Content Quality, Echo Chambers, and more

[Holy Unifying Centrist]

I think a lot of the divisiveness and hostility in national politics that has come up this past decade might be to blame. Politics also attracts a lot of nutters, a lot of ideological extremists, and other undesirable folks.  There's also some really great people. I think the problem is that some of us get way too emotionally involved. I'm really only in it for the maps and data, and I could care less what others think politically, or what others think of me. I post my opinions and reply to discussions to challenge others on their opinions to try and make a more perfect world. If someone is a critical thinker they can listen to both sides of the debate and make an informed decision. I think if we all sat back and hid the avatars the vast majority of us here would find a lot of middle ground.

I also agree on the recommended button. We don't need one line "burns" to fill up every thread!

Emotions and caring are important. It's in our nature to have feelings and express them. It's part of what makes us human. I have nothing wrong with emotions. And I don't give any points to people who don't care about anything; that just sounds sociopathic to me. I just want people to express themselves with more than just feelings in some of their posts. And I want people to be able to talk and debate in spite of their strong feelings. The 2020 forum has too many one- and two-liners that don't lead to substantive discussion.

I am guilty of making too many one-liners myself.

[DabbingSanta]

I think a lot of the divisiveness and hostility in national politics that has come up this past decade might be to blame. Politics also attracts a lot of nutters, a lot of ideological extremists, and other undesirable folks.  There's also some really great people. I think the problem is that some of us get way too emotionally involved. I'm really only in it for the maps and data, and I could care less what others think politically, or what others think of me. I post my opinions and reply to discussions to challenge others on their opinions to try and make a more perfect world. If someone is a critical thinker they can listen to both sides of the debate and make an informed decision. I think if we all sat back and hid the avatars the vast majority of us here would find a lot of middle ground.

I also agree on the recommended button. We don't need one line "burns" to fill up every thread!

Emotions and caring are important. It's in our nature to have feelings and express them. It's part of what makes us human. I have nothing wrong with emotions. And I don't respect people who don't care about anything. I just want people to express themselves with more than just feelings in some of their posts. And I want people to be able to talk and debate in spite of their strong feelings. The 2020 forum has too many one- and two-liners that don't lead to substantive discussion.

I am guilty of making too many one-liners myself.

Totally agree, and I'm guilty of it too. I think we all need to be mindful of one another and realize that this is a very difficult time and everyone is reacting differently. We're all human and I don't think we should hate one another because of our political beliefs. I might disagree with you politically but I don't dislike you personally. That's how it should be for everyone here.

[Holy Unifying Centrist]

I think a lot of the divisiveness and hostility in national politics that has come up this past decade might be to blame. Politics also attracts a lot of nutters, a lot of ideological extremists, and other undesirable folks.  There's also some really great people. I think the problem is that some of us get way too emotionally involved. I'm really only in it for the maps and data, and I could care less what others think politically, or what others think of me. I post my opinions and reply to discussions to challenge others on their opinions to try and make a more perfect world. If someone is a critical thinker they can listen to both sides of the debate and make an informed decision. I think if we all sat back and hid the avatars the vast majority of us here would find a lot of middle ground.

I also agree on the recommended button. We don't need one line "burns" to fill up every thread!

Emotions and caring are important. It's in our nature to have feelings and express them. It's part of what makes us human. I have nothing wrong with emotions. And I don't respect people who don't care about anything. I just want people to express themselves with more than just feelings in some of their posts. And I want people to be able to talk and debate in spite of their strong feelings. The 2020 forum has too many one- and two-liners that don't lead to substantive discussion.

I am guilty of making too many one-liners myself.

Totally agree, and I'm guilty of it too. I think we all need to be mindful of one another and realize that this is a very difficult time and everyone is reacting differently. We're all human and I don't think we should hate one another because of our political beliefs. I might disagree with you politically but I don't dislike you personally. That's how it should be for everyone here.

Just to be clear, I hate you because of your username.

[Fuzzy Says: "Abolish NPR!"]

I will say that the history forums and the hypothetical election forums are some of the more constructive forums to peruse.

People have suggested to me that I should avoid USGD and stick to some of the other forums, particularly those that discuss electoral history.  Perhaps I'm a slow learner, but there well may be something to that. 

[OSR stands with Israel]

I will say that the history forums and the hypothetical election forums are some of the more constructive forums to peruse.

People have suggested to me that I should avoid USGD and stick to some of the other forums, particularly those that discuss electoral history.  Perhaps I'm a slow learner, but there well may be something to that. 

I think you should also try to make a TL as I think you would do a pretty good job at that

[𝕭𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖎𝖘𝖙𝖆 𝕸𝖎𝖓𝖔𝖑𝖆]

I think it's scaring away lots of very intelligent top quality posters

Don't worry, I have decided to stay.

I let young adults entering the world off with a long leash. Everyone now has a mental illness, Facebook anxiety as you mentioned, COVID-19, no work, and expectation that you should have $400K worth of shares by the age of 28 and be successful on Instagram. We seem to have this constant message on Instagram of "Look what you dont have".

At 49, I have come to realise that with the world the way it is in 2020, there is a lot more pressure on young people causing this anxiety. For someone who is in their 20's, the expectation of being a popular social media legend creates a very unfair paradigm in their brain. There seems to be an expectation that you are either a legend or a loser. But there is not a lot of room just to be normal and relax.

The posts made on Facebook, YouTube and Atlas are reflective of that. People who are very attacking and chase people around on the internet are doing so because of their own low self-esteem. Their critique of other people is an implicit reflection of their own low self-worth.

My suggestion, find something positive in life with a longer term goal. 2-3 years. 4-5 years.

Chasing social media and forum posts with hourly/daily time frames only results in poor life outcomes over the longer term.

As a 19 year old, I can tell you that my (admittedly small) social circle is full of people who could not care less about be popular on social networks. Paradoxically my father, who is 53, seems to be more invested in the idea of getting lots of likes on Twitter than us.
I actually had Instagram. I left it in February 2018 because I decided I want to have the least profiles on websites I can and because I finally recognized Instagram for the load of manure it is. Just yesterday my girlfriend told me that she is also beginning to think that Instagram is a load of manure.

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

I think it's scaring away lots of very intelligent top quality posters

Don't worry, I have decided to stay.

I let young adults entering the world off with a long leash. Everyone now has a mental illness, Facebook anxiety as you mentioned, COVID-19, no work, and expectation that you should have $400K worth of shares by the age of 28 and be successful on Instagram. We seem to have this constant message on Instagram of "Look what you dont have".

At 49, I have come to realise that with the world the way it is in 2020, there is a lot more pressure on young people causing this anxiety. For someone who is in their 20's, the expectation of being a popular social media legend creates a very unfair paradigm in their brain. There seems to be an expectation that you are either a legend or a loser. But there is not a lot of room just to be normal and relax.

The posts made on Facebook, YouTube and Atlas are reflective of that. People who are very attacking and chase people around on the internet are doing so because of their own low self-esteem. Their critique of other people is an implicit reflection of their own low self-worth.

My suggestion, find something positive in life with a longer term goal. 2-3 years. 4-5 years.

Chasing social media and forum posts with hourly/daily time frames only results in poor life outcomes over the longer term.

As a 19 year old, I can tell you that my (admittedly small) social circle is full of people who could not care less about be popular on social networks. Paradoxically my father, who is 53, seems to be more invested in the idea of getting lots of likes on Twitter than us.
I actually had Instagram. I left it in February 2018 because I decided I want to have the least profiles on websites I can and because I finally recognized Instagram for the load of manure it is. Just yesterday my girlfriend told me that she is also beginning to think that Instagram is a load of manure.

Best use of Instagram is for posting nature pics and art you made. FB seems too attention-grabby for me to bother posting there--maybe because I know olds are on it.