Posted on 12/20/2016 3:55:45 AM PST by Yo-Yo
Democrats were twice as likely to "unfriend" or block somebody on social media sites because of their political postings following the 2016 election and are five times more likely to avoid certain family members this Christmas because of conflicting political views, a new poll has found.
As the United States is coming off an intense and hostile election, the poll released on Monday morning by the Washington-based Public Religion Research Institute finds that 13 percent of Americans say that they either "unfriended," "blocked" or stopped following people on social media websites like Twitter and Facebook because of the political posts those people published following the Nov. 8 outcome.
As the election was won by Republican nominee Donald Trump, the survey finds that about one-quarter of Democrats (24 percent) say that they have "unfriended," "blocked" or stopped following people on social media sites after the election because of their political posts.
The survey, which features the responses of 1,004 adults nationwide and has an error margin of plus or minus 3.6 percentage points, finds that less than one out of 10 Republicans (9 percent) say that they have "unfriended," "blocked" or stopped following people on social media after the election because of their political posts.
Within the Democratic Party, female Democrats (30 percent) were twice as likely to unfriend or block somebody on social media because of their political posts following the election than male Democrats (14 percent).
Additionally, only 9 percent of Independents reported unfriending or blocking someone on social media following the election because of political posts.
When broken down by liberals and conservatives, political liberals were much more likely than conservatives to block or unfollow someone on social media after the election because of the political messaging they post online.
Twenty-eight percent of political liberals say that they have removed someone from their social media feeds following the election, while only 8 percent of conservatives said the same. Just 11 percent of political moderates said they either blocked, unfriended or unfollowed somebody because of their posts on politics following the election.
"The survey also found evidence of significant fallout from the election among personal relationships," PRRI CEO Robert P. Jones said in a statement. "Beleaguered Democrats were significantly more likely than Republicans to report that they unfriended someone on social media or planned to avoid certain relatives during the holidays because of politics."
In total, only 5 percent of respondents said they are planning to spend less time with certain family members this Christmas because of conflicting political views. Meanwhile, 94 percent of respondents said they are not planning to spend less time with certain family members because of political views.
Despite the small percentage in the total population, Democrats (10 percent) are five times more likely than Republicans (2 percent) to report that they are avoiding spending time with other family members because of their political views.
Considering that many Americans had an opportunity to talk with their family members about the election over the Thanksgiving holiday, PRRI found that 16 percent of respondents said they argued with family members about politics during the Thanksgiving holiday. Meanwhile, 84 percent said they did not argue with family members about politics over Thanksgiving.
The same percentage of Democrats and Independents (18 percent) say they had family disagreements about politics over the Thanksgiving holiday, while only 12 percent of Republicans said the same.
"Nearly one-quarter (24%) of Democrats say they blocked, unfriended, or stopped following someone on social media after the election because of their political posts on social media. Fewer than one in ten Republicans (9%) and independents (9%) report eliminating people from their social media circle."
But then this is nothing that we on the right side of the political spectrum didn't already know.
I don’t have a single friend that supported the Dems; I COULDN’T have a single friend that did.
I had to “unfriend” my brother and sister on FB years ago. I could not take the hateful liberal rants. It was unreal and a bit scary.
Pretend we don't exist.
That's what lost the election for them.
BTW, I unfriended leftists because their posts were absolutely vile. I never would say those kinds of things to anyone: friend, foe, or stranger.
Tolerant group. aren’t they?
I know, but I’m not either. Life is too short to muddle it up with stupid companions.
I have a relative who’s pretty much disowned family due to the election.
my gay sis started calling me a bigot during the whole chik fil-a uproar & my mom took offense that I posted a pic of my 25 yr old son sharing a piece of his birthday cake with my MIL (who showed up uninvited with cake) without inviting her to the un-planned get together.
I did enjoy FB for reconnecting with early grade school friends...but after a quick catch up...I was done with that too.
My two remaining sisters (gay vs conservative) will not speak after this election.....to the point where the conservative one has skipped Thanksgiving and likely Christmas as well.
I stopped go over there years earlier..too much drama and dysfunction.
FB merely amplifies some peoples unpleasant traits
Democrats don’t have friends. They have donors.
Unhinged from reality, they’ll create their own safe space. Let ‘em go.
My Sister told her that it "may be a while longer than you think".
This country has gone crazy.
Is there a down side to this?
The Obama crime family, the Muslims, the progs, the crooked blackrobes, the LGBTQP sex offenders, the old media, and the Clinton crime family have widened the gap between American citizen Patriots and our enemies.
I would never Friend a liberal anyways, family or not. Better yet, I deactivated my FB account couple years ago, and never looked back.
and during.... probably more than twice
I’ve never unfriended anyone on fb for their political views.... I have been unfriended plenty of times.
Ditto.
I figure if a liberal unfriends me it’s like the trash taking itself out.
(Please note I do not send friend requests on FB. I think in the years I’ve been on I’ve sent two. Both to cousins I’d not seen in years)
I made my Facebook wall a politics-free zone several years ago. I decided that all the vitriol was just not worth it. Ironically, my worst offenders still tend to be my right-wing friends who just can’t resist the occasional dig.
I simply remove the political post, reinforce my rules and move on.
Being a writer and artist — I walk a fine line between the two worlds.
Thankfully, I’ve met a ton of more artsy/edgy right wingers out there. But I just ignore the vitriol and spew from the left. Again, the unfollow function is a beautiful thing.
I’ve been unfriended by 4 of them already in the last 2 years. All family too. So much for tolerance. Oh well, I don’t need them and neither do my kids.
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