Saturday May 11, 2013

GE13: Unfriendly lot on social media, pals out in the open

(From left) Zafran, Kien Kit and Yue Zhi insist friendship will stay true once the hype over the elections is over.

KUALA LUMPUR: At the height of the GE13 frenzy, graphic designer Brandon Chow was among the generation now taking to the Internet to express his political views.

Despite heated debates and disagreements, the spirit of friendship still prevails and as tensions are gradually lowered, people are trying to patch up the broken bonds now.

He too, was earlier caught in the “unfriending” phenomenon over social media as friends turned what he posted into a debate.

“Every time I make a post, he posted some political-related post immediately, as if the posts were directed at me,” said Chow of one particular friend.

Angered by the way his friend acted on Facebook, “unsubscribing” was the best solution as his friend would not realise him doing so. “I'm still his friend but I just don't want to see his Facebook posts and end up getting annoyed and angry.

“I don't think things like these should ruin a relationship. If I meet him in person, there's no hard feelings or whatsoever. We're still friends,” explained Chow, who plans to re-subscribe his friend's Facebook in the future.

For Law Yue Zhi, 22, he “unfriended” one of his friends due to the never-ending political rants his friend posted on his timeline.

“I have no hard feelings towards him but I just want to remove the annoying posts on Facebook,” he said.

Law still greets his friend outside and they still have conversations with their friends.

Besides finding some political posts annoying, Adilah Nasuhah, 19, also discovered some racists remarks and baseless theories vulgar among the postings.

“I just can't stand the vulgar tweets and so I unfollowed' some of my friends. But I do want to reconcile with them after the hype dies down,” she said.

Similar to Adilah, Zafran Aqil, 19 “unfollowed” a lot of his friends on Twitter.

“I couldn't stand the people who were just tweeting without checking their facts. They talk too much with no substance,” said Zafran, who does plan to “follow” his friends back again in the future.

Chan Kien Kit, 27, a graphic designer “hides” some of his friends on Facebook because he thinks that “unfriending” them is rude.

“Yes, some political views are really irritating, especially coming from some of my friends.

“Despite coming off as annoying on Facebook, I still hang out with them because they are my friends after all,” he said.

For more election stories, please visit The Star's GE13 site

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