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Covid

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Original poster

How would you feel if a friend went on freedom marches and posted multiple times a day on FB about vaccines, etc?

102 replies

Invasionofthegutsnatchers · 29/08/2021 04:56

Childhood friend of mine lost her job due to covid and has chosen not to be vaccinated as she feels it is unsafe and untested. She fears the government have pushed the vaccines on to people who don't need it in order to gain control of the masses. Why vaccinate healthy children etc.

I disagree, am fully vaccinated and am concerned with what seems to be an obsession she has with attending protests and sharing controversial posts on her feed. There is virtually nothing else on there.

My stance is that yes, the vaccines were accelerated for approval but also a lot of the research already existed due to flu vaccines coming first. Both my children are vaccinated for everything else that was offered to us.

She doesn't believe that vaccines have chips in them or Bill Gates is the lizard master or any of that nonsense but she is clearly unhappy and spending a lot of time online with people who seem to have unconventional views.

OP posts:

GiantHaystacks2021 · 29/08/2021 05:12

I have a friend like this.
She's always posting anti covid vax stuff on FB. She puts at least 5 posts a day about it on FB.
I think underneath it all, the reason she's anti vax is because she's doctor avoidant due to her morbid obesity.
Her fb posts make her look crazy and as if she has no life.

Guineapigbridge · 29/08/2021 05:17

I lose respect for people like this tbh.

Guineapigbridge · 29/08/2021 05:19

A bit of skepticism is a good thing though, because it shows a healthy willingness to think about things.

Original poster

Invasionofthegutsnatchers · 29/08/2021 05:24

It's boring isn't it? My friend's videos of the freedom marches she goes on are just people hanging around filming each other. Dh and the kids and I were in London as well on the same day seeing a show and some sights and we had a lot more fun.

She has posted recently that if people choose not to rise up and protest, their conscience won't be clear further down the line. People need to wake up. The government has been planning to introduce vaccination passports for years as a means of control but covid was a convenient way to do it. I don't know what she thinks this control actually means and am afraid to ask. She says that the virus is such a low risk to healthy people, 99 percent survive etc but 1 percent of the population is a lot of people. References to Nazi Germany and this is how it all started back then etc.

She is so unhappy right now. My mum saw her recently at a family party and she was sad and withdrawn. I don't know how to help her.

OP posts:

Original poster

Invasionofthegutsnatchers · 29/08/2021 05:26

Oh I'm all for skepticism and critical thinking. I don't believe questioning things makes you a conspiracy theorist at all. I don't believe the government have handled the pandemic well in any way. But it's not healthy to focus on this to the exclusion of everything else.

OP posts:

fallfallfall · 29/08/2021 05:48

I just don’t follow people with hugely different perspectives to me.
Stay friends but only check their FB page weekly and only “like” stuff I like.
S

fallfallfall · 29/08/2021 05:48

Say hello occasionally if I spot them online.

OnlyFoolsnMothers · 29/08/2021 05:54

If a good friend I’d probably say it’s completely up to them whether to get the vaccine, don’t care what they think but she is getting obsessive in her “quest” and perhaps she should leave the internet and focus on something else

ScrumptiousBears · 29/08/2021 06:21

I have a friend on FB who is similar. Doesn't believe in the vaccine. Doesn't believe in Covid either. Thinks it's a massive conspiracy. Keeps sharing quotes calling everyone who does thick or a sheep etc etc. What confuses me massive though is his brother died of Covid. He was on a ventilator and didn't make it. So apparently "that did happen but it's not a bad as the government make out" 🙄

Geamhradh · 29/08/2021 07:57

@fallfallfall

Say hello occasionally if I spot them online.

This. I know my close friends well enough to know that I don't have conspiracy theorists or selfish fuckers among them. If it was a passing acquaintance I had to see in real life then a "hello" as I sent past. I'd probably just hide them on SM.

milkyaqua · 29/08/2021 07:58

I think this is a frightening and highly disruptive time, and many people who do not have strong inner moorings or good reasoning skills are being cut adrift from rational thought and facts, and getting caught up in these sm movements and campaigns, and that makes them feel in the know, in the 'in crowd', and gives them some sense of solidity in the solidarity. It's very sad.

EwaLilith · 29/08/2021 08:10

Lol

newnortherner111 · 29/08/2021 08:20

I doubt they would continue to be friend, however painful the end of the friendship could be.

Wellbythebloodyhell · 29/08/2021 08:28

Just unfollow her so you don't need to see her endless posts, she can still follow you and probably not notice you don't actually see what she posts anymore

alloalloallo · 29/08/2021 08:32

@ScrumptiousBears

Yes, same here.

She lost her father but still calls it a scamdemic and we’re all sheep who need to wake up and vaccines are a way to control us through vaccine passports.

She says just because he tested positive, it doesn’t mean he actually died of Covid, just died with it. I know he’d recently been diagnosed with early stage prostate cancer but I don’t think there were any other health issues

I’ve hidden her on FB.

I’ve seen her a few times and it is the first thing that comes up in conversation so I’ve made clear I don’t agree with her and don’t want to discuss it with her.

Seagullsstopit · 29/08/2021 08:33

I ignore and unfollow them
I wait for them to come to their senses, like friends peddling mlms, they normally come back to the real world eventually

ANameChangeAgain · 29/08/2021 08:35

How I felt would be irrelevant, its her page where she's entitled to share her crackpot thoughts. The fact that you don't agree is neither here nor there. If she is spreading false information then you can report if you want, but there are so many people out there who are self taught experts because they've read bonkers theories on Facebook groups, that there is really no point.
Just unfollow.

M0rT · 29/08/2021 08:44

When you say childhood friend do you mean lifelong friend or friends as children but not now?
Are you asking for advice on how to help her regain her happiness/optimism or just how to distance yourself without a drama?
I think it's a bit tone deaf to talk about seeing a show and the sights being more fun if she's lost her job.
Her options are probably stay at home or protest, not protest or lovely day out.
I don't agree with her stance at all but can see the appeal of a group certain of their goals if you are adrift and worried.

PearlyBird · 29/08/2021 08:47

Id feel bored. But I wouldnt want to fall out over it. Nobody had any preparation for this pandemic. I dont want to judge anybody for their fears. They could be fine in a year's time.

EarPlugAfficionado · 29/08/2021 08:48

@fallfallfall

I just don’t follow people with hugely different perspectives to me. Stay friends but only check their FB page weekly and only “like” stuff I like. S

It’s never healthy to be in an echo chamber.

Abraxan · 29/08/2021 08:53

I'd unfollow them or set them as acquaintance so can't see everything.
If not a close friend or family, where it would be difficult to unfriend, then id just I friend them.

Waferbiscuit · 29/08/2021 08:53

I find it baffling that adults choose to protest over the inconvenience of Covid too their lives over say Climate change which is a million times more important and impactful. It's just all about mememememe. In 10 years she'll be wishing her only worry was about wearing masks when she is dealing with food crises, mass migration and a big flood in her house.

Savannahnanana · 29/08/2021 08:53

I'd still be friends with her. People are allowed to have opinions you don't agree with. Some of my closest friends don't share my opinion on lots of things. I don't see the problem but if it's a problem for you, just don't be friends with her any more. Problem solved!

Almostwelsh · 29/08/2021 08:57

I would just ignore it and unfollow any social media stuff I don't want to see. I wouldn't confront them or engage in conversation about it. You are unlikely to change anyone's mind. I wouldn't do anything drastic like ending the friendship. We don't have to agree on everything as friends and if their activism is due to other issues they might need a friend.

Heruka · 29/08/2021 08:57

I have a couple of friends like this. I respect that there are some valid concerns, and their right not to be vaccinated. I don’t share many of the conclusions they draw though, so make different choices, happy to talk to them about it though.

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