In our heart of hearts, we already knew this, but a new Facebook study by marketing firm Rantic has concluded that carefully crafted and well thought out political rant you just posted on the popular social network won’t change anyone’s mind about the subject. And, it might just lose you a a friend or two in the process.
10,000 surveyed Facebook users across the political spectrum came together on one bipartisan issue: Your Facebook post is to make you feel good, not to change minds.
Only 6% of Republican respondents and 8% of Democrats reported having a Facebook post actually change their opinion on something. Independents were slightly more open-minded, with 15% of them saying they had read a post that had changed their outlook on the political landscape.
Those low, “snowball’s chance in hell” numbers don’t deter a decent number of us from posting our opinions though, as 39% of Republicans have expressed political views on social media, along with 34% of Democrats and 26% of Independents.
Posting a strong political opinion will not only get you some possibly nasty comments on your thoughts, it could also narrow down the party invites you’ll get in the future. as 18% of those on the left report un-friending someone because of their political posts, while 12% of those on the right side of the fence say they’ve cut off contact with a political posting “friend.” Only 9% of Independents say they severed ties after reading a political post.
While not everyone will block a friend for a political Facebook post, there’s a good chance they might get a bit judgey with you, as 61% of Republicans say they judge others for their political views, versus 53% for Democrats, and a mere 34 % for Independent thinkers.
So, what it comes down to is that although venting about politics on Facebook may make you feel better, and give you a measure of self-satisfaction, but it’s not going to change the mind of your friends and relatives. Plus, you might even miss out on an invite to their election night party. (Which could be a good thing…)
