{"id":101705,"date":"2013-08-22T00:19:33","date_gmt":"2013-08-21T18:49:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=101705"},"modified":"2013-08-25T10:55:59","modified_gmt":"2013-08-25T05:25:59","slug":"why-dont-you-like-my-post-americans-keep-it-apolitical-on-facebook","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/why-dont-you-like-my-post-americans-keep-it-apolitical-on-facebook\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cWhy Don\u2019t You Like My Post?\u201d Americans Keep It Apolitical On Facebook"},"content":{"rendered":"

By\u00a0Frederica Jansz<\/a><\/span>\u00a0 –<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Frederica Jansz<\/p><\/div>\n

I became an active user of Facebook only after I migrated to America.<\/span><\/p>\n

I had an account for a few years back in Sri Lanka, but until now I rarely had the time or the inclination to respond to posts, comments or share what was on my mind. But Facebook for me in America has turned out to be a whole new, and refreshing, experience.<\/p>\n

I have only about a hundred \u201cfriends,\u201d\u00a0both\u00a0American and Sri Lankan<\/strong>. But their\u00a0posts are as different as salt and pepper<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Sri Lankans will immediately\u00a0like<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0share<\/em>\u00a0any kind of post or video without reservation. Many of them clicked eagerly on a recent post about the son of a hated government minister<\/a><\/span> who had been stabbed in the parking lot of a posh retail store in Colombo,\u00a0liking\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0sharing<\/em>\u00a0the news with glee.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, Americans seem to rarely \u2014 if ever \u2014 respond to such political posts.<\/p>\n

When I recently posted what I thought was a very apt\u00a0clip of Mindy Kaling<\/a>\u00a0in her refreshingly sly way critiquing the lack of representation of Asian women in Hollywood, (despite the fact that \u201cthere are literally billions of us\u201d) my post got ONE measly\u00a0like<\/em>, from my Sri Lankan girl friend who now lives in Scotland!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Millions of people around the globe are on Facebook. But when she moved to Northwest from Sri Lanka earlier this year, Frederica Jansz found out that the way people post here is completely different.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Another post sharing videos of an embarrassing interview Fox News carried with Religions Scholar Reza Aslan and another, of Russell Brand on MSNBC mocking American Media, received comments and likes\u00a0only<\/em>\u00a0from Sri Lankans.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, posts by an American \u201cfriend\u201d on what is on her dinner menu day after day, from kabobs to grilled corn on the cob, get 30 or 40\u00a0likes<\/em>!<\/p>\n

I know of only one Sri Lankan who would dare to post what he\u2019s eating<\/strong>, but that\u2019s because he is a professional chef! Even\u00a0he<\/em>\u00a0doesn\u2019t get 40 likes.<\/p>\n

Similarly, it\u2019s been interesting to observe recently that while Egyptians\u00a0are being massacred<\/a>, the rest of us are still posting on Facebook about the different cappuccinos we\u2019ve been enjoying!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>I can only conclude that Americans are simply not interested in bringing their politics to Facebook, or do not want to make public their views on anything even remotely political.<\/p>\n

Still,\u00a0Americans do seem to manage to publish controversial posts by accident<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

A friend of mine posted one Saturday morning that while she shopped at a popular retail she and her daughter were surprised to count \u201c123 Asians!\u201d<\/p>\n

I was tempted to comment that the post reminded me of the time my family and I took a vacation in South Africa and spent one entire morning on Safari counting the number of impala we could spot! But I decided to let this one go.<\/p>\n

This same \u201cfriend\u201d two days ago posted that she had un-friended someone for posting \u201ca racist comment\u201d on her Facebook page, apologizing profusely to all her other friends who may have been exposed to the unpalatable comment.<\/p>\n

I burst out loud \u2014 laughing!<\/p>\n

Facebook does, of course, allow users to remove comments on their own posts. And you can always\u00a0block<\/em>\u00a0or\u00a0un-friend<\/em>\u00a0people who you no longer have the patience for.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Having myself already blocked a few friends I can tell you it is a super satisfying action<\/strong>. At my age it gets easier to be more selective about who you want to be friends with and to be intolerant of toxic relationships. Especially when you possess an application that allows you to simply click them out of your life \u2014 forever!<\/p>\n

I was afforded the same treatment by one friend. AND she is American! We have since made-up but in real life remain \u201cun-friended\u201d\u00a0on FB!<\/p>\n

But back to politics:\u00a0I have another American Facebook friend who is currently running a campaign for a seat on the City Council<\/strong>. But even\u00a0he<\/em>\u00a0does not post any comments that are political. He and I have had heated debates both verbally and via text messaging on the gun culture in America and other issues, he being a Republican and I a fan of Democrats. But he would\u00a0never<\/em>\u00a0post those same comments on Facebook.<\/p>\n

I can only conclude that most Americans, at least the ones on my Facebook feed, are worried about hurting somebody and so refrain from posting political or religious comments. Or perhaps their opinions are in constant flux and so they do not want to place on record a comment that could come back to haunt them at a later date?<\/p>\n

Or maybe, for Americans Facebook is more a frivolous activity and less of a professional mode of conveying a message. They are certainly in stark contrast to their Sri Lankan counterparts, who use Facebook to post a consistent stream of political and religious material, rarely hesitating to comment or share such posts with gusto.<\/p>\n

Either way, with over a billion users around the globe,\u00a0I guess Facebook offers something for everyone \u2014 that is\u00a0except for teenagers<\/a><\/strong>, who have had enough of\u00a0their parents are hogging the system!<\/p>\n

*This article first appeared in\u00a0Seattle globalist<\/a><\/span>. Frederica Jansz is a Senior Editor with award winning recognition and international experience. Former Editor in Chief of The Sunday Leader newspaper in Sri Lanka Frederica currently lives in the US together with her two sons.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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