SALT LAKE CITY, Utah (ABC 4 News) - If you're on facebook, chances are you've seen a political post recently from one of your friends. However, a new poll suggests the posts may be causing a bit of a backlash. Numbers indicate people are getting so fed up with these rants, they're dropping their facebook buddies.
"Anything that happens big politically like the DNC or the healthcare ruling, all the people come out of the wood work and I just don't care," said Salt Lake native Peter Rugh, who happens to be one of the many people fed up with the deluge of political posts all over the social networking site. And the Pew Internet survey shows there's millions more out there who agree with Rugh. "I've actually stopped going on facebook because of the political commentary." said Chris Mortorff, a Chicago native who was visiting Salt Lake.
The survey found that nearly half of Democrats post on a regular basis, while about one in three Republicans and Independent social networkers say the same.
On our ABC 4 facebook page, we asked users if they've ever unfriended someone or removed them from their news feed because of political posts. You can check out the link here:
http://www.facebook.com/#!/abc4utah The question apparently hit a nerve, by drawing hundreds of likes and comments. One user responded with the comment,
"I don't feel that I should be subjected to their opinions and/or rants on other parties." Other comments indicated people don't care if they're kicked off for posting their political two cents, while others claim unfriending someone is
"just plain childish."Overall, most people who weighed in said they don't like the constant political bickering over social media. Instead, they're hoping for a kinder, gentler, and possibly less annoying approach during this political season. "It's hard because it just puts wedges between acquaintances. You don't want to see people you know fighting about political issues," said Mortorff.
