Rick's Facebook Page

I guess you aren't familiar with Steves' book "Travel as a Political Act"? Or any of his other politically oriented shows/writings?

I haven't been on the fb page( but will go look now) but really whats the big deal , Rick is a grown man.. with opinions.. and if you put out your opinions on a public arena then be prepared to deal with any fall out and not cry about it.

I am sure Rick is not upset by it .. as I said,, hes a smart enough man and can take care of himself.

Perhaps you are being overly sensitive.

And that's one more reason why I don't "do" FB :-)

well Chani,, if you did ,, you would see , as I did,, that it wasn't that bad.. I guess I am not seeing the problem alex is.. I saw a thread where Rick posted a picture of some camel heads in a market place ( being sold as meat I presume) and some vegans objected.. but really,, most people were not offended and Rick himself replied quite properly..

I love fb .. I can chat with friends and family that live far away.. and see photos they post etc.. Facebook is not what you think it is.. FORUMS like this one and others are far far nastier.. on fb you only talk to your FRIENDS and if they bother you.. you "unfriend " them,, something you can't do on forums.. lol

Not really sensitive just amazed at some of the posts there. I think it was the link he had for a radio spot for Joanna Lumley. Some troll there was pretty nasty with his political stuff. I am not offended, but I am surprised at how far afield from travel this can go. :-) Life goes on.

Ha, you should have seen the posts when the film was posted about going to the Turkish circumcision party. Talk about excited people. Hundreds and hundreds of them! Maybe 1000's.

The more clicks, the more active, the more prominent a FB page becomes, and that means the posts are reaching more people. It doesn't matter if it is good or bad, that is how social media works. Controversy sells, no matter what the product is and not just on FB.

Pretty sure Rick has some saavy media types working for him that think and discuss about what is going to get posted and what the reaction will be. Or do you think Rick sits down every night and decides himself which photos and snippets of films and books he will post the next day?

Oh Ms Jo - I remember that circumcision one - wow - people went nuts with the comments! Of course with fb, the most benign thing will bring out negative comments...imagine a hot button topic - sometimes I read the comments just for amusement...

Jo, Hahahhahhaha!!! I just got an image of Rick sitting up late at night going over his FB page. Yep controversy does make for a draw. Thanks.

I like Facebook for keeping up with old friends but I try to keep the political discussion down to whether the Chargers will be any good this year and why.

Chani, I don't Facebook either. Maybe someday when I get organized enough.

Alex, Some of that political ranting used to spill over from Rick's Facebook page onto here at this forum. I'm talking about a couple of people who came here as posters and would rant about Rick's political views which differed from their own. Also a big gun controversy would get started up here ever so often in the good old days (about 2 years ago). Also, there used to be one poster here on this website who accused others of being trolls or lying about having any travel experience. He had a new suspect every 6 months. He also used to correct people about going "off topic" on threads. He is gone now, as well as the gun guy. My point is, those who rant and rave will be here, or on Facebook for awhile, then they are gone, of their own accord.

I find Rick's political views refreshing, and admire his "thinking outside of the box" style. In other words, most people just go along, accepting whatever the mainstream views are of things. Rick thinks for himself, is extremely intelligent, and questions conventional ideas. It's no wonder there are people that go ballistic, because they have a "set" view of the world and of politics, and they are, quite obviously, not open to any other viewpoint.

His blog posts would often bring out the conservatives. They would berate him over and over for his political views and swear that they would never take one of his tours declaring him anti American and worse. I like that his business does well enough that he can ignore the trolls and stick to his beliefs. And, yes in the ame way that I choose not to patronize some businesses these trolls can do the same. I don't feel the need to go on blog sites of the conservative business owners and berate them. I just don't buy.

Pam

@Rebecca.
Well put and I agree with you. It is amazing how ballistic some people go on his page. Well, its the season for fun and forgiveness so I'm in the mellow zone. I do agree with most all of Rick's political views and I think that people who don't can go over to the fuddy-duddy's at Fodors. Oops...well Happy Holidays one and all...life goes on. (;-)
@Pamela...Very good and I agree with you too.

@Alex
Happy Holidays to you, too! Yes, time to be of good cheer. Don't let the Grinches get you down! ;)
@Pamela
Well said.

Recalling the many nasty, angry, and sometimes hateful comments in Helpline of ages past, this seems a most civil time, with thoughtful, mostly reasoned comments.

I do not recall the gun guy, but do remember that the Helpline seemed to be much more politically driven and a bit snippy in the years past. Seemed to get stirred up around national presidential elections, and really when the book Travel as a Political Act came out. Things seem much more kind and civil now on the Helpline with minor slips here and there. To each their own!

Larry and Maryam, the tone of civility here now is due to the Webmaster's good work. He is really good at deleting hurtful or angry comments and putting a stop to arguments that get started. He also sends a private message to people sometimes, I believe, to ask them to be more civil and to remind them to read the rules and adhere to them. He's very good at what he does. If you want to fully appreciate what an excellent job he does, just go briefly to other websites and see what a mess some of them are with unlimited insults and arguements. But don't stay long over there, come back here, of course. :)

Rebecca, then I am very thankful to the Webmaster!

However, I think I would rather hear that he did not have to work quite so hard at keeping this a civil forum (meaning folks chose to be civil without too much needed interference). I do really enjoy reading the posts, and have formed a mental image of some regulars (all lovely, of course!).