Adam Earnheardt
  • Blog
  • Welcome
  • About
  • Contact
  • Speaking
  • CV
  • Blog
  • Welcome
  • About
  • Contact
  • Speaking
  • CV

Avoiding Politics on Social Media (Part One)

10/19/2016

0 Comments

 
Picture
Part 1 of 2:

Trace your social media use back to the first time you used Facebook to learn about political candidates. It was likely during the 2008 race.

Many credit President Barack Obama’s use of social media for his victory in 2008. He connected with voters via social media, particularly younger voters.

Fast forward eight years and social media has become, for some, a necessary tool for staying up-to-date on the twists of this tumultuous election cycle. The problem for many has become sifting through the garbage to find meaningful, substantial information.

We’re still learning how to navigate the messy marriage of politics and social media. In fact, many of my friends have simply abandoned Facebook, claiming they’ll return after Nov. 8.

My reaction is, “wait a smidge longer.” Then I reference the 2000 election. Think what Bush-Gore would have been like in today’s social media world.

Most of my friends who have left Facebook say that reading their newsfeed every day created too much stress.

I’ve found myself agreeing with them so much that I actually cut my own Facebook consumption. I gander at my news feed three or four times a week now (before this I was easily scrolling my feed three or four times a day).

One of my favorite articles on social media and stress appeared in Computers In Human Behavior a few years ago, but it’s incredibly relevant today. Researchers Jesse Fox at Ohio State University and Jennifer Moreland at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus found that people felt stress over the amount of connectivity they had on Facebook.

Some stress was related to how visible they were to the rest of the world. Sharing posts about birthdays and happy moments are often just as stressful for private people as posts about politics, religion and race.

Despite feeling stressed, these Facebook users felt social pressures to stay connected and visible.

Fox and Moreland’s focus groups revealed something else: The biggest stressors came from posts about social comparisons and conflict.

So it should surprise no one that my friends who have abandoned Facebook have done so to eliminate stress from their lives.

But not everyone is willing to give up Facebook. They’re just looking for a way around mean and nasty political posts.

In preparation for this column, I posted the following message to my Facebook page a few days ago:

“I’m looking for social media users who try to avoid political posts. You avoid reading them, avoid posting them, or both. What are your tricks? Or maybe you’re just the opposite, and you love to troll political posts to inject your own particular brand of witty repartee, or you just really feel the need to right a wrong. How do you decide when to post and when to pass?”

Interestingly enough, I received almost 40 comments and only eight “likes.”

Look for their tips in next week’s column.

0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Author

    Dr. Adam C. Earnheardt is special assistant to the provost and professor of communication in the department of communication at Youngstown State University in Youngstown, OH, USA where he also directs the graduate program in professional communication.  He researches and writes on a variety of topics including communication technologies, relationships, and sports (with an emphasis on fandom). His work has appeared in Mahoning Matters as well as The Vindicator and Tribune-Chronicle newspapers.

    Categories

    All
    Social Media

    Archives

    July 2023
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly