The Superficial Social Network

I saw this cute little meme on Facebook the other day. Every time I see something like this I’m reminded that we need to avoid superficial political affiliations. When we see logic like this we can be sure that the confirmation bias is hard at work. People have a gut reaction to the political message and either sneer or press the “Like” button. Luckily there were some intelligent comments under the picture. A few people were having a meaningful conversation about the nuances of fiscal policy, the influence of the executive branch on the economy, and the real causes of the economic recession.

So, I encourage you to have thoughtful, meaningful interactions on online social networks like Facebook and Google+. It can be difficult to elevate the conversation in a format like this, but it can be done!