It has long been said that discussions of religion and
politics have no place in polite conversation. That advice obviously does not apply
to Facebook. With a neck and neck presidential election coming down to the wire,
status updates attacking both candidates have increased in frequency.
What do people who post these things expect to happen?
Change minds?
Maybe. According to this article by Will Oremus in Slate, a
Pew Internet survey “found that nearly half of Democrats who use social
networking sites say those sites are important to them in keeping up with
political news. About one in three Republican social-network users say the same.”
“Here’s the shocker: A few people even report changing their
minds about an issue based on their friends’ political posts. They’re in the
minority, to be sure: just 16 percent overall. Among self-described liberals,
though, that number rises to 24 percent. And 39 percent of liberals say that political
posts have motivated them to get more involved in an issue. (The figure is 24
percent for conservatives and 21 percent for moderates.)”
Great! As if these people needed further encouragement.
With friends like these…
You can find this month’s column here.
