Unfriending Over Politics: Facebook, Twitter Users Flee Contrary Opinions - The Daily B... - 2 views
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But here’s the kicker: some 38 percent say they were surprised to learn that the political leanings of others were different than they imagined.
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Just answered my own question! http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2012/Social-networking-and-politics/Summary-of-findings.aspx
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I thought this was a humorous article on how online social circles are really not all that different from dinner party social circles. Although I bet that people are quicker to jettison someone via an online tool than in person.
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Pamela - I think it's the same superficiality that would allow people to "friend" others they hardly know just based on shared political beliefs, that would allow for them to "unfriend" others who are close to them in real life just based on differing political beliefs. I also wonder how many of those who un-friended people did so because they were genuinely offended or because they feared it might affect their social status.
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Although I haven't unfriended anyone over a political spat, I'll admit to having blocked the FB status updates of one of my acquaintances who was continually posting things that I wasn't really interested in seeing. It's very easy to use the block function in FB to make sure a particular person's updates don't appear in your feed; you don't have to de-friend, which is more drastic (and then you might have to awkwardly explain WHY you defriended that person), but you can avoid content that gets under your skin and not take the bait, so to speak.
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Much harder to ignore your best mate's obnoxious partner at a dinner party (and all the other occasions you'll see them) than on facebook. I suppose this is another example of the Filter Bubble. ("what does she see in him? I suppose we can't not invite him....")