Inappropriate posts

Twice in the last decade I have had a Facebook contact post something I considered offensive or at least did not want to be associated with me, in one instance a joke, posted by someone I probably shouldn't have friended in the first place, but we had contacts in common through a sport in the community, that traded on a racist comment. I hid all posts from that person. In the second instance, a childhood friend whose politics are different from mine posted or shared a story critical of protesters in Ferguson, MO. I believe I clicked that I did not like the post in addition to hiding it, though I did not hide all from my girlhood friend. Some of the posts I just read in this forum show anguishing mistakes. I used to work in teacher education, and my colleagues and I often cautioned our students to be careful about what they posted. A principal who was often kind enough to visit our campus and talk to our candidates told them that he was in the habit of asking interviewees for teaching positions to pull up their Facebook pages.

I am Facebook friends with people with whom I disagree on most issues. They are relatives, school friends from 50 years ago, and people I have never met face-to-face but we are linked by a shared passion for music, politics, or juggling. I feel that it is important to listen to voices from "the other side" but those voices sometimes say repugnant things. I sometimes hit the "Snooze Jo for 30 days" button to give myself a break.