Study claims political views are the top cause behind Facebook “unfriending”

Apparently it’s not your oversharing status, pictures of being loved-up, or hundreds of baby photos that will get you ‘unfriended’ on Facebook. 

It’s all down to your politics as voicing your opinion could make you pretty unpopular on the social networking site. Researchers Nicholas John, from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and Shira Dvir-Gvirsman, from Tel Aviv University, investigated the effects political commenting can make in times of conflict and the results were startling. Analysing the results of more than 1,103 Facebook users’ accounts just 10 days after the Israel-Gaza conflict’s open-ended ceasefire, the study found that nearly a fifth (16%) of participants had unfriended someone based on political comments. Speaking to the PsyPost about their findings, John explained: "People unfriend people who have different political views to theirs. By unfriending we are further contributing to the formation of echo chambers and filter bubbles. "More than that, these findings suggest that the people most likely to unfriend are younger, more politically active, more active on Facebook, have lots of Facebook friends, and have more extreme political views — these are important people in online discussions." The study, published in the Journal of Communication, found that while people are willing to be open-minded those with starkly different views to our own are most likely to be blocked or deleted until the end of the conflict time. *This article first appeared over on Her.ie* Read more...