This is an interesting article that most assuredly cuts both ways. While I don’t think I have a “liberal echo chamber” on FaceBook by any means, I’m probably not always as open-minded as I should be. When I joined FaceBook I was immediately plugged into a network of old friends and acquaintances from my hometown and college who I had not seen or heard from in 20 or more years. I still consider that a blessing, but I will admit that I was initially struck by how many of these folks had become hard-right Tea Partiers. But I suspect that the shock was even more so on their end to find that someone they knew had become a (gasp!) “LIBERAL”. I had about a dozen people who shortly thereafter blocked or unfriended me and many more, I suspect, who have simply hidden my posts from their news feeds. But a handful have been willing to engage me in mostly polite and often vigorous debate on the issues of the day which I find most stimulating. It is a shame that we can’t have more of that and less of people on the right and left closing themselves off from the other side of the spectrum. It is that self-imposed isolation, I think, that encourages the fringe clustering on both sides and discourages compromises that are vital for the health of our republic.
Posted on: Thu, 07 Nov 2013 21:25:25 +0000
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