[kelnos]

I don't think I'm quite as argumentative as you've described yourself, but I've fallen into some of the same traps in the past.

I stopped using Facebook 5 or so years ago, and almost instantly felt better day-to-day. I hadn't realized how upset Facebook was making me. Sometimes it would just make me sad (as in, "it's so disappointing that people believe garbage like XYZ") and other times actively angry. Sure, I did occasionally change people's minds by arguing with them in Facebook comments, but that was pretty rare; usually people would just dig in and everyone involved in the argument would end up angry and frustrated.

And it wasn't just that: even when I felt no desire to wade into some sort of contentious conversation, just seeing those sorts of arguments stressed me out and made me upset. Even as I started pulling away from participating in discussions and arguments on Facebook, I realized the root of the problem was still there: divisive crap promoted by algorithmic engagement metrics. Even dialing back my participation wasn't really helping.

So I just stopped, and I feel so much better for it. On occasion (maybe once every 4-6 months) I'll sign into my Facebook account for some specific purpose (to find someone's birthday or email address or something like that), and I'll (as detached as possible) scroll down the news feed a bit for a minute or two. It's so liberating: I realize that I actually don't care about 95% of what my friends and acquaintances are posting. For the most part, I learn about my friends' lives by actually interacting with them (either in real life, or 1-on-1 or small-group chats). There are some friends who I have lost touch with, and that does make me a little sad, but the negatives of using Facebook again just aren't worth it for me.

I pretty much limit my arguing with people on the internet to HN, and while I probably do spend more time doing that than is healthy, I think I'm doing a lot better than when I was actively on Facebook.

[tombert]

I agree with pretty much everything you said; I don't argue too much on HN but I do occasionally.

My life improved substantially after I dropped Facebook, but the frustrating part now is that LinkedIn (more or less a necessity to find a job in 2023) has started to attract the same morons posting their conspiracy theories, and now I feel like somewhat of a hostage audience. At that point I'm in this kind of uncomfortable position of "do I let these potentially harmful posts go completely unchecked, or do I risk future employers knowing my political beliefs?"

Mostly I've opted for the former, but as you said, the issue is that I am still exposed to these arguments. The second that I find a job that I am confident I won't be laid off from, I'm never logging into LinkedIn again.

[0x0203]

Why do you feel LinkedIn is a necessity these days? What exactly does it provide that makes getting a job without it so difficult? I'm genuinely curious; I ditched LinkedIn a few years ago as I didn't see it providing any value for anything in my professional life and haven't suffered for it (as far as I know). And I've been involved in the hiring several people; linkedin has never been involved.

[whstl]

For me personally it is incredibly convenient: whenever I want a new job, I can just log into LinkedIn and reply to a few recruiters messages to schedule 5 or 6 interviews for the week.

I really hope I never have to look for a job again without a recruiter helping me through the process.

[tombert]

A few job postings that I've seen actually require me to post a LinkedIn profile to hit the "submit" button. I suppose I could put some placeholder text in there like "N/A", but I feel like that would put me immediately on a waitlist.