Whether you like it or not, election season is here. Soon, it will be time to vote and with that comes more campaign ads, debates and an increase of political Facebook posts. If you are into politics, this is an exciting time. If you are not, well, sorry, you just have to put up with it.
But what happens when you and your friends really don’t agree politically? How do you survive the next year? What can you do about it?
In person
Offline you can avoid political talk when you get together. This isn’t always easy and sometimes it comes up anyway. If you simply don’t want to go there with that person, try to change the subject. Sometimes it is nice to get together and discuss politics with those you don’t agree with but only if both sides can be respectful. If someone starts off with badmouthing your political party it can be hard to want to continue talking politics with them.
On Facebook
Facebook can be a hard place to be during political season when you know a lot of people with different political beliefs. Luckily, there are some things you can do to protect your friendship and keep the peace. You don’t have to unfriend, which isn’t always the best solution.
Unfollow Pages
Did you know you could do this? You can make it so you don’t see shares from certain pages. This is great for being able to follow your friends without seeing their political posts. You can do this by clicking on the top right part of the post and you should see an option for “Unfollow Page Name.” You can also do this as well as refollow pages when you click on “News Feed Preferences.”
Post Positive
When it comes to sharing political stuff yourself, stick to positive posts about the people you like or the things you stand for. Tearing down the other side just creates a lot of tension and can also hurt feelings. Sticking to positives can help others who believe differently than you to try to understand why you believe the way you do. If I am on my Facebook feed and I see a positive political post I will be more likely to read it vs when I see a negative one.
Unfollow People Temporary
If you know one of your friends or family members is going to post a lot of political stuff you can’t stand to see, you might have to unfollow them for a time. There are a few issues I feel strongly about and if I see someone keeps posting negative things about them, I have to unfollow them, at least for a time. I don’t want to unfriend this person because overall they are special to me but I just can’t personally handle seeing certain things in my feed.
Find a Safe Space
I have a few places I can go to talk politics that are safe. I can discuss things with others without worrying about hurting someone on the other side. I can talk with those who get it and it allows me to not feel so alone in my beliefs. So while I do sometimes share political things on Facebook, I usually post in those groups instead.
Unfollow Pages On Your Side
Another thing I did recently was unfollow some pages that support my point of view. Why did I do this? Because I can only take so much of that type of thing. I love how Facebook allows you to make your feed the way you want by telling them who you want to see first and who you don’t want to see at all. If going on Facebook gets me upset when I don’t want to be, I will make changes to see more of what makes me happy, makes me think about things or makes me feel connected to the people I love.
Politics can get nasty and the things that are said can hurt feelings. I want to try my best to avoid being stuck in that during this upcoming political season.
What do you do to survive elections when you and your friends don’t agree politically?
