Refugees in B.C.: resettlement issue puts strain on Facebook friendships
Polarizing issues like politics and religion are the second most common reason why people 'unfriend'
Sarah Daniels is down a few Facebook friends after sharing her thoughts all week on Canada's efforts to bring 25,000 Syrian refugees into the country.
"Does anyone actually think that refugees admitted into Canada won't be fully vetted?" asked the Vancouver-based television personality turned real estate agent in one of her Facebook posts.
"Closing the doors on these families, in my mind, is no different from the doors slamming shut on Jewish refugees in the 1930's," she went on to say.
That post elicited 99 comments. While the majority of people agreed with her, a vocal dozen remained vehemently concerned with the speed of the refugee screening process, while others wrote Canada could be letting in "a whole lot of" terrorists.
Daniels ended up culling people from posting on her Facebook page.
"They're more than welcome to not like what I say and they're more than welcome to say that in a well-thought out way but when there becomes name-calling and racism ... I'm going to toss you," said Daniels in an interview with CBC.
Why we 'unfriend'
Daniels's experience on Facebook this week isn't a surprise to some.
In 2011, Dr. Christopher Sibona at the University of Colorado, Denver studied the reasons why people on Facebook "unfriend" one another.
"The second most common one was polarizing posts, so politics and religion," said the information systems researcher. "The Syrian refugee crisis combines both of those pretty well."
The number one reason was frequent, unimportant posts.
Sibona says online conversations often erupt into heated debates because there are no visual cues to respond to.
"If you're online you can think about it ... and you can get angrier and things can sort of spiral to be more confrontational than they would be in a face-to-face conversation," he said.
He's been told by research subjects that given the chance to rebuild their network of Facebook friends, they would be far more discerning in who they accept as friends.
However, Dr. Michael Xenos warns against limiting Facebook friends to only those you agree with.
"Whether online or offline, people benefit from being exposed to political views that are different from their own," said the University of Wisconsin-Madison communication professor.
"A diversity of viewpoints in one's feed is one of the things that makes Facebook an interesting place."
Cutting ties
With more than 5,000 friends on Facebook and another 1,000 who "follow" her, Daniels admits she doesn't know most of these so-called friends but she does welcome a range of opinions.
It wasn't just Daniels who took steps to block people from her page, others did the same to her.
"I'm so excited!! People are unfriending me," posted Daniels on Wednesday.
Despite being polarizing, Daniels still wants to be heard.
She says the photo of a young Alan Kurdi, washed up on the shores of Greece haunts her.
"That image seemed to make people understand that this could happen to them, and then Paris happened," she said.
"I do understand there is a great deal of fear associated with that but that doesn't mean that the people who were so desperately in need of our help two months ago are all suddenly members of ISIS."
When strong values, like the ones Daniels holds, bump up against each other, researches say they're bound to create disagreements both on- and offline.
Sibona does offer advice though: "If you wanted to avoid being unfriended then I would definitely say avoid politics and religion, but if you want to talk about something that is deeply held, then you're going to talk about things that are important to your life."