Take The Election Poll: Social Media Users Report Mass ‘Unfriendships’ After Election 2016 Results
It seems that since the election, you can not log into Facebook or Twitter anymore without seeing an angry post about someone leaving Facebook, dropping friends, or announcing to the world that they are going to hide under the covers and off of social media for the next four years. Huffington Post reports that Elections 2016 has produced “more tears, hateful discourse, biting humor, and anger than we have seen in decades.” It’s happened everywhere from social media to the hallways of your local public school.
Has it happened to you?
I didn't unfriend people on FB after the election, but someone's status was "I hate the Vols." and I have never unfriended anyone so fast
— Bailey Morris (@baileyshayn) November 17, 2016
My msg to FB friends day aft election: if you voted for T please unfriend me, want nothing to do with him or you!
Felt good! https://t.co/vEw4H2KJwP— Gator Woman (@walkinggator) November 17, 2016
I'm sorry but if you unfriended someone from this election I'm gunna have to unfriend you
— Blake Dellabough (@BDellabough) November 11, 2016
Every election is intended to make America decide who they want to be. This election has revealed more gaps than commonalities, and the gaps and the differences are making people angry. Hillary Clinton supporters feel robbed and worry that their country is going to go back in time on key issues of race, gender, and equality, says Huffington Post.
Trump supporters are angry over the anger and just want the liberals to suck up the elections results of 2016. But Huffington Post reports, even some Trump supporters are getting angry now as it becomes revealed that some of his campaign promises, like the great Mexican wall, are not even going to happen.
“Unfriend me. Do it now.” (this damn election) https://t.co/34qdWwfmhE pic.twitter.com/M1fOi0CNgi
— Deborah Hymes? (@WanderNot) November 12, 2016
CNBC News reports that a Monmouth University poll discovered that as many as seven percent of voters have lost a friendship or experienced cracks in their relationships since Donald Trump became President-elect. Some people can’t even say that word, prompting a trending hashtag: #NotMyPresident. But many that spend a large amount of time on social media think that seven percent may be lowballing it.
A Facebook spokesperson told CNBC News that Elections 2016 generated 10 billion posts, likes, comments, and shares, over approximately 300 million users. Some of them are not speaking to each other anymore. When agreeing to disagree, for many the only other option seems to be unfriending on social media.
CNBC has recounted some stories of people who have lost relationships over the elections 2016 results. One man, an author and U.S. Marine Corps vet Greg White, says the following.
“I need my brother to explain why he let his political views dissolve our connection. I don’t need an apology. Just help me understand why a brother blocked a brother.”
CNBC says White and his brother are both gay, but their political divides were too far and wide to create a bridge after elections 2016 results.
Emily Potts, a supporter of Hillary Clinton and publicist for Heron Agency in Chicago, called the online vitriol “a different animal” than any other election year reports CNBC. Jimmy Millard, a Trump supporter said Facebook was now “an especially unpleasant place to be.”
Buzzfeed News reports that Texan Carlos Moreno Jr. told his Facebook friends that if they voted for Trump to unfriend him because, “We don’t see America the same way.” He lost 21 friends.
Another story reported by Buzzfeed was by a man from Guatemala, who was an immigrant and who posted a picture of his mother on Facebook along with this status.
“If you voted for him you are not my friend, you are not my family, you are not American. And you are against not only me, you are against so many of my friends and what America stands for.”
A reporter for the Green Bay Gazette writes that it wasn’t just post-election 2016 results chatter, but before Election Day as well. Over the course of the campaign, she has seen posts that say things like, “If you plan on voting for Trump, just delete me now and save me the trouble.”
She also saw a post where someone shared a video of a conservative commentator, with the caption, “I love when my friends share her videos because they act as a reminder of who I need to delete next.” Someone reportedly responded to that, “Go ahead. I’ve probably been meaning to delete you, too, but I was too busy actually working.”
Has it happened to you? Take our poll and then share your story in the comments below.
Social media has gotten ugly. What is the worst social media experience you have had over the course of this election? Have you been able to keep your friends lists intact?
[Featured Image by Mark Lennihan/AP Images]
