Well, I took the bait.
It happens about once every two weeks or so.
I replied to a semi-political comment on Facebook.
I should know better.
In my defense, the original post was about the no-barrier COVID testing available this week in Luverne. It wasn’t technically political.
I would have passed it by, but the author of the post mentioned online learning.
As a teacher experiencing hybrid learning this fall, I just couldn’t resist replying.
My goal was to point out that learning really can and does happen online and to discourage people from avoiding being tested because it could change current learning models.
As often happens, my comment turned into a string of comments from a variety of people with different views on education, pandemic restrictions, science, politics, and probably more.
Thankfully, all of the comments remained respectful and we all seemed to agree to disagree.
And I’m all right with that.
It reminded me just how effective social media is at what it does.
The whole goal of social media sites is to draw us in, keep us there, and bring us back next time.
And nothing does that better for some people than politics.
Especially a month before the election.
Because I understand how Facebook uses algorithms to draw me in, and I know online comments never change anyone’s mind, I’m usually able to avoid that temptation to join in.
But not always.
And I guess I’m all right with that.
I appreciate a good political debate every now and then, and it sure is fun sometimes to post some facts that hopefully make my point.
When I do post, I try to remember to be respectful, factual and concise. That last one is the hardest for me.
I also remember that most people on my list of Facebook friends seldom, or never, post political content. I’m all right with that.
In fact, my rough estimate is that about 80 percent of the people I see on Facebook never share or comment on political posts at all.
Sure, I see a lot of politics on my social media pages, but the vast majority of them are from the same people.
And I’m all right with that, too.
So, even though I see a lot of political content, I actually have no idea what the political beliefs of most of my social media contacts are.
I’m definitely all right with that.
I guess I’m all right with those who like to talk politics and those who don’t.
Those who support one party, the other party or no party.
Those who can’t wait for Election Day and those who can’t wait for Election Day to be over.
As long as they’re as respectful as the people in my latest conversation were, I’m all right with them all.
But I am going to return to the social media sidelines and stay there as much as I can.
My opinions will stay mostly offline.
And I’m all right with that.