Question

I'm pretty new here, but I have to ask- why are there political posts here of any kind? Is that allowed? I don't come to a Community page to see people arguing about politics. ‍♀️

Answer 1

Just scroll past and try not to let it bother you if you see something you don't like.  

Comments

@gocart I usually do, but the first post I read today was political, but not until the end. I just don't understand why people need to do that on a Community page? I'm sure you have enough to read through as an admin, so I'm not at all directing this towards you, I just don't understand why people do it? It makes it harder for you and I see how people rile each other up because of them. It's just discouraging and unsettling to see it.  

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@karen generally people don't make straight up a political posts here. But often discussions turn political, When that happens I'm not going to intervene or censor it. I will however not allow just a straight up political post from the get.  

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Then people keep posting things to try to get back at those other people which is obnoxious - other community groups are run by the daily herald and this is all taken down since it’s not locally focused - but I’m sure they have multiple staff members available to do so. Constantly posting this stuff is obnoxious and causes one person to have to delete it over and over. Like you don’t have better things to do with your time.  

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I delete very few things. I try not to censor things based on my personal opinion and worldview. It bothers me when people are not tolerant of other people's autonomy and opinions. That said I do want the page to remain community focused. And I cannot & will not control if conversations go off the rails. If someone is easily offended or not tolerant of somebody else's opinions then they should not join a hotly debated conversation, that they could easily just scroll past.  

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Flagrant lies, misinformation, and astroturfing aren't "opinions. "

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@interjection okay then replace word opinion with perspective. I'm not about to become a detective and start playing these games where I'm figuring out who's telling the truth. Even the news channels can't agree on what's "true" Everyone's got a perspective and I'm not going to delete it just because it doesn't agree or allign with mine.  

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Okay well here's a perspective I think you should consider, if you'll humor me. Your page is being run away with by trolls who are deliberately stirring the pot for their own amusement and to sew disinformation on a page where they know they can get away with it because you won't do anything about it. This isn't enriching your page, or building a sense of community. It's driving people away because most people don't come here to read dragged out arguments over the pandemic. It is not a coincidence that several of the profiles posting these divisive things were made in March. They're doing the same thing in multiple other groups and have been banned from some of them for the same reason.  

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Again, there's no original post made by these trolls as you call them. entering into a debate on a thread is welcome and encouraged by all parties regardless of perspective. If someone doesn't want to come into a long drawn out thread they don't have to, You don't have to- keep scrolling. Plenty of other content here. But I'm not going to infringe on people's autonomy to discuss and debate things amongst themselves. What kind of society do you want to live in? One where alternate perspectives are not able to be voiced? I don't see why that bothers you so much.  

Answer 2

Political posts are not welcome. -admin

Answer 3

I left the post about Springfield up because I don't see it so much as political as a general statewide debate that affects us all right now. Is the state going to reopen? If so when? And how?  

Answer 4

According to the rules: This community group is a place to ask questions and share information about services, businesses, festivals, construction, lost pets, apartments or whatever comes to mind. (Whatever happened to, whatever comes to mind? ) Is censorship necessary? A lot of double standards in this group.  

Comments

Pretty sure that all pertains to the confines of des plaines, seeing as how this is a des plaines group  as for censorship, facebook is not a democracy. maybe you should start your own group.  

Answer 5

What part of that conveys a double standard Phil?  

Answer 6

Very suspicious post seeing that if you see a lot of political posts. then why request to join? Odd. We will see how many jump on board with this one lol. Other than that did anyone get a lot of water. I know my sons did like 5 “ in Chicago and Hardwood heights.  

Answer 7

Gettin more tonight also.  

Answer 8

Allowing a facebook community group to be used as a platform to boost misinformation and conspiracy theories to own the libs.  

Comments

@interjection People who act like any infringement on free speech leads to total erosion of the right are absolutists ignoring numerous counter examples throughout the world. You can’t say pro Nazi shit in Germany, and they seem to be doing fine over there. Much better than us since that dust-up they had.  

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That requires self reflection and admission of guilt which the Germans engaged in. Most Americans are unwilling to admit the faults in our history.  

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Oh really now, tall claim. How am I my allowing the community group to be "used as a platform to boost information to own the libs"? Can you please screenshot a couple particular posts that you're basing this claim off of? I'm not talking about individual people's comments- which I cannot, and will not control or censor. Im talking about authentic original posts to the page. Please show me these posts you speak of.  

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Look at the "God vs The Governor" stuff from the other day. There's a simple formula to the astroturfing and trolling that is going on. One of them posts a divisive piece of content, then once they get backlash in the comments, their friends come out of the woodwork and post misleading memes and links to bogus studies or claims that are under heavy scrutiny. It's an information war. They're not trying to change the minds of the people they're engaging with. They are hoping to convince credulous people who are just scrolling through. In professional politics this is called "relational organizing. " Because a lot of people might implicitly trust what they see in here because it's a "community" group. Notice how none of the accounts posting this material interact with any other post.  

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@interjection again, can you show me a screenshot of the original post?  

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It's like 4 posts down from the top of the page, and I know you've seen it. Don't take me for a fool.  

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@interjection You said a post from the other day that was posted today. Don't take me for a fool or make me out to be one, Justin.  

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@interjection Also people could take what they want from that post. It doesn't have to be a G-d versus Governor debate nor was it posted with that intention. There was a protest in Springfield. The state needs to reopen. The State is divided on how and when to do it. Thoughts are welcome. The end.  

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With respect, it was not posted today. It was posted on May 14th. Today is the 17th. My criticism is constructive. You're the one who said people need to be open to perspectives, and I'm providing one to you. I've moderated many pages and have seen exactly the type of activity I am describing many times. That's not meant to upset you. It's meant to shed light.  

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@interjection see, that is why I asked for a screenshot because we were talking about two different posts.  

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So I'm not going to entertain this discussion until you could show me which post you're talking about. I don't allow political posts here. I don't censor conversations. I'm not going to fact check every single comment and meme posted. I do welcome all perspectives including yours. But if you can't handle other people's perspectives without complaining to the admin that's where we have an issue.  

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@gocart uhhh can you please clarify what you mean by “political posts” then? I’ve seen flyers for and photos from anti-lockdown rallies in the last 24 hrs. And why are you asking for screen grabs like you’re not the moderator? It’s your job to moderate. Did you delete these posts already, and are claiming they now don’t exist? Again, I’m not gonna check because it’s not my job because I’m not moderator.  

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@lilybel if he wants to complain about a post then he needs to show me the post he's talking about. Because look what happened, I went to go look for the post he was talking about. And mistook it for another.  

Answer 9

From what I see you can say anything to anyone and it won’t be taken down no matter what it is.  

Comments

Pretty much. I'm not a babysitter. I'm not going to remove posts for cussing or being rude to someone. We are all adults here. I have removed posts in the past for people that have made violent threats to others.  

Answer 10

I think debates are ok but some of these people on this group get so rude, I don't even comment, I have enough stress in my life. Just my opinion.