# have you lost any Facebook "friends" as a result of this crazy contentious political season? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [August 30, 2016, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-lost-any-facebook-friends-as-a-result-of-this-crazy-contentious-political-season/764467 "2016-08-30T06:59:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![glowacks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/glowacks/32/5548_2.png) [@glowacks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glowacks)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2016, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-lost-any-facebook-friends-as-a-result-of-this-crazy-contentious-political-season/764467/61 "2016-08-31T02:33:31Z")
I had already unfriended all the right-wing lunatics I was ever “friends” with well before this election campaign started. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2016, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-lost-any-facebook-friends-as-a-result-of-this-crazy-contentious-political-season/764467/62 "2016-08-31T03:26:44Z")
If anything, this election has \*unified \* some people. Liberals and conservatives alike are appalled by Trump. ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2016, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-lost-any-facebook-friends-as-a-result-of-this-crazy-contentious-political-season/764467/63 "2016-08-31T05:25:31Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > I have one friend who is on “my side” (she’s a liberal as am I) but every. little. thing. sends her in a huge Facebook tizzy about injustice. Shares and likes and re-posts all day long about the injustices du jour. > > I nearly un-followed her when Bernie was winding down his campaign because I was just tired of her constant posts of “THE SYSTEM IS RIGGED!! IT HAS FAILED US!! WE ARE DOOOOOOOOMED!!!” I made a funny comment during the DNC about how uncomfortable Bernie looked when Hillary was addressing him directly during her speech and my friend just went off on me. > > “Thankfully” she has moved on to some other aspect of her life that takes up all her mental time…which is good, because it’s so much healthier for her. She is taking care of her body and working on losing weight and I sincerely think that calming the fuck down about all of the injustice in the world will help her reduce her stress 100-fold and be more successful with her health goals. > > I only have a couple right-wing friends and they don’t bother me. Like someone else said I have made good use of the “Hide all from [crazy page]” so I can avoid some of the stuff they like and share. No biggie. > > Otherwise, Facebook is an echo chamber, politically. And a place for me to post about my dogs. Yeah, I have a friend I’ve known since 3rd grade on Facebook, and if not for that I’d have unfriended her because every. Goddamn. Post. Is sharing some smug as hell thing about LGBT issues or feminism or how bad racism is. Like, usually “virtue signalling” is an awful term that just means “I think liberals are stupid”, but I can’t think of a better description for it other than that. It’s Buzzfeed/Lizzie the Lezzie/whatever clickbait content specifically curated to signal to all your friends how progressive and enlightened you are by sharing it. Like, I don’t even disagree with her or the posts on 98% of the issues, but there’s a level that borders on incessant. At least she started sharing those pretty, snappily edited videos of people making food too now. My right wing friends are mostly super quiet about it. I did have one a while ago who was really judgmental and vocal, but she unfriended me for whatever reason even though I almost never post politics, probably one of those traditional yearly “friend purges” some people like to do. ---
**Author:** ![Sputnikkk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Sputnikkk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sputnikkk)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2016, 8:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-lost-any-facebook-friends-as-a-result-of-this-crazy-contentious-political-season/764467/64 "2016-08-31T08:59:23Z")
I think all of my friends lean left. I don’t think any are republican. If anyone has unfriended me it would be more because they don’t want to see anything political at all, and I post a lot of News stories that I find interesting. They only want to see cute funny goats and kittens playing, not the news story about the naked Trump statues. So some might have unfriended me over that. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2016, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-lost-any-facebook-friends-as-a-result-of-this-crazy-contentious-political-season/764467/65 "2016-08-31T11:52:07Z")
> [@foolsguinea](#): > > I have cousins who have a very caricatured idea of socialism is. I just avoid Facebook. Not necessarily yours, but such posters often have plenty of time to sit home and bash socialism because they’re on Social Security or disability. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2016, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-lost-any-facebook-friends-as-a-result-of-this-crazy-contentious-political-season/764467/66 "2016-08-31T14:23:26Z")
> [@Urbanredneck](#): > > The other whos a major feminist and thinks Hillary is the dream. She said the night of Hillary’s nomination her and her daughter held hands and cried with tears of joy. Wait, why would you consider dropping her for that? There must be something else? Or is just that she likes her candidate a lot? > [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > Not necessarily yours, but such posters often have plenty of time to sit home and bash socialism because they’re on Social Security or disability. > > :rolleyes: To be fair, neither Social Security or long term disability are “Socialism”. They are simply parts of the welfare state, not a change in the ownership of the means of production. ---
**Author:** ![yellowjacketcoder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/4bbf92/32.png) [@yellowjacketcoder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellowjacketcoder)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2016, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-lost-any-facebook-friends-as-a-result-of-this-crazy-contentious-political-season/764467/67 "2016-08-31T14:40:17Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > I’ve unfollowed a few simply because they never shut up, even if I largely agree with their position. This extends even outside of politics for me. For example, I had one friend that posted about how her kid’s teacher yelled at her kid. She went full mama-rage, which I can get behind. But when you’re up to post #762 about how every adult in the school (including the janitor) abuses your children on a regular basis, it becomes obvious that you’re a one-trick pony with munchausen by proxy syndrome. It’s the same with the politics post. It’s great that you’re passionate, but going over the top is just annoying everyone else. I rather like the reasonable disagreements I can have with people on the issues. > [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > Facebook being the ultimate echo chamber, I am surprised that many users see conflicting posts except with things like family members. For me at least, I’m facebook friends with a wide assortment of people. Like, I have a lot of friends from high school, which has very little overlap with friends from college, which has very little overlap with friends from work, which has very little overlap with friends from my volunteer organizations, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maggie_the_Ocelot)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2016, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-lost-any-facebook-friends-as-a-result-of-this-crazy-contentious-political-season/764467/68 "2016-08-31T15:15:03Z")
I’ve hidden one friend, a Bernie-or-bust’er. I like Bernie fine, even voted for him in the primaries, but he was posting just nasty nasty misogynist stuff about Hillary, and I just did not want to hear it - every post made me think less and less of him. I have no idea whether or not he’s stopped, but I doubt it. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2016, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-lost-any-facebook-friends-as-a-result-of-this-crazy-contentious-political-season/764467/69 "2016-08-31T15:43:01Z")
> [@octopus](#): > > Well if you are monotheistic religion A you can’t be friends with a person who is monotheistic religion B? You are each wrong and condemned to Hell or some other punishment according to the other. Real world isn’t quite so black and white. If I’m an absolutist who believes you’re a very nice person who is going to hell for not saying the right incantation, we can still be friends. In fact I have an obligation to try to save you. If I’m an absolutist who believes that your religion does something awful in the real world such as killing babies, then I don’t see how I can be sincere in my beliefs and still be friends with you. Yet I see people doing this all the time, so all I can conclude is that my dog photos are so magnificent that it trumps our differences over the whole baby-killing thing. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2016, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-lost-any-facebook-friends-as-a-result-of-this-crazy-contentious-political-season/764467/70 "2016-08-31T17:14:24Z")
> [@ISiddiqui](#): > > To be fair, neither Social Security or long term disability are “Socialism”. They are simply parts of the welfare state, not a change in the ownership of the means of production. Are regular pensions _parts of the welfare state_? No- then why is a government pension for all worker s “welfare state”? ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2016, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-lost-any-facebook-friends-as-a-result-of-this-crazy-contentious-political-season/764467/71 "2016-08-31T17:15:50Z")
> [@Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](#): > > I’ve hidden one friend, a Bernie-or-bust’er. I like Bernie fine, even voted for him in the primaries, but he was posting just nasty nasty misogynist stuff about Hillary, and I just did not want to hear it - every post made me think less and less of him. I have no idea whether or not he’s stopped, but I doubt it. Yeah. Hard to believe that such “Progressives” happily swallow and regurgitate Karl Roves lies. ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2016, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-lost-any-facebook-friends-as-a-result-of-this-crazy-contentious-political-season/764467/72 "2016-08-31T18:34:07Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Are regular pensions _parts of the welfare state_? Um… yes. If the government is provided them for the welfare of its citizens. > **[Welfare state](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welfare_state)** > > A welfare state is a form of government in which the state (or a well-established network of social institutions) protects and promotes the economic and social well-being of its citizens, based upon the principles of equal opportunity, equitable distribution of wealth, and public responsibility for citizens unable to avail themselves of the minimal provisions for a good life. > There is substantial variability in the form and trajectory of the welfare state across countries and regions. All wel... ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2016, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-lost-any-facebook-friends-as-a-result-of-this-crazy-contentious-political-season/764467/73 "2016-08-31T18:37:30Z")
> [@ISiddiqui](#): > > Um… yes. If the government is provided them for the welfare of its citizens. > > [Welfare state - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welfare_state) \*The welfare state is a concept of government in which the state plays a key role in the protection and promotion of the social and economic well-being of its citizens. It is based on the principles of equality of opportunity, equitable distribution of wealth, and public responsibility for those unable to avail themselves of the minimal provisions for a good life… Modern welfare states include Germany, France, the Netherlands,[3] as well as the Nordic countries, such as Iceland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and Finland[4] which employ a system known as the Nordic model.\* So altho a pay out for all senior citizens may well be, a pension, where you pay in and get out, does not appear to be, and the USA is not a Welfare state. ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2016, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-lost-any-facebook-friends-as-a-result-of-this-crazy-contentious-political-season/764467/74 "2016-08-31T18:46:43Z")
Later on… _The United States of America developed a limited welfare state in the 1930s._ Social Security being part of that limited welfare state. Regardless… it ain’t socialism. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2016, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-lost-any-facebook-friends-as-a-result-of-this-crazy-contentious-political-season/764467/75 "2016-08-31T20:32:13Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Yeah. Hard to believe that such “Progressives” happily swallow and regurgitate Karl Roves lies. Have one of those too. Often I wonder about just how ‘progressive’ he is/was. Hiding behind Bernie while posting Breitbart with 2-3 word comments about how Bernie was a the better choice just rings hollow… ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2016, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-lost-any-facebook-friends-as-a-result-of-this-crazy-contentious-political-season/764467/76 "2016-09-01T15:14:35Z")
I am friends with a number of clients and prominent people in my field who I might be asking for a job one day, so I typically only post light-hearted political stuff nowadays if at all. I do comment on other people’s posts when they need correcting, though. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2016, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-lost-any-facebook-friends-as-a-result-of-this-crazy-contentious-political-season/764467/77 "2016-09-01T15:17:45Z")
I will say that if I _don’t_ lose some of these people as friends, I’m not doing my job well enough. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2016, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-lost-any-facebook-friends-as-a-result-of-this-crazy-contentious-political-season/764467/78 "2016-09-01T16:11:39Z")
Not that I’m aware of. But every election cycle I’m reminded that my kids don’t vote. For some reason they think it’s virtuous not to care about politics, even though who gets into office affects most aspects of their lives. It’s doubly irritating because I spent a career in the military defending the rights that they don’t exercise. ---
**Author:** ![MeanJoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanjoe/32/5693_2.png) [@MeanJoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanJoe)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2016, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-lost-any-facebook-friends-as-a-result-of-this-crazy-contentious-political-season/764467/79 "2016-09-01T16:25:19Z")
This election cycle I have intentionally avoided posting political items on Facebook. That’s not to say I’m 100% politics free in my posts but I’m very close to it. The last election cycle, and in the intervening few years after, I did lose on of my oldest and closest friends over political arguments. He had been like a brother from another mother for over 30 years of my life. It hurts, a lot, to lose that friendship. I think about it all the time. So to prevent any further damage to other friendships, I simply avoid political discussions all-together on social media. I do use tools to minimize what I do see from the few right-wing friends and family members who are Friends on Facebook. I block specific Facebook pages they routinely share or like, and in some cases I’ve “Unfollowed” some family members since 99% of what they post are hateful, racist right-wing garbage. It isn’t to avoid seeing something that is offensive to me, it is a preventative measure to limit my temptation to engage them on whatever meme/post/news post they make. There are so many times I want to engage my father, or my mother-in-law, on the bullshit they post/share but I do know it’ll not end well. They won’t change their minds at their age and it’ll just drive rifts in relationships and I do not want that. MeanJoe ---
**Author:** ![sinjin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@sinjin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sinjin)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2016, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-lost-any-facebook-friends-as-a-result-of-this-crazy-contentious-political-season/764467/80 "2016-09-01T19:10:29Z")
One former “friend” defriended me this week. She posted an article by some minister who asserted that Trump was a better Christian than Hillary. I posted: “Do you really believe Trump is a better Christian than Hillary?” ZAP no longer friends. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-lost-any-facebook-friends-as-a-result-of-this-crazy-contentious-political-season/764467.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-lost-any-facebook-friends-as-a-result-of-this-crazy-contentious-political-season/764467.md?page=5)