[a character sits at their desk, in front of their computers, and complains angrily]
Mainstream media? Unreliable, biased, full of fake news, they keep lying…
You can’t trust them!
[changing to a point of view beind the character allows us to see that their screen is filled with other angry characters that look like the main character]
That’s why I get all my news from angry dudes on social media and men’s right activism podcasts
Hey look, it’s my dad… 😑
Yeah mines the one spewing hatespeech on internet forums. He has his own yt channel devoted to his views. I don’t talk to him.
Mine would have fallen for the same shit if he had lived to see it - makes me glad i don’t have to deal with that, i’m sorry for you and your family, wish you all the best
On paper mine could have. Instead he spent his last years dying, cutting out all his friends that echoed the sentiment of the men his own father flew to Germany to unalive, in disbelief. And he “wasn’t political.” Just common sense. Worked 7 days a week until the end when he went out under water from medical bills, and about to lose the house. No sarcasm, my father was a working class American hero.
Uh… Take away the ironic “men’s rights” part and you are your dad. Unless you’re actively ensuring your feeds are not algorithm content and the parts of the internet you’re hanging out in aren’t socially reinforcing…
Otherwise, we call these “echo chambers”. And funny enough is that those in them create the most “me vs them” content, all the while constantly reassuring “the audienice” that they’re not in one.
But, yeah. I’m sure I’m wrong and helping your dad to navigate through the ongoing onslaught of media is something you’ve tried.
Edit: GOD DAMN I’m so self- righteous and sassy tonight. Ignore the sass. Get the vibe. A apologise for the sass, but I won’t delete because the vibe.
Point is, you and your dad have two opposing feeds. Recognise that they are feeds and move on from that.
I’n not the person you replied to, but I just want to offer kudos for your edit. Recognising that you didn’t need the snark is a rare thing online now-a-days.
And thank you for calling it out.