Weapon of Choice

 Pictures bring more eyes to the yard.

So, often I try to search out a photo to begin my blog stories.  In doing so, I have made a terrifying discovery.

No matter what topic I choose, no matter how "lefty" I try to be, when I search for photos on Facebook, the vast majority of those I get to choose from are pro-Trump.  Hard to believe from a candidate who has ALWAYS been more unpopular than popular,  

You can discover this too when you pull up the Facebook feeds of people who may only tangentially be your friends, ones whom Facebook's algorithms have decided you don't need to see very often.

You come up with one regrettable conclusion:

Facebook is the Trumpeteer's weapon of choice.

This is not readily apparent to we anit-Trumpers, because between our own unfollows and Facebook's algorithms reinforcing our already set beliefs, we don't always see the madness.

That is why when the people on my side post memes and stories AND FACTS that spell out how horrible and dangerous this President really is, it falls on deaf ears.  If they see our posts at all, we are mere blips on their Facebook radar.  They are awash with anti-Democrat (and anti-Democratic) propaganda, a lot of stuff that we either don't see or only see as blips.

The young have fled Facebook, in no small degree, preferring Instagram, Redditt, Snapchat, and things that are too new and hip for this old guy to even know about.  Some are divided like Facebook, algorithms reinforcing beliefs. Some of these sites are more apolitical than others, but all cater to the niche interests of each participant.

I saw an interview yesterday on MSNBC (center left CORPORATE media) of a reporter who had spent in-depth time with women who had voted for Trump in 2016 but would not vote for him in 2020.  What struck me most about what they said is that they weren't really paying attention to Trump's negatives in 2016, that what they were hearing and seeing on Social media was mostly Trump-positive, and didn't realize until it was too late how bad he really was.  Yeah.  OK.  I thought anyone halfway sentient would recognize from the 80s on what a scumbucket Trump was, but maybe that was just me.  I may not be much, but I do have a highly refined and sensitive CONMAN RADAR.

The point is, social media, which several years ago (e.g., the Arab Spring) I thought would make the world more democratic, has instead fostered division and hatred.  Additionally, I believe that Facebook is now dominated by Trumpeteers (thanx and a hat's tip to Russian bots).

Oh well.  Never give up.  Never surrender.  Beleive, as naive as it may be, that you can eventually reach the decency in people.

Back to my windmill tilts.