This election has caused a lot of division in this country – and even in other countries. Each side of the argument thinks that the other one’s candidate will cause some kind of apocalypse. It’s more likely that Republican presidential nominee Trump actually will.
Many, many people are getting into arguments with family, friends, and acquaintances. Most people, myself included, can’t understand why anyone would vote for Trump. Trump supporters seem feel the same way about people who are supporting the Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.
Since Jan, 1/4 of Americans have argued with a friend about the election @aedwardslevy finds https://t.co/BWKUbrRZ38 pic.twitter.com/LnJncQfWEo
— Ruth Igielnik (@RuthIgielnik) May 20, 2016
Nearly half of Republicans say that no one they know is voting for Trump; 55 percent of Clinton supporters say that no one they know is supporting Trump.
The Huffington Post reported:
“People with friends and family in both political camps are, perhaps unsurprisingly, more likely to report that they’ve gotten into arguments this year. Nearly three-quarters say they’ve had at least one fight over the election. But they’re also more likely to have some understanding for those with opposing views.”
“While the sample sizes in each case are small, Republicans who know at least one Clinton supporter are 19 points likelier than those who don’t to say they understand where her base is coming from. Democrats with friends or family members supporting Trump are 21 points likelier than other Democrats to say they get why people are backing him.”
I’m going to help you out, and give you some tips as to how to deal with political posts on social media platforms like Facebook:
1. When They Bring Up Trump
As tempting as it might be, don’t bring up the superficial things against The Donald. We all know he’s orange and his mouth looks like an anus, but stick to talking about the real issues if you want to avoid pissing them off.
Just keep asking questions until they run out of answers. If they start spewing their fear-based theories about what is going to happen to the country, just ignore them or unfollow them. People like that are not open to actual facts.
2. When People Say You Are Only Voting For Clinton Because She Is A Woman
Donald Trump has repeatedly accused Hillary Clinton of playing the “woman card.” You can actually buy your own deck of woman cards thanks to one supporter. Don’t just respond with “Nuh-uh.”
Instead, talk about her policies and why you are voting for her. Steer the conversation back to the actual issues.
3. When Your Relative Posts Tons Of Faux News Lies On Their Facebook Feed
Your first thought may be to get mad and unfriend them. That is just not a good response. Instead, unfollow them; they can be silently annoyed with all of your liberal posts. This will save you a lot of time shaking your fist at your computer screen.
Here is a Ted Talk about the role of social media in politics:
Featured image by Ian T. McFarland via Flickr/CC-SA-2.0.
