Is election ‘social shaming’ the new norm?

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VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – Some voters seem to be erupting with passion as election day creeps up.

But can that passion sometimes be a little nasty? Perhaps making you afraid to post your political thoughts, with worry you’ll be bullied by those with opposing views?

“I think that’s led to some people just not wanting to participate at all,” explains Dr. Richard Smith with the Centre for Digital Media.

He says Facebook posts are the new lawn signs.

“Some people would celebrate the lawn signs and some people would tear them down. Some people would be afraid of having a lawn sign.”

But Smith admits Facebook gives an opportunity for people to give informed responses.

“If it’s a bunch of falsehoods, you can track down the origin of that and point it out to them. I think it has the potential of a more civilized debate or informed debate because it does hang in the air,” he explains.

“The bar conversation where somebody said something and you couldn’t remember or didn’t know the rebuttal to that, well the Facebook post does provide that kind of an opportunity.”

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