Why do people feel the need to spew their political opinions in their facebook status updates? I mean, facebook is not exactly a great forum for a meaningful exchange of reasoned positions (soundbites sure do fit nicely though).
Let’s face it, most people are rather spectacularly ill-informed. I have a shitload of facebook “friends”. I can think of maybe twenty whose opinions of anything more weighty than OPI’s spring line are worthy of consideration. I’ve hidden about 40 people’s status updates this week, because the only thing in the world I care less about than their kids’ football games is who they’re voting for.
It’s facebook, people. No minds are being changed here. All you accomplish with your screeching is to annoy, alienate, and antagonize approximately half of your “friends”.
I have a facebook friend who has some retarded political ideas, he likes to post totally nonsense crap then turn off replies so people cant call him on it…I dont even read his shit anymore
Is this really any different from political bumper stickers or campaign signs in the yard? I really doubt those are changing any opinions either (ok, I admit to having refused to vote for someone because they had so many annoying signs all over town – they changed my mind in the wrong direction).
I have never posted a political opinion on Facebook, and I don’t pay much attention when others do, but I don’t see what’s different or new about this.
What sort of voting are they doing in January of all times of the year? I have to wonder if these are the same people who would start posting up signs everywhere for 2012 right after the 2008 election.
It may not actually change minds, but I think it’s sometimes sort of a publicity/awareness thing. Like if someone’s name or some issue is everywhere, people know about it and it seems like a legit, important thing rather than just some little niche issue or a long-shot candidate.
That said, I really don’t care much for political opinions on facebook either, most of the time. Though I don’t notice them as much when they’re opinions I share, to be honest. I guess it’s the opinions themselves that annoy me more than the expression thereof. What really annoys me is religious facebooking. And militant atheists who like to post about how stupid and brainwashed religious people are annoy me just as much as people who like to post about how God is GOOD five times a day and send me invitations to join “keep prayer in schools” and so on.
People vote on all kinds of things, not just electing people for office. Right now we’re voting on whether to raise the corporate minimum tax from $10 a year to $150 a year and a tax increase for people that make over $250,000 a year. It’s a big ticket item right now. I have my ballot I just need to mail it in.
Massachusetts Senatorial election, to fill Ted Kennedy’s seat. It’s a huge deal, and I have lots of friends posting their political views on both sides. Hey, it’s a social networking site, people are social networking. If someone is over the top, I just hide their posts until after the election.
