This is a re-run of one of my earliest posts, originally dated to September 10, 2012.  It was a much more innocent time in the U.S (in retrospect!) but the ugly trend of politicizing social media was already in progress and I didn’t like it one bit back then, either! 
Clearly prescient to today’s news of ongoing political manipulation of FB:

An Open Letter to all my family and friends on Facebook.

I always love hearing what you are up to. Your cute pet and kid pix are A-OK with me. Your puns, funny videos and clever photos are welcome. But please keep your politics to yourself! Freedom of speech is an inalienable right. But freedom from speech is an inalienable online right. Or should be on your personal pages.

In this overheated election season,  opinions and in-depth analysis of every every scrap of political minutia is available 24/7 without any help from my friends. I can listen to pundits and pols pontificate and prevaricate and bloviate about every issue and non-issue of this campaign season. I don’t want this pollution on my Facebook page.

We may love each other,  we may agree about hot vacation spots and low culture. But don’t assume we agree about politics. Assume we don’t! That way you won’t offend me and I won’t offend you.

If you have a blog,  let loose on your political opinions there (I try not to) if that’s your proclivity. If you want to send me an interesting political email, go ahead. If I don’t like it, I can delete it. But once you land on my Facebook page, your opinions become a permanent part of my timeline. And that’s not ok.

If I want to “like” a pol or party, I can do that all by myself. That’s my choice, not yours. Keep those family photos coming but ixnay on the nasty electoral sloganry.

Consider this my my political stand. You have been warned. Keep your political opinions off Facebook. Or else I will not “like” you any more. And that would be a loss for us both.

How do you feel about having friends and family post their political opinions on your Facebook Page?  What are you doing about it?

Related articles

• Opinions, Assholes, and Being Polite (revokedpoeticlicense.wordpress.com)
• Experts: Think before posting politics on Facebook (myfox8.com)
• FACEBOOK AND POLITICS | Do they mix? Yes, no, maybe? (virtualmarketingofficer.com)
• Tuning out the politics on Facebook (nevillehobson.com)
• 5 Reasons Your FB Friends “Unfriend” You or “Unlike” Your Page (projectsocial.net)
• If Your Friend Writes a Political Rant on Facebook, Will It Change Your Mind? (techpresident.com)