The ‘grandmother problem’ is an issue that is plagues social media accounts everywhere. Nearly everyone has that one person, whether old or young, on their Facebook account that will just share whatever comes across their news feed with wild abandon, not looking at the dates from when the article was originally posted, much less checking the sources!
My personal Facebook page is just for me to keep track of my family and friends in southern IL, but I am closer than ever before to deleting it. Everyday I am seeing shared articles from made-up news outlets that just mention the words “Trump” and “correct”, then it’s shared no less than 5 times by different people. It’s an epidemic that needs to be stopped.
The problem lies in how to tell these over share-ers that they sharing things that are less than credible or just flat out inaccurate. Most people would not take too kindly to being told that they’re wrong, even if you are able to provide factual evidence to back yourself up. The fact is, quite a few people only believe what they want to believe when it comes to politics and religion, or what they were taught to believe by elder family members. (Think ‘we’ve been Republican since your great great great Granddaddy was alive, and we’re not gonna stop now!’) I can’t speak for all areas, but the incredibly small area where I’m from is very close minded. An article that I read stated political beliefs began at home, then as children left the nest and their world views grew, so did their belief system. They fostered their own thinking and adapted that to fit what they were learning of the world.
I’ve found that in the area where I grew up, and where my family still resides, nearly all the people are conservative leaning. I’m not saying that they are all Republican, but those that are Democrat are on the less liberal side. And that is their choice. Judging strictly by the posts that I’ve seen shared on my wall from the folks back in that area, if I were to share a post about Colin Kaepernick and why I feel that he was well within his right to take a knee at a football game, I would be cursed and possible disowned. Same thing if I were to share anything about my abortion stance or LGBTQ rights. Mockery and hatefulness would ensue, but I could guarantee that the posts that I shared would be from well written and well known sources.
It’s not an easy problem to solve unfortunately, and I don’t feel that I’ve done so here. I don’t feel that I’ve even given a hint at a solution. I feel that I’ve told you why I can’t. If a person seems receptive to constructive criticism, then have at it, but you have to choose your battles.
