Over the last three years, at some point, we have all be taken back by some of the things we have seen on social media from our family, friends, and even political leaders.

Sometimes we may laugh, other times we may cry, we may get angry and some of us will even call or text and say “DON’T YOU HAVE WORK YOU SHOULD BE DOING?”

When it comes to discussing politics with the people we love, it can be hard. Even then, I think hard is a serious understatement. Some of us may look at our family and wonder how or why they could ever believe that. Or even worse, look at our spouses in dismay and wonder “whom the heck did I marry?”

The simplest way to handle this frustration is simply unfollowing people or my favorite muting. But let’s be real, you can’t unfollow people who are that close to you in real life. So you have to do the one thing that most people nowadays are too scared to do, and that is communicating.

“I never considered a difference of opinion in politics, in religion, in philosophy, as cause for withdrawing from a friend.” – Thomas Jefferson to William Hamilton, April 22, 1800

The thing about politics that we all have to understand is that people will have a difference of opinion in some, way shape or form. Those people could be our parents, grandparents, spouses, siblings, and even our own children. Even while they may have a difference of opinion, that doesn’t mean we stop loving them no matter how wrong in our eyes they may be.

The thing about politics that we all have to understand is that people will have a difference of opinion in some, way shape or form. Those people could be our parents, grandparents, spouses, siblings, and even our children. Even while they may have a difference of opinion, that doesn’t mean we stop loving them no matter how wrong in our eyes they may be.
In all honesty, while unfriending may work in the short term, it’s not a long term resolve to a problem (unless it’s just an internet friend).
To communicate with the people around us effectively, we have to remember a few things I have lined out below.

The thing about politics that we all have to understand is that people will have a difference of opinion in some, way shape or form. Those people could be our parents, grandparents, spouses, siblings, and even our own children. Even while they may have a difference of opinion, that doesn’t mean we stop loving them no matter how wrong in our eyes they may be.

In all honesty, while unfriending may work in the short term, it’s not really a long term resolve to a problem (unless it’s just an internet friend).

In order to communicate with the people around us effectively, we have to remember a few things I have lined out below.

Show Respect

There is no way to have effective or reciprocal communication without the basic tenet of respect. This means that when speaking to someone whose beliefs differ from yours, that you refrain from doing the basic things all of our kindergarten teachers taught us: no name-calling, no interrupting, (taking turns while speaking) and no downplaying someone else’s feelings to uplift your own.

This is first on the list for a variety of reasons. For one, being able to show respect means that you can accept that people have and will continue to make choices that differ from yours. You are allowing them the opportunity to state their case, and by listening intently, showing them the same respect that you want in return.

The thing about politics is that everyone is always going to elevate their candidate. People tend to believe that their candidate is the one who is going to change their lives for the better. Whether or not you disagree with them, we should allow each person to continue to believe that the American dream is waiting for them.

If their “facts” upset you, figure out why

At this stage in life, the 25 and up crowd should be able to identify sources in which to find reputable news and facts. Meaning we were all taught at one point that peer-reviewed sources were the best, Wikipedia can be edited by anyone, and yes there are major differences between opinion shows/hosts and reputable journalist.

Unfortunately, that last tidbit may come as a shock to some people (but we won’t cover that today).

If you are in the midst of a conversation and someone quotes Buzzfeed as their sources, do not automatically discount what they are saying. Many people do not realize (or just don’t care) that Buzzfeed has an amazing Pulitizer nominated International Reporting division, so they aren’t all what type of cat are you quizzes.

While we all should be outraged at websites that blatantly report true fake news and try to pass it off as facts, we can’t always assume everyone who reads it will realize it. This is where several factors such as education level and other things come into play. Some people are truly decent and were just hoodwinked.

With the amount of access we have to today’s media, it can be very difficult to distinguish what’s real and what isn’t. And while we should always check our sources, I will be the first to admit that it can be difficult in the midst of a breaking news story. And I think at some point we are all guilty of running to twitter to see if something is true or not (like Betty White passing away for the 7th time).

Realize that you DO NOT have to respond. But if you feel the need to respond, do so with empathy

Empathy is the process of trying to take on another’s perspective. For any effective communication to take place, it is necessary. If you aren’t sure how to show empathy, here are a few examples of statements just to get you familiar with the tone of such a statement.