Ok... EVERYONE STOP!
I'll say that again just in case you didn't hear me.
EVERYONE STOP!
THIS APPLIES EQUALLY TO RED AND BLUE VOTERS (OR VOTERS OF ANY OTHER COLOUR/OR COLOR)
Before you reply to this thread, I'd just like you to take at least half an hour at the link below. Your Media is lying to you and the other people on this thread... or at the very least omitting the truth*
Now.. I'm going to ask you ALL to be grown up here.... don't follow the temptation to start cherry picking stories that
you can see are blatantly lies. DON'T immediately follow the link and look for ammunition to blast the opposite side.
Right, What I want you to do is look at the column that doesn't seem to align with your usual point of view. Pick 4-5 stories that you don't know about... and read them (scroll down the list if you need to). Now go off and using reliable news sources/reference materials/citations/ original source documents etc. find out if there is any truth in them**
Now, using the same standards that you applied to that material, do the same to something on the other side (the one that you support)
At the very least you'll have found out about something you didn't know...
.... and its a really clear demonstration of the filter bubbles we live in (Either social media, religious, newspaper, or just the friends that we surround ourselves with
... you'll also find out what those other strange people are reading
... I suspect you'll also have found out something about how the agendas of the media play out
... And if you can spot how one side of the political machine is manipulating you, you can cry foul if the opposite side is doing it too.
If you aren't in the USA, its still a useful exercise... I really want someone to do a United Kingdom version of this as well.
Other topics can be seen at
http://graphics.wsj.com/blue-feed-red-feed/
(the methodology they used can be found at
http://graphics.wsj.com/blue-feed-red-feed/#methodology)
and thanks to
http://boingboing.net/2017/01/01/blue-feed-red-feed-side-by-s.html for making me aware of this
*a subtle but interesting difference
**Hint... if an article cannot be traced back to an original source/document, or says it comes from 'research' and doesn't say what that is, there is probably something dodgy about it....