Don't Be a Party Pooper

Almost everyone likes a party - but nobody likes a party pooper. Thefreedictionary.com defines party pooper as: 1. One who declines to participate with enthusiasm, especially in the recreational activities of a group; 2. A person whose behaviour or personality spoils other people's enjoyment. While you might think you're all about fun, on Facebook you could be a party pooper and not even know it.
 
Many people have very strong feelings about politicians and their related parties. With the 2012 elections heading into the final months, Americans can expect to be confronted by political ads, news, opinions and commentary just about everywhere we turn - including Facebook. Many of us think it stinks that some of our friends feel their right to free speech includes the right to clutter everybody else's newsfeeds with propaganda that supports their candidates and platforms.

Honestly speaking, even if we aren't the type that wraps ourselves in the Stars and Stripes and proclaims from the rooftops our position on the wide variety of election hot- topics, we all still have opinions. Whether we identify strongly with a particular party or not,  we are apt to favor one candidate or issue over another in the various races and matters that concern us. And just maybe, somewhere in the distant or recent past, we even ventured to quietly 'like' a political page or article we agreed with. Before we find ourselves unwittingly impersonating our politically overbearing friends, it is time to reconsider what we 'like' with regard to candidates and issues.

Facebook has rolled out a new 'feature' where they can publish posts, under a heading showing your name and related 'like', to your newsfeed without your knowledge or consent. For more on this topic go to: The Ed Bott Report - Is Facebook Damaging Your Reputation with Sneaky Political Posts?   Following is a sample of an unauthorized post shown in the report:

The bad news is there is very little any of us can do to prevent these stories from appearing in our newsfeeds. We can hide each individual post but have no tools available to banish these featured posts from our newsfeeds altogether. The ultimate solution is to unfriend the people whose name the posts are appearing under - and that just doesn't seem right since they quite possibly didn't ever intend to initiate the problem.

In these times of controversial and divisive politics, do your friends a favor and edit out all things political from the 'like' list on your profile page. Don't be a party pooper (double entendre intended) or let Facebook ruin the goodwill you have created with your friend list that is likely comprised of people from both business and personal parts of your life, including those that don't agree with you politically.

Features are usually sold with benefits. Unless you are looking to shrink your group of friends in both your virtual and real worlds, I see no possible benefit to having Facebook make posts upon your behalf. It's manipulative and it stinks. And what happens when people aren't having fun at a party? They leave. Facebook just opened the door.

Related posts: Politics and Facebook Don't Mix, The Party Principle