicans are not this mean. I gotta believe that. I’m now an independent thanks to Scott Walker." - JOEL WAGNER (from an on-the-street interview in, I believe, Democracy Today)

[identity profile] firynze.livejournal.com 2011-03-01 02:07 pm (UTC)(link)
And this is (one more reason) why I'm only on Facebook to operate a page for the company. Facebook is a Land of Crazy.

[identity profile] firynze.livejournal.com 2011-03-01 02:27 pm (UTC)(link)
I've been surprisingly insulated from the Sea of Crazy that is supposedly Twitter. Again, I think it helps that I mostly use it as a business thing...that ever-so-slight layer of anonymity/professionalism seems to hold up.

[identity profile] firynze.livejournal.com 2011-03-01 03:02 pm (UTC)(link)
I do believe that's what saves/protects me, yep! I occasionally sit back and watch the storms, but the closest I get to getting involved is to jump into the occasional book piracy/lending/agency fray.

Which is enough to ensure that I never ever start tweeting about unions or healthcare, for my own sanity and protection!