Instead, I immersed myself in my offline and less news-focused life. I can’t escape completely, nor do I want to. The idea isn’t to ignore big events, but to find the best forum for navigating them, and give grace to others to make that decision, too, even if it means they don’t have the same ribbon on their profile pic at the same time you do.

For me that means phone conversations with friends, in-person rant sessions about the president’s statements, taking my kids out with other moms, doing an hour or two of radio where I can express myself beyond 140 characters, and visiting my personal Facebook page, which I keep pretty non-political and personal.

In those places, I have edifying conversations about tough issues. In those places, I make connections with people who think differently than I do. In those places, I talk to friends who know me by much more than my tribal signifiers, and I know them, too.