With the close of the 2012 Presidential elections, social media agency fishbat reacts to social media users and their defense against political posting on Twitter and Facebook.
With the close of the 2012 Presidential elections, social media agency fishbat reacts to social media users and their defense against political posting on Twitter and Facebook.
With the close of the 2012 Presidential elections, social media has seen an influx of tweets and status updates covering everything from Romney to Obama. Social media agency fishbat responds to social media users who have blocked any and every bit of unwanted political activity on their social media feed.
In an ABC News report, politically-driven social media posts have caused many users to “defriend or unfollow” other users on account of political social media posts. While Twitter does not have a filter for their news feed, “Hiding a post will prompt Facebook automatically to start weeding out posts from that person in your Timeline. You can also set up separate lists for individuals who talk about politics frequently,” reports the article.
ABC News displayed some of the tweets of Twitter users who are ready to detach themselves from overly political twitter accounts: “Ready to unfollow anyone who continually tweets about politics, especially if I don’t agree with you,” Shawn Hotson (@shawnhotson) tweeted and, “Going to unfollow a few until the election is over. Doesn’t mean I don’t love you. :-),” tweets Creek Harris (@creekharris).
“Organizing your social media accounts or eliminating followers or friends is not uncommon in social media,” comments Nick Renna Social Media Strategy Manager for fishbat. “Creating a separate profile for work versus recreational is no different than Republican versus Democrat. Users that take the high road and manage their accounts like professional adults avoid any unnecessary confrontation.”
“It is harder with Twitter. You don’t have a filtering system like with Facebook,” comments a social media expert and Rackspace’s startup liaison officer Robert Scroble to ABC News. “The option there is to unfollow or you might just stay off the Internet or Twitter during big political events.”
ABC News reported that programs to block political social media posts are becoming more common for those avoiding the political mud flinging. According to the article, creator of Unbaby. Me Chris Baker modified his program to block politically driven posts and replace them with friendly images. ABC News reports, “The browser extension blocks any post on Facebook and Twitter that has common political terms or names, such as ‘election,’ ’Romney,’ or ‘Obama.’ A Facebook post containing any of the pre-set words will be blocked and replaced with a photo of a cat. The text of a Twitter post will be wiped and replaced with a link to Buzzfeed’s cats page. You can customize both the words you don’t want to see, and what images you would prefer in their place.”
There are also groups that promote political safe havens, reports ABC News.
According to the article, political group Harmonious Discord’s mission statement reads, “This project is designed to show how we can have an honest political discussion without the spit and vinegar that seems inseparable from politics in our time.”
“Social media is meant to bring people together and not separate each other with political discontent,” says Renna. “Users that separate themselves from political adversity have that right to do so. Users that are on the other end of the spectrum should respect that decision and not hold a personal grudge. Create a group and hold political discussions to avoid offending those whose political views are different.”
fishbat, Inc. is a full service online marketing firm. Through social media management, search engine optimization (SEO), web design, and public relations, fishbat strives as a marketing firm to raise awareness about your brand and build up your corporate image.
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