Liking, But Not Liking, the Democrats on Facebook

Ever since the protests in February, I’ve been a member of various political campaigns on Facebook. It started when I “liked” the site “A United Wisconsin to Recall Scott Walker.” I followed this with a battery of online petition-signing and “liking,” until someone looking at my Facebook page might think I was a frenzied person who stayed up late writing angry letters to my senator.

I get a kick out of much of the correspondence from my new political groups, which keep me informed in an earnest, biased sort of way. But one group that has begun to get on my nerves is the Democratic Party of Wisconsin.

I’m not a frequent Facebooker, but yesterday on a brief foray to my home page I caught the most recent Democratic Party posting:

Scott Walker’s right-wing extremist health care czar vows to reject grants to promote healthier lifestyles and manage diseases such as diabetes.

It’s not the information in this post, but the tone, that annoys me. How many adjectives do you need to describe Dennis Smith, the Secretary of the state’s Department of Health Services? Sure, the news is cause for concern, but really. By the time I got to the point of the post, I was sighing, shrugging, and rolling my eyes—at the Dems, not at Smith.

Out of curiosity, I looked up the Facebook page of the Republican Party of Wisconsin to compare the two. I discovered that 13,602 people “like” the Republican Party, while only 10,404 people “like” the Democrats as of today. I have no idea what this means. For perspective, 21,867,734 people “like” President Barack Obama, while 3,169,521 people “like” Sarah Palin and a whopping 39,643,424 “like” Lady Gaga.

(There are also a confusing array of misspelled Barak Obamas available to “like”: Barak Obama, Politician at 27,371 “likes”; Barak Obama, Public Figure; Barak Obama, Author; Barak Obama, Athlete; and most intriguing, Barak Obama, Local Business.)

The Wisconsin Democrats’ and Republicans’ Facebook pages are similar in predictable ways. Both are focused on promoting their own party’s accomplishments while portraying the other party as a bunch of dishonest hypocrites. However, I will say that I find the Republican tone to be less abrasive. Scrolling down, I see no outright name-calling, and many posts are simple and informative. Examples:

You can help with the recall efforts no matter where you live in the state. Fill out the form at [website], and we’ll match you with an opportunity near you!

In Case You Missed It: Governor Walker was on MSNBC this morning talking about moving our state past the divisive debates, and moving our economy forward.

Contrast those with a couple more recent posts from the Dems:

No matter how much Paul Ryan brags about his own “courage” and “boldness,” the fact is he is fundamentally weak and that is because he wrote a budget with Washington lobbyists that ends the guarantee of health care for seniors at the same time he hands over the economy to Wall Street.

Scott Walker’s radical budget and its underlying priorities do not reflect our shared Wisconsin values. We’ve listed a top ten of the worst items – what would you add to our list?

To be fair, the Republicans can be negative too. They’re quick to lambast Barack Obama, the protesters, and their other opponents. Since I refuse to add my name to the tally of Republican “likes,” I have much more experience as a DPW Facebook group member; maybe if I were conservative, I’d be irked by the tone of some RPW posts. But in my brief investigation today, I simply didn’t see as much outright name-calling from the Republicans.

And so, to the Democrats I pass on the writer’s creed: trust your material. Yes, terrible things have been happening, and it’s good to keep us informed—that’s why I’ve “liked” you. But the name-calling and hyperbole in some of your posts only undermine our message. And they also make me consider “un-liking” your Facebook page.