Friend Keeps Sending Me Memes About Starmer

[MrsHLQ]

BACKGROUND

A friend of mine has been through a very difficult time over the last 2 years.

She is single.

She lost her job and and struggled with the sudden passing of her mother.

She has had to move in with her father in a rural part of the country where she hasn’t lived for over 30 years.

Her and her father are living off her deceased mother’s money, so are comfortable.

I am one of her closest friends but we rarely see each other these days as we now live 6+ hours away from each other and she can neither travel and leave her dad alone nor travel with him.

i am planning to visit her and stay with her or nearby, is possible.

THE ISSUE

She is an ardent conservative and so hates Starmer are co. She spams me every day with political and satirical memes from the internet

these include photos, videos and links to various websites and social media posts

every single one of them about starmer, another one of the senior labour leaders or just the Labour Party

im not a fan of Starmer but I have no interest in reviewing tens of similar posts each day lambasting him

but I feel this is the way she likes to communicate with me given her difficult situation. It’s essentially an excuse to speak to me every day, multiple times per day

but it’s always about this 1 topic!

i have but empathy but I feel like it’s getting too much now

Aibu?

Don’t click on any links and don’t respond. Ever. She’ll stop eventually.

“No more politics please, it’s too depressing”

If she persists tell her you just delete them.

She’s lonely and thinks you have the same views? Just put her straight and tell her you don’t like her cunting Tory memes 😅

Send her ones back about conservatives and reform

I don't think the background or her circumstances are particularly relevant. Just ignore them and delete. People like that stop eventually if they don't get a reaction.

Just tell her to cut it out. I loathe the Tories, but I wouldn’t tolerate being sent memes about Kemi Badenoch on a daily basis.

To clarify

it’s not that I disagree with her views, it’s just she is spamming me with the same 1 topic thing every single day and it is incredibly dull and repetitive and I’m expected to respond to every one of them….so tiresome

You have to stop responding. Engaging (whether positively or negatively) will fuel it. She’s either looking for validation or a fight. Don’t give her either and she will get bored.

Why are you expected to respond?

@ultracynic

No more politics please, it’s too depressing

Yes, I think that’s a tactful way of asking her to stop.

I get that you don't want to ignore her because she's had a difficult time. Respond without engaging in the topic. How are you, what are you doing today, have you watched xxx, etc.

If this was my friend I'd be concerned she's stopped living, sounds like she's just existing with no plan and nothing to look forward to? When you see her ask how she's hoping her life will go and help her formulate a plan.

She sounds depressed. I would ask her to stop (politely) and stop responding to any similar memes/videos/links.

Yep I'm male and have a friend/someone I worked with who was sending lots of "joke" porn and off colour "jokes".. pathetic. I just didn't respond and eventually he stopped... just delete without looking

So she’s failing at life, no job, no home, and blames Labour?

What a twat.

You sound like you care about her, so I’d guess that she’s normally a lovely, sensible person and this might just be her way of having human contact with someone other than her dad. Her life probably isn’t the most exciting it has ever been right now, so she has nothing to talk to you about and probably recognises that she can’t either moan about her lot, or keep sending messages along the lines of ‘I’ve just had a cup of tea’ or ‘I think the grass needs cutting’ She sounds a bit lost and her dislike of Starmer is the only place she can find to channel her passions.

I think I’d completely ignore the political content and whenever you can, send her things like nice scenery, books you’ve read, recipes etc. Send her things first. Ask her if she wants to cook the same recipe with you on FaceTime and see what you both think. Or start an on line book club of two. Or watch a series together over the phone with a glass of something so you can talk about the plot etc.

These.memes say.more about the people sending them. I always think they vote reform.