To think telling people to “unfriend” you on social media because of the way you’re voting is immature?

[Retpark101]

This is kind of another election one, but I don’t want to thread to be hijacked into discussing politics, in fact I actually just want people to respect that everyone has their own minds and opinions, they have a right to vote for whoever they want to.

There’s so many political posts on Facebook right now but I’ve seen a couple of people on my friends list post things like “if you’re voting Conservative/Labour/etc tomorrow, please unfriend me” or “delete my number and don’t speak to me again”
AIBU to think this is bloody childish and if you’re a mature adult you accept that people are all different and have the right to their own thoughts? I hate how this election is making people gate each other.

Unless somebody has extreme views then is it really worth breaking friendships for the sake of someone voting the opposite of you?

X-post with HeckyPeck Basically, if you're a lefty with right leaning friends you'll feel it's all Conservatives doing this, if you're right-inclined with lefty friends it'll feel like it's just the Labourites!

@CrazySpanielLover
I’m guessing that’s one couple you met then. I have a friend who earns a lot of money and has a fantastic life and votes Labour. Because here’s the thing a socialist believes everyone should be able to have the opportunity to have such a life. This requires good housing, good education and a good health service.
I really don’t get why Conservatives think Labour supporters should be poor.

This has actually happened to me, a neighbour from my street who was a friend (not a close one but we used to help each other out, occasionally met for a cuppa, had each other's spare keys) completely cut all ties with me when she found out we had different political views. The irony is that if you looked at our views and took party politics out of it, we agree about more than we disagree about!

I really think it's part of being a mature and well-rounded person to accept things are not black and white. Apart from absolute extreme views (which the mainstream parties don't represent anyway), nothing in life is easily divided in good and bad like that. Not individual people, and certainly not political parties.

If I saw that I would unfriend even if we were voting for the same party!

Yes it's so immature. I saw a friend write that anyone voting for Conservatives should be ashamed of themselves and I've told her previously that's who I vote for. So now I feel really awkward about it but I'm not going to bring it up. I see her regularly too but maybe that'll change now.

@taketotheskye, the persons in question are my PIL... should I unfriending too and just go NC then??

You see many many people I have seen in FB or Twitter holding the views of the conservatives have been saying the same. That includes Boris Johnson going about EU citizens ‘treating the U.K. as if it was their home’ just a few days ago. I am, on a personal pOV, struggling to be friends with people who holds those views or support people holding those views.

Do I unfriend? Nope but they sure as hell aren’t welcome into my intimate circle of friends (and yes that is including my PIL - with good reasons I think). They can stay on the edge of being acquaintances.

Politics IS personal. If a friend of mine was vociferously supporting a party who's policies were going to have a detrimental impact on my children's lives then I would question their friendship.

Do I unfriend? Nope but they sure as hell aren’t welcome into my intimate circle of friends @CanIHaveADrink - can i ask why? I often think that being social media friends with someone is a lot more intimate than meeting up with them in a bar every couple of weeks or so.

Do you use lists so you can restrict who sees your posts? that has been a godsend for me.

"If a friend of mine was vociferously supporting a party who's policies were going to have a detrimental impact on my children's lives then I would question their friendship."
Leaving aside racist views, which is a completely separate issue, surely most voters believe they are making the choice which will be best for the country? Obviously the few super-rich are voting in their own interests if they choose Conservative, but the mass of ordinary people are looking at the options and choose what they think is best. I may not agree with them, but it doesn't make them bad people!

CanIHaveADrink I am so sorry this is happening to you.

Non of them would ever get off their arse and help out a poor person. They are just virtue signallers and are passive-dangerous.
Why would they? If they vote Labour they are voting for a party that has announced several interesting social programmes.

So you're saying that voting Labour removes you from any individual responsibility in terms of your contribution to society and your moral obligation to personally help others? How convenient to simply bury your head in the sand and hide behind your choice of political party.

It depends. I don’t think I could ever get along with a Brexit party voter, they’re just UKIP and BNP under a new name. I don’t support racist rhetoric and I live in the 21st century so I just don’t think we’d quite gel as people.

Tories I’d also struggle with but possibly more tolerable as human beings.

Obviously a vote is a personal choice and you have every right to do as you please with that vote.....however people will obviously draw conclusions from that choice of vote.

I agree with a PP who mentions a vote is a personal thing, if you are voting to the detriment of my child and family, It would frustrate me. This is an election that I have felt extremely passionately about, I have always voted but this time is different for me.

I don't think I would fall out with a friend over a vote, but it may make me feel a bit differently about them, especially this time around.

Tories I’d also struggle with but possibly more tolerable as human beings.

How very accepting of you.

As for comparing Brexit/UKIP to the BNP, they really are poles apart.

We have a distant relative that is apparently using politics as a guise for racism and xenophobia. Everyone has took a massive step back from him, thankfully.

@CanIHaveADrink I completely understand that .

One of my friends posted on her Facebook asking anyone who’s voting Tory to unfriendly her.

It isn’t just about who people are voting for, it’s about supporting racist views, child poverty and disability cuts. I don’t really want to be friends with people who are voting for something that could destroy my children’s futures (they are disabled).

I have deleted people in the past who have posted things supporting UKIP and Britain First. Funny enough out of the 360 friends I have left on Facebook I haven’t seen one post supporting the torries 🤔. Maybe these people just don’t post about who they support?

Avoiding FB today. 100% of my friends who are making such posts are very clearly voting for a party I absolutely cannot support in their current state. It makes me think they are all annoyingly deluded and self righteous but I’m not going to ever say that or talk to them about any of it because it’s personal choice

this ^

Leaving aside racist views, which is a completely separate issue, surely most voters believe they are making the choice which will be best for the country?

This is not possible to leave racist views aside when would be MPs are holding those racist views in public, the PM and conservative head is holding racist views (remember comments about muslims women being like letter boxes?)

Nowadays racism and xenophobia is part if the political discourse. Acting as if it wasn’t is basically giving a green light to all of those that support those ideas. I wish it wasn’t.

I think part of the problem is how a lot of younger people define friendship these days. I've seen posts where they comment on how many hundreds of friends they have on facebook, for example. To me it's ludicrous and 99.99% of these people would at best be described as acquaintances.

I've known my best friend for over fifty years and during all that time she has been a staunch Labour voter and me a Conservative voter. We soon came to an agreement that we would agree to disagree. I can't get my head around why anyone would vote Labour and I'm sure she feels the same in reverse but the idea of breaking up our friendship over it is inconceivable.

I feel sorry for those breaking up 'friendships' over politics because they obviously have no idea what a real friendship is.

I don’t think I could ever get along with a Brexit party voter, they’re just UKIP and BNP under a new name

That is fairly lazy thinking tbh.

Dh voted Tory and I voted Green. We still love each other and he's my best mate.

For me, it's not how they're voting, it's more their attitude towards people with other opinions.

I have unfriended some people (admittedly not close friends, people I was indifferent about anyway really) because politics and voting time can turn people into complete argumentative monsters. Not to mention that people are so convinced THEY'RE right, and argue the toss when there's so many flaws in their arguments that they refuse to research.

I don't think there is a right answer to this election. I think there are major flaws with both of the main parties. All we can do is educate ourselves and make the best decision we can, and anyone who tries to influence the way we use our informed vote can fuck off.

My FB probably is a bit of an echo chamber because, not entirely unsurprisingly, I have friends who have broadly similar values to mine. Even though I'm likely to vote the same way as many/most of them - although not without a lot of soul searching this time over a few issues that I have a real problem with - even I'm fed up with all the temporary profile photo borders proclaiming who they're voting for etc. It is virtue signalling and holier-than-thou-ing, and I can't see how that is ever going to win over floating voters. It decreases the likelihood of anyone articulating to them support for any opposition parties, and then there's surprise when one of those opposition parties win.

I think it's possible to post interesting things in support of a party - for example one of my friends shared an article showing how differently the Express reported on essentially the same pledge from Labour and the Conservatives - without being smug about it.

Leaving aside racist views, which is a completely separate issue, surely most voters believe they are making the choice which will be best for the country?

It's is very much not a separate issue. If you have those views you make decisions about the country using those disgusting views,