Most people who post about politics online...

don't care what you think.

According to research anyway.

From the article:
Wading into a political debate online can be a minefield. Search any comment section or thread on a social media site, and you’re likely to come across some pretty strong views. But that’s not necessarily just the nature of the debate. It could also reflect the kind of personalities that are drawn to online discussions of this kind...

On social media, the audience is invisible unless they react by commenting, liking or sharing. So even if you are interested in politics, the chances are that if you are sensitive to being socially rejected, you will stay away from posting, sharing or commenting on political issues unless you are sure that they are uncontroversial in your social network...

In the interviews, it was obvious that for many people, sensitive issues are best discussed in private settings. Face-to-face with a friend or a colleague, it’s easier to adjust something you have said if you realise you’ve caused offence or discomfort. On social media – at least under your own name – you always run the risk of being misunderstood, or silently condemned. And since you are known by the company you keep, even having a Facebook friend with controversial views might put you in a bad light.

Some people, however, simply don’t seem to care about whether anyone will be offended by what they say and will gladly share their views. As a result, the content that is actually posted and shared in social media feeds is to a higher degree produced by those with a low fear of being socially rejected.

So what does this actually mean? This is still an open question. The only thing we know is that active people are not afraid of social sanctions. That doesn’t mean that they are excessively stubborn or one-sided. Nor does it mean that they are resistant to facts or harbour extreme views. It’s even possible that these people have an easier time keeping to the target issue. In fact, it may be better if more people were less afraid of being rejected, since such fear has been shown in previous research to lead people to adapt to more extreme attitudes and become increasingly willing to engage with more extreme groups.

However, it could also be the case that this personality bias leads to creating an even more polarised political environment with a confrontational tone that has the effect of scaring people away from political discussion online. As social media gradually becomes the most important source for political information, discussion and news for citizens, this will have major repercussions for democracies worldwide.



I started a policial thread and was going to respond but then I read the article I quoted and thought there wasn't really much point in responding.
Maybe it would be better if political posts were banned on this forum because haven't we already decided what we think before the post is made anyway? Doesn't a political thread bring unnecessary division among members?

 

Politics and religion are never good conversation topics if your goal is a nice, friendly environment. Especially today when people are so tribal.

Twitter is filled with people praising a specific law, speech or conduct while the exact same stuff is a mortal sin if the other side does that. You'll read hysterical expressions like 'THE WORST PRIME MINISTER IN HISTORY' even when the author probably can't even name everybody who's been PM let alone judge and rate their performance.

The political discussion of today is a disgusting blend of lies, hypocrisy, conspiracy theories and appeals to emotion. No need to turn this place into something like that.

 

Why do you feel the need to ban stuff? You're perfectly free to not participate in whatever conversations you dont qant to be a part of. Theres no need to stop other people from talking about something just because you dont want to talk about it.

Personally, I might have solid opinions about a lot of things, but there are also things I dont have a firm stance on, and regardless, its interesting to hear other peoples perspectives. Sure, maybe the majority of people dont care to listen, but not everybody is like that.

 

Yeah man, you can't ban that in my opinion. People need to have certain freedoms (of speech). There's no need for authority to censor political talk because it could be divisive. People are different so when they discuss things they divide themselfes, that's natural. Some people divide themselfes because of religion, I wouldn't ban religious talk either. I hope you get what I'm saying. Anything could be divisive as long as people disagree. Censorship doesn't end well once it's started.

 

I think respectful dialog is perfectly fine. In my country anyways there is this great phrase everyone throws around about every controversial topic.

"We need to have an honest conversation about...." fill in the blank.

News people, politicians, everyone says this. But then everyone gets pissed when people do and speak their mind. Personally I haven't decided on everything and I'm willing to hear people out. In fact on this site actually I was challenged on a thread about my drinking by someone who was a former addict. I actually took it to heart and I'm doing an experiment where I abstain. I haven't had any alcohol for over 30 days as a result. Maybe I'm just the odd one out statistically though.

 

No, we shouldn't ban political threads. I think all the snowflakes that are to childish and sensitive to handle a debate should avoid political threads.

 

But does bring the division to light help us reboot? Isn't the whole purpose of this site to quit porn and improve our life?

 

I treat them as fun distractions when I'm tempted. Getting lost in a debate is the surest thing to a boner killer that I know of. : )

 

Well I agree that personality types and psychology will contribute to political debate. What a minefield! People have rather too much faith in their own opinions..

 

The thing is censorship does go on here as we were made awair with this thread and rightly so. That particlar member was an idiot for thinking he had a right to say anything he wanted. As it was stated this site is not a free speech zone.

 

Politics is oddly inflammatory! Not even quite sure why. I'm probably about to delete my posts as I was drunk last night. Pints and then politics=problems.

 

I said CERTAIN freedoms of speech. NOT, that you should be allowed to say/write anything you want on a website like this. I'm specifically referring to YOUR argumentation, that topics that could divide people (specifically politics) might be unnecessary.

My last statement: "Censorship doesn't end well once it's started" was "a bit" loosely formulated, that is right. Let me rephrase: "Censorship without very thought through reasoning, which is limiting the censorship to not be applicable to an undefineable number of topics, is not a good idea.

I think that one holds up better.

Anyways. That is talk about this websites politics and in the spirit of what you just found out and I'm also aware of, I don't want to argue. To anywhom his/her opinion on the matter, I answered out of boredom, not to convince anyone.

PS: Excuse my capital writing, I don't like it (either?), read it in a soft and calming voice (a bit sultry too! and with a lisp), I'm not screaming in front of my screen. I just don't know any other way to emphasize words, I HOPE YOU'RE ALRIGHT WITH THAT!

 

There's the the bold, italic, underline or colour buttons.