February 24, 2016

Facebook Is Still Intolerant Toward the Emotionally Stunted

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When I took German in high school, our go-to reaction for anything our teacher asked us was “Sehr interessant”—mainly because none of us knew enough German to say much of anything else. In this, we were much like Facebook, which allows you to respond to posts only by liking them. Today, though, Facebook’s command of emotional language got a big upgrade. Check out all the new responses:

That’s all fine, but what happened to “interesting”? Shouldn’t there be at least one icon that acts as a recommendation for a post without requiring you to commit to it one way or the other? Some of us are uncomfortable wearing our hearts on our sleeves, after all. I demand equal time for the emotionally stunted.

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A full one-third of our annual fundraising comes in this month alone. That’s risky, because a strong December means our newsroom is on the beat and reporting at full strength—but a weak one means budget cuts and hard choices ahead.

With only days left until December 31, we've raised about half of our $400,000 goal—but we need a huge surge in reader support to close the remaining gap. Whether you've given before or this is your first time, your contribution right now matters.

Managing an independent, nonprofit newsroom is staggeringly hard. There’s no cushion in our budget—no backup revenue, no corporate safety net. We can’t afford to fall short, and we can’t rely on corporations or deep-pocketed interests to fund the fierce, investigative journalism Mother Jones exists to do. That’s why we need you right now. Please chip in to help close the gap.

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