Wednesday, June 06, 2012

Politics a Key Factor for Facebook Unfriends

From Slate

Spouting off about political issues on Facebook and other social sites may be bad for your friend count, according to a new study released Monday by the Pew Internet & American Life Project.

Eighteen percent of the 2,253 adults surveyed by Pew said they had blocked, unfriended, or hidden a friend on a social network over a political post. It isn’t hard to see why: The Pew survey found that because people who post about politics tend to be very liberal or very conservative, the offending posts are more likely to be out of line with other people’s views. Indeed, only one in four users surveyed by Pew said they "usually" or "always" agree with their friends’ political posts; 73 percent said they only sometimes or never do.

Though most people—roughly two in three—take no action over political posts they disagree with, some 28 percent said they counter with a comment or competing post, another behavior the Pew survey said leads to friends going their own way.

My experience says that this is very true.

First of all, you can’t please everyone. Second, the truth hurts or stings the ego. Third, I am not after social desirability or about “friend count” or after "likes". I can say stupid abstract emotional themes, which isn't really me, or popular positions based on economic nonsense, just to get the "likes". But I am after speaking the truth from where I see it or where I stand. Lastly, for many politics IS a religion.

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