The 2016 election was dominated by social media. Every time we logged onto Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, there was a picture or post about Clinton or Trump. Facebook this past year slowly changed from a place to share recipe videos and pictures of your family to a political war zone.
Every where I looked, and every post I read, was about people's political views. People posting about what they agreed with, what enraged them, or what change they wanted. Under these same posts, I found myself reading comment after comment of disagreement. A disagreement that sometimes led to name calling, questioning one another's character, and even remarks of hate.
When sifting through all of these posts, I found one common theme. People "talking" to each other, but neither listening to the other side. I saw friends arguing back and forth on a post, fully knowing that they would never convince the other to subscribe to their own belief system. I couldn't help but wonder, "How is this beneficial?"
Early on in the election season, I made the decision not to post any of my political beliefs on Facebook or social media. There are issues that I am passionate about as well as things I believe that need to change, but after reading dozens of posts centered around arguing, I closed the door to the language of anger and hate on my page.
What I have come to realize about "discussing" politics on Facebook is, it will forever be a one-sided conversation. Posting back and forth to one another will never allow us to truly listen to what the other one is saying. It is not the same as sitting down with someone to debate politics. Having this type of conversation forces each side to truly listen to one another, not just frantically type our point of view and ignoring the comment before our own. Not to mention, it would be extremely hard to look at someone in the eyes and say "I can't believe I am friends with a bigot/idiot/out of touch/baby friend, then to simply click post comment.
There is enough negativity on the internet, and I simply refuse to perpetuate it or participate in it. Instead, I fill my social media pages with things that make me happy; pictures of my friends and family, funny videos, and statuses promoting love and kindness to one another. I save the political chat for a dinner with friends.
