Right now, we are in the thick of it. Political Debates, the advertisements, the newspapers and now, our social media news feeds. I have been seeing more and more pleas from my friends on Facebook about unfriending/ deleting people from their Facebook accounts because of "over the top" political rants being posted online. While I am a firm believer in free speech, I am also a firm believer in respect for other's feelings and opinions. I have seen so many hateful statements come across my own newsfeed that it caused me to want to write about it! I personally try to stay very neutral on Facebook. I have so many friends, acquaintances and even clients that I am connected with on Facebook- and just as they are all very different people, one can assume that they may also have varying political views. Particularly, if you are using Facebook for business, you want to stay as neutral as possible. Posting politcal rants on your Fan Page or Personal Page with customers on it, may cause a sense of disconnect for people just based on the fact that they don't agree with you politically. DickensonInteractive.com posted a great article back in March 2012 about this very subject and suggests: Top 5 Reasons Why You Should Not Post About Politics On Facebook. I love his #5 Reason: " There’s enough politics in the media. One of the reasons I use Facebook is to laugh, have fun and converse with my friends and family. I don’t use it to get worked up or stressed out over something I see that I disagree with. There’s enough political coverage in the mainstream media. More than enough. Keep it there and leave the politics to the pundits." What do you think?
3 Comments
10/7/2012 12:19:27 am
I heartily agree Rebecca. I've been unsubscribing from newsfeeds right and left over the past month or two ... all because of political rants. I see absolutely nothing wrong with people making comments about who they want to vote for in the upcoming election. I see nothing wrong with people posting "positive" comments about their religious beliefs, and or their views about life in general, because that's a part of life and often a part of building relationships and getting to know people on Facebook. What I do take issue with is the nastiness that has become so prevalent on Facebook. Sometimes the comments and posts are really offensive, and not something I want in my newsfeed. It's enough that I have to deal with the unending telephone calls and the slanted/mud-slinging ads (for BOTH parties) on TV for the next month or so, I absolutely don't want to have to deal with the same rhetoric on Facebook. It's called social media for a reason, and all of this nastiness is NOT social.
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10/7/2012 12:53:00 am
Ha! I wrote a similar post a couple of weeks ago. My News feed was greatly improved by unsubscribing from a few people. It is definitely not what I want to see on Facebook. I am friends with a lot of business colleagues and just don't want to share or see politics there.
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10/9/2012 01:06:45 am
Amen! To be honest, I am starting to despise Facebook. I don't visit it much any more. I check in with my friends and family, and most of the time don't even bother to scan my news feed etc. Why? Because it's full of crap. There are those who post "photo quote" after "photo quote" because they read that gets better engagement somewhere. Those that do nothing but push their blog posts and push their teleclasses. There are those who do nothing but self promote, and those who only ever share links ... I'm finding it harder and harder to actually find posts that aren't marketing and it's bothersome in a big way. The political rants, tirades, and bullying don't make it any better.
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Rebecca Johnson is a Freelance Digital Media Specialist, Social Media and marketing strategist. She uses her creativity, and marketing skills, along with her business ownership experience to assist small and medium sized businesses with their online marketing. Rebecca owns with her husband, Get Networking Now!, Rebecca Johnson Consulting and My Social Media Pro. Archives
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