Sorry Auntie, Your Facebook Rant Won’t Change Anyone’s Vote
Political rants on social media.
We’ve all seen them.
We’ve all sighed, rolled our eyes and kept scrolling. Those of us unable to look away have read on with increasing despair and frustration. And then, we’ve clicked the three little dots at the top right of the post and selected “unfriend.”
Facebook has seemingly become the weapon of choice for many to share their strongly worded political tirades, but the reality is the majority of users wouldn’t post about a political topic on their social media. In fact, the lack of civility in online political discourse is many people’s most disliked part of social networks.
So the reality is most people don’t enjoy online political posts, but what impact do they have upon us beyond mild simple irritation? Why do political Facebook rants matter anyway?
Why do social media posts about politics matter?
Unfortunately, this is the only the question with a perfectly clear answer. As people turn away from newspapers and television news programs, social media has become a primary news source particularly for millennials. Thus, how politics is discussed in these online spaces is increasingly important. Political news is no longer only framed by the writer, editor and their corporate overlords- it is also framed by the comment section. And unfortunately the comment section rarely houses civil discussion.
Unfortunately, political debates on social media have a tendency to quickly turn into arguments. Hidden by the relative anonymity of a private or fake account, two people who haven’t ever met are hurling insults at one another. Face-to-face they might meet, make small talk, avoid talking about politics and for all intents and purposes get along fine. But on social media, where opinion outweighs fact, they quickly become adversaries.
And suddenly there’s a chain 50 replies long and nobody has changed anybody else’s mind. In fact, it seems like they forgot about changing each other’s minds long ago in favour of making fun of each other’s profile picture.
But for the majority of us who don’t engage in these “discussions” surely we aren’t impacted by them? Unfortunately, it’s not that simple.
What impact do political social media posts have on us?
Social media was once heralded as the new public sphere- an online place where people could be exposed to a multitude of perspectives and foster open and equal dialogue. Instead, research has shown social media is more likely to create an echo chamber as people tend to connect mostly with people who share similar opinions to them and avoid political discourse and conflicting opinions. In fact, people tend to seek out information that reinforces their opinions and are unlikely to be persuaded by conflicting information.
Social media provides such an easy platform for selective exposure as it just takes a few clicks to be rid of a source of information that challenges your beliefs.
This act is referred to as cognitive dissonance, in which people will often reject new information that contradicts their opinions and instead seek information that reinforces them. Some argue against it, believing social media allows for people to be exposed to and thus become more understanding different perspectives. But this seems to be a difficult thing to prove.
In fact, one study found that when exposed to left-wing social media, conservatives became more aware of their differences and increased their commitment to their political beliefs. A willingness to read opposing opinions doesn’t necessarily mean a willingness to be persuaded. Instead of creating a common ground, it seems political posts on social media may polarise people further.
As people become more divided, compromise, tolerance and mutual understanding go out the window. A well-functioning democratic society relies on all three. Not only do they allow for laws to be passed when there’s inevitably another hung parliament, they promote citizens’ engagement in the democratic process.
Where do we go from here?
With social media providing an easy way to create our own echo chambers and our own stubbornness making us avoid incompatible perspectives, it appears we are on the path towards a deeper political divide.
Or- arguably worse- political social media posts could leave the majority of us who fall somewhere in the middle so exhausted by the time another election swings around that the only thing we remember about the issues on the table is Aunt Mary’s Facebook rant about how Pauline Hanson isn’t THAT bad.
If we want to ensure social media doesn’t separate us further, we need to be more aware of our unconscious tendencies to avoid conflict and not let the vocal minority on Facebook keep us from staying informed. Unfortunately, there’s no miracle cure for political polarisation. But if anyone finds one- could you let America know?
As people become more divided, compromise, tolerance and mutual understanding go out the window. A well-functioning democratic society relies on all three. Not only do they allow for laws to be passed when there’s inevitably another hung parliament, they promote citizens’ engagement in the democratic process.
Where do we go from here?
With social media providing an easy way to create our own echo chambers and our own stubbornness making us avoid incompatible perspectives, it appears we are on the path towards a deeper political divide.
Or- arguably worse- political social media posts could leave the majority of us who fall somewhere in the middle so exhausted by the time another election swings around that the only thing we remember about the issues on the table is Aunt Mary’s Facebook rant about how Pauline Hanson isn’t THAT bad.
Unfortunately, there’s no silver bullet for political polarisation. If we want to ensure social media doesn’t separate us further, we need to be more aware of our unconscious tendencies to avoid conflict and not let the vocal minority on Facebook keep us from staying informed. After all, they’re the ones hiding behind a keyboard.
