Facebook is a war zone right now and I’m pretty sure it’s going to remain that way until Election Day. Despite what anyone says, the drama is coming from supporters of both candidates. No matter how hard you try, you are not going to convince anyone to support your candidate during a Facebook debate; you’re just not. If anything, you are going to lose a friend or anger a relative.
Facebook is the world’s worst medium to have a debate on. You can’t tell tone, you’re going to have random people jump in and cause side debates and no one is going to come away with a better understanding of your side of the argument or the ideals that you’re currently arguing over. No one is going to change their opinion on gay marriage or transgender rights because those are ideals that are engrained in people. I don’t know of anyone that has changed their mind about a social issue ever, let alone from a debate on Facebook.
It could be something as simple as posting a status like #ImWithHer or #MakeAmericaGreatAgain in it or it can be something like sharing a video from a political commentator like Keith Olbermann or Tomi Lahren. This country is almost a 50/50 split in terms of liberal or conservative, so if that statistic lines up with your Facebook friends, every time you share a political article or policy inspired tweet, you’re probably disagreeing with 50% of your “friends.”
Another huge problem with arguing on Facebook is that no one can tell what the tone of voice is, so every time you make a joke or say something that was supposed to have sarcasm in it, not everyone is going to pick up on it. Sure you can clarify it later on, but think about the people who are just reading the status update and don’t get to see that you explained yourself.
Plus, I know you’ve been told this by almost every professor or someone trying to give you career advice, but the internet really is forever. Everything you post or comment is now viewable by everyone who you are friends with, and depending on your privacy settings, everyone who is friends with people who commented on the post. Plus think about it: how many times have you sent a screen shot of something you saw online and sent it to someone to make fun of them? Exactly. I’m sure that you don’t want that to happen to you.
I know that politics are the biggest news story in the world right now but please, do not argue about politics on Facebook. There are no winners in a Facebook argument, only losers. If you really want to talk about politics, do it in person or do it over text; just don’t do it online.
