We are the Resistance to the Resistance in California, particularly in Southern California, and there is no way that I could have done this on my own. From Robin Hvidston of We the People Rising, Joseph Turner of American Children First, and Harim Uzziel of LA County for Trump.
And how can forget Marco Gutierrez of Latinos for Trump?
With all this opportunity and success comes the following, the follow-ups, the comments.
My Facebook profile has received numerous friend requests. So has Harim, so much so that he can't even react to them. I had no problem receiving messages from supporters all over the country, and many times the best way that press contacted me went through the direct message box on my Facebook account.
Then I found myself facing a new problem. I was getting so many messages, receiving so many friend rwuests, and so many people posting new articles on my wall, that I couldn't do much else. I was getting drawn away from writing, posting, and planning events. I found myself overwhelmed.
Then I started getting the stickers to pass onto others. Some people would launch into an extended conversation with me on Messenger, an app which works with Facebook. It was maddening. Over the past week, I found that I could not get past one article after another shared on Facebook. People were spamming me articles from the morning, many of which I had already ready through email eblasts. Blocking some of these message spammers seemed to work for a little while, but the task proved too time-consuming.
I didn't know what to do.
Then all of a sudden, Facebook was notifying me that one of my posts violated "community standards", and was taken down. Then I was blocked for one day from posting. It was crazy. The post had nothing libelous or dangerous it in. The Brow Supremacy movement is most likely behind this anti-First Amendment onslaught.
Then I recalled all the blocking and purging which had happened to other friends of mine, conservatives who are more outspoken and active than I. Someone had asked me if I had been blocked in any way yet. Assuredly I told them "No." I guess I jinxed myself with that.
I have been blocked twice from posting this week alone--and apparently another post was taken down during my second period of "blockage", which has lasted three days. Once I get out of "Facebook Jail", I have no idea what to expect. Will another post getting me blocked for a week? Two weeks?
My friend Harim was shut down for an entire month! The Left is getting really scared, since they resort to violence or forced suppression. Facebook has turned into Fascist-Book, ignoring hateful, violent threats while shutting down conservatives who poke fun while exposing hateful rhetoric and actions of the Left.
It is really frustrating that I cannot contact or connect with my fellow Trump supporters and conservatives all over the country. On the other hand, there are plenty of other ways for all of us to work together and taken on the destructive, regressive, anti-American Left in our country. Also, it helps that there is one fewer means for people to arbitrarily contact me or others.
Social media is getting overwhelming, and the time-suck factor cannot be ignored. What's worse, men and women within our wonderful movement sometimes vent all too quickly on social media. People punch to the right, so to speak. Of course, people on the Left have no problem going after everyone everywhere.
This sudden stop of instant communication has been a good thing, I think. If people really want to get in touch with or anyone else, let's make it real. Go through email, call me, or text. For the longest time, I am certain that I violated this rule of decorum with others on Facebook. Have I been constantly spamming others? I need to think twice before I send something.
All of this brings me to an anecdote when I was earning my Bachelor's Degree at UC Irvine. A former judge was addressing my class for one sessions. He had worked in the Beverly Hills Court House, and much of what he talked about compared his experience as a trial lawyer (specifically appellate law) compared to his relatively short tenure as a superior court judge. One part of his talk speaks to the social media issues which I have experienced recently, and now am glad to be free from.
In the past, there were only two key modes of communication: making a telephone call or writing a letter. Forget about faxing or even texting messages. Nowadays, people can send messages fairly quickly, without requisite consideration. If a staffer in one part of the law firm sends a heated email, the other person can just fire off another response, which can escalate a serious conflict which does not have to happen in the first place! Instant communication has made the temptation to fire back out of anger--without proper reflection--all the more all too easy. The restraint of pen and keyboard has left our communication culture, and not for the better. This problem has only gotten worse.
After getting blocked for the second time, I have found myself taking my time before I contact anyone. I am less likely to just invade someone's private space and time. I have more freedom, more liberty to read and write.
As for planning events, I have to find other channels, but that's OK with me.
One concern has arisen on the media horizon for me, though. I want to be a reporter, a journalist, and a conservative activist. Facebook Live has been a great resources, for the most part. What am I going to do now? YouTube has its on Record Live feature. I would hope that another media company would devise social media competition to overtake Facebook's market share. Whatever happens, I trust that this little setback is going to yield more benefits in the days to come.
We conservatives are the new Counter Culture. We will find better ways to organize as we continue to win the culture wars. I look forward to doing so, and I won't have to overcome the excessive over-communication which had overwhelmed me for the last two months.
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