You're Not Changing Anyone's Mind Online

[AB Editor]

Or, on facebook anyway...

... or maybe only 8% of your friends...

Anyway, you know when you posted that really convincing thing on facebook which was going to convince everyone that they'd vote #remain?

Yeah. That probably didn't work as much as you would have liked!

http://qz.com/759281/your-political-facebook-posts-arent-changing-how-your-friends-think/?utm_source=nextdraft&utm_medium=email

Quite and interesting articles about the US election and how unconvincing people find your shared articles on facebook.

Other fun bits include "Republicans think FB isn't a place for politics," and "Democrats are more likely to unfriend someone because of a political post"

While we should obviously take this data with more than the daily recommendation of salt - as it comes from a firm that sells social followers - it's quite jolly all the same.

The question is, if sharing this stuff is so ineffective, why do we do it?

[Jackdaw33]

Because you get loads of money out of it.

[AB Editor]

Wot? You get paid for sharing things on facebook?

[Mamyalynne]

I'm often surprised at stuff posted on FB - maybe because I am secure in what I personally think, I have no desire to try to persuade others to change their views.

[Jackdaw33]

No, but you do from sharing things on AB.

[AB Editor]

So you share things to AB, to make me money? That's very considerate of you.

It would be more helpful if you could make something go viral on FB and flood AB with millions of people :)

I feel like you're trying to have a dig, but possibly haven't grasped how it all works or the point of the article or the question?

[Jackdaw33]

It's the adverts!

[rockyracoon]

There was lots of sniping about Brexit on my timeline between some of my friends and their friends. It got very tedious in the end and I doubt very much that anyone changed the others mind. Two old school friends really got into it and I unfollowed a couple of friends who really irritated me.

I think people just share what they think, not sure they're doing it with the intention of changing any ones minds. I personally think they like the sound of their own voice and they have a great big audience on FB.

[Old_Geezer]

If folk are not convinced by my posts I reckon that, that is their loss.
The suggestion seems to be that no one analyses the arguments and comes to a logical conclusion; we are what we are and only personal experience has much of an effect.

[Old_Geezer]

The independents seem a decent bunch though. Or maybe they're just easily swayed ;-)

[tamborine]

I prefer anonimity of ab rather than revealing myself on fb for a "dig".

[jim360]

This post isn't going to stop me from trying though.

[mibn2cweus]

Ideas that don't stand up to challenge are just that . . . ideas.

[Hypognosis]

@AbEd

I can't help but be amused by this report (merely the gist of it, that you've given; I may read the link, at a later date). If it was a FB post, I'd click "Like" on it, without further thought.

Answerbank is a place where I do think more about what is on offer: Facebook forces you to wade through even the uninteresting parts of the newsfeed whereas, in AB, you need only click on threads if the title is sufficiently interesting and AB produces the myriad of answers one would expect any question to provoke, in a public place (hence "forum format") whereas, in Facebook, you're already filtering your audience in terms of "people who are related to me; friends with me; think like me".

The most that can be expected to happen after an attempt to 'lecture' FB friends with an opinion piece is that most will merely agree with it and the odd few might go so far as to unfriend you, for your thoughts, or for the apparent attempt to sway the way *they* think. After all, who needs that?