Politics on social media

[Diamond93]

Why do some people feel the need to go on and on and shove their political beliefs into other people’s faces via social media? Does it honestly even solve anything or change people’s minds? I don’t feel like it does based on what I’ve seen of both other people and myself. I feel like it only makes people even angrier and more closed off to hearing the other side of things. Even if these people I follow are saying things I do agree with, I still just don’t feel like broadcasting their political beliefs to others in such sarcastic, in-your-face, insulting ways changes anything. Why is it that when we address the opposition we have to be so mean and sarcastic about it all too? How can people expect the other side to listen when all they’re doing is insulting one another and acting juvenile with their name-calling and finger-pointing and talking in absolutes? Sometimes I feel like maybe I should just unfollow anything political on social media because people are so nasty and immature about everything. But at the same time, I don’t want it to appear as if I don’t stand for anything. I’m conflicted on what to do. What do you guys think? Any thoughts?

 

[LaughingBoy1503]

Because people are braver behind a computer screen it makes them be more confrontational that they would be in person. Not many people cuss someone out for a simple disagreement yet it is a everyday thing online. Politics gets people heated.

I saw a meme recently… “social media has made too many of you comfortable with be disrespectful and not getting punched in the mouth for it”

Lots of Truth in that meme. When I feel myself wanting to get confrontational online I just tell myself that it’s not worth the energy and when I want to get insulting, I just try to imagine all the people who probably could not even beat up my mother acting big and tough online and I can honestly say I don’t want to be comparable to those folks in any way. It’s pathetic and sad.

 

[Tis_Bearself]

Why do some people feel the need to go on and on and shove their political beliefs into other people’s faces via social media?

Your guess is as good as mine, because it seems to be a complete waste of time and energy to me as well.

I know some of my friends do it as a venting exercise because they say they don’t meet people in their actual community who share their politics, so they go on social media to say what they really think and also to talk with like-minded people.

There are some other people who just like to talk about politics in the same way someone else might enjoy talking about football or their dog, so the political person will post about politics all day while other people post all day about football or about their dog.

There’s also a group of people whose own lives are a mess or who have some kind of mental issue and get really into politics in order to have something to blame their problems on or just have a distraction from their own problems. It’s easier to sit around fantasizing about a big political conspiracy holding you back, than it is to actually take responsibility for fixing your own life.

Does it honestly even solve anything or change people’s minds?

Nope. But as I said above, I don’t think that’s the point of why people are posting.

I “hide” or “snooze” most political posts on social media as being boring, stupid, obvious and “who cares”.

By the way, it isn’t important to be “standing for anything” on social media. Social media is entertainment, fluff, and a way of keeping in touch with friends or family because you’re not going to be calling up 200 people by phone every week, nobody has time for that. It’s not essential to life and it’s not required that your social media display all your political positions. Many people I know including my husband when he was alive don’t even have social media accounts.

If somebody tries to involve you in some political discussion that you don’t want to be in, it’s perfectly fine to just say “I like pie” and block them.

 

[TheLittleLady]

Unless you are a celebrity of some sort, your social media is how you communicate with your friends and family. Some people are very “tribal”, so, they only foster friendships with people of the same beliefs. When they post political things it is a chance for their friends to all go “YEAH” and talk about how bad/ignorant/stupid their enemies are. These posts are also a chance to weed any dissenters out of their friends/followers.

 

[Allegra]

For some people, politics are their religion and they feel obligated to evangelize. A lot of people truly believe that if only we could get the perfect government system, it would solve all the injustices in the world.

 

[Tis_Bearself]

Those people are just more proof that PT Barnum was right.

 

[Vanny]

I feel exactly as you do and honestly I have sometimes thought about deactivating my FB account.
I have FB friends and relatives that are both very liberal and very conservative, some that are LGBTQ, etc.
I am always very careful about what I post as I want to be sensitive to others even if I don’t agree, but like you I am just astounded at what I see posted on social media. I have stayed away from politics but, like you, sometimes I feel like it looks like I don’t stand for anything. I don’t know what the answer is. I’ve been spending a lot less time on FB these days.