Post date: Oct 28, 2016 7:20:56 PM
Admit it: even the best families have a few rogues when it comes to politics. Few families are all Red or all Blue. The upcoming Thanksgiving holiday once meant juggling seats so that two argumentative cousins or Uncles were not seated next to each other where they could dominate the conversation, arguing about politics. Generations of children learned that it wasn’t polite to discuss politics, religion, or family income in public. However, with the emergence of social media, YouTube, and the 24/7 news cycle, elections have taken over our Facebook walls and Twitter feeds.
President Obama’s tech-savvy young team changed the rules of the game with the 2008 election, using Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube to reach younger voters. What had been the traditional stuff for newspaper ads, television ads, and printed flyers was suddenly available online, and it took on a more interactive feel. Now, Uncle Fred and Uncle Jim can argue about politics, football and “those immigrants” on Facebook and Twitter.
So it comes as no surprise that Time magazine just released an article summarizing a recent poll done by the folks at Pew Research that finds that many people (37%) are just worn out by political discussions online, compared to 20% who feel good about them. That leaves a lot of people undecided or confused or having mixed emotions.
Other findings show the way our polarization now extends to social media, with Pew reporting
· most of us only follow the politicians we support (66% of users)
· the vast majority of us ignore posts from friends who we disagree with (84%)
· most of us feel that people post comments that they’d never dare to say face to face (84%)
· many people refrain from speaking our minds out of fear (64%)
· very few of us change our minds because of something we see on social media (20%).
On a more positive note, about half of us see a range of beliefs on our feeds on Facebook and at least forty percent do on Twitter. According to the article, “Four out of five people also believe social media has helped people get involved in what they believe in, and three out of four feel the platforms help bring new voices into the discussion.”
What has led to this situation? As more of us have smartphones and tablets, we are becoming increasingly following the 24/7 news cycle, with built-in news apps plus the information being posted by major newspapers and organizations online. We are awash in information and yet many people rely on less than credible websites for news—websites that have obvious biases and slant stories to their own audience. Whether you go to the Onion, Fox News, MSNBC, Stephen Colbert, your hometown paper, or The Washington Post, we tend to see OUR source as correct, factual and reliable.
In addition, we now rely more and more on technology to communicate with each other. We don’t hang out on the front porch, watching our neighbors walk by and stop for conversation and a cool tall glass of ice tea or lemonade. Instead, we sit in our comfy chair or on the couch, or at our desk and click on Netflix while we use the iPad to check in on Facebook. Having recently retired, I miss my work friends and like to see what they are up to on Facebook. I used to tease those I knew who had taken early retirement, because they had more of a presence on social media than I did, juggling a demanding job that required a lot of work done after hours. Now that I am retired, I can see the potential pitfalls of having more free time! However, I also volunteered to help my local Democrats promote events on social media, so I have been focusing energy there.
So, what can we do? We’ve become accustomed to responding to news updates by posting a tweet or status update, or simply retweeting or liking and sharing another person’s post. The answer is a paradox, simple and complicated: the election will end, but without a doubt, the political postings will continue for some time. We need to step back, look at our own behavior, and recognize the damage done by postings that are extremely personal, negative, and judgmental. Calling each other names is not helpful. Belittling each other’s candidates ultimately leads us nowhere, but reaching for the Tums in our drawer. We need to become mindful: aware, conscious, and empathetic.
Think of the golden rule: someone will lose and someone will win. Do we want to reclaim those old friends who stopped reading our posts? Will some family members who blocked Uncle Fred and Uncle Tom for their red/blue rants decide to show up at the next family dinner? How do we want others to treat us?
So, yes, we have freedom of speech, but not freedom to hurt others. Stick to the facts. Be constructive. Encourage people to vote. Be positive about your candidate, pointing out specific examples. Post more selectively and fewer times to increase the mental health of everyone. It’s going to be tough, but I am going to try! Not to trivialize the context of his comments, but as Rodney King once asked, “Can’t we all just get along?” We have MORE in common than we have differences: we want better lives for our children and grandchildren, with good education and jobs, leisure time to enjoy life, and friends and family.
In the meantime, have you seen that cute puppy meets monkey video, or how about pictures of Susie’s new grandchild?
Source
http://time.com/4545047/pew-politics-social-media/?xid=newsletter-brief