I don’t censor myself on social media, and you shouldn’t either

Social media has never been the home of empathetic and balanced conversation. From the earliest time a troll could hunker down at a keyboard and translate their grunts into comments, polarising and inflammatory discourse has been the hallmark of online engagement.

If you’re smart, you keep your accounts private and only post banal life updates – a coffee from your favourite cafe, your morning dog walk, life milestones like a promotion or pregnancy announcement – the easy stuff. But if you’re politically engaged, it’s hard not to use social media to air your political and social views.

The Israel-Hamas conflict has been a flashpoint on social media.Credit: Getty

Personally, I’m not shy when it comes to expressing my opinions online. For a start, I write opinion pieces, but I also have had strong views on almost everything since I was a child; both of which don’t always make for great relationship building.

When I post online opinions some deem to be inflammatory, people often get their noses out of joint. For example, I’m an avid animal welfare advocate, and have a particular bee in my bonnet about people buying pedigree or designer-breed dogs instead of adopting animals from a rescue or shelter. This is, according to some people who follow me, a radical opinion to hold. I know this because they have either brought their disagreement to me via private message, complained to mutual friends about my views, or posted a response pushing back on my view without naming me.

For the most part, I’m pretty philosophical about it. If people don’t like what I’m saying, it probably means I’ve hit a chord.

But it’s the questioning of why I share my opinions online that bothers me. The implication being, why can’t I just post about my morning walk or the latest show I’m binge-watching? Of course, to some, dog adoption is a relatively trivial topic of concern. The past few years have been rife with more serious political issues that have stirred even the more reticent social media users to action.

First, it was COVID-19, vaccinations and state lockdowns. Then, the Voice referendum. As we got closer and closer to voting and both sides of the campaign started ramping up their energy with advertising and carefully placed messaging all over social media, the pressure to show your support (or not) for the Voice to parliament mounted.

As a staunch Yes voter myself, I applauded my networks for their passion on such an important issue. But the flipside was discovering how many people I knew were No voters.

And then, just days before the referendum, Hamas stormed across the Israeli border, killing more than 1200 civilians and kidnapping hundreds more.

In those early days, it felt like every account I followed was posting support for either Israel or Palestine. Understandably, people reacted strongly, but what I didn’t expect was to see friendships break down as differing views clashed. Nasty messages were sent, people were blocked and unfollowed, and it’s unlikely that the broken relationships will ever be revived.

Where I initially viewed these conflicts as a sad waste of good friendships, my thinking on this has slowly shifted. Friendships are complex, and so is social media.

A lot of the time, it can feel like political posts exist only for virtue signalling, unlikely to result in any tangible change for the issues they support. But the reality is that our digital lives are now as important and central to our identities and relationships as our “real” lives are. For better or worse, our online lives and physical lives have become inextricably intertwined. I wouldn’t compromise my morals if I were discussing something in real life, so why would I censor myself online?

If someone doesn’t like the messages I post, whether it’s on the killing of Palestinian civilians by Israeli soldiers or cautioning people against buying pedigree dogs, I have no problem with them removing themselves from my feed; that’s their right. Ideally, it wouldn’t affect our relationship in person, but if it does, then it means we were unlikely to remain long-term friends anyway.

My online platforms are there for my expression, and aside from being controlled by the social media companies themselves, I don’t want to censor myself. I don’t want anyone else to, either.

For those who find social media being used for political or personal beliefs uncomfortable, make liberal use of the “mute” and “unfollow” buttons. Just as I want my accounts to be a place where I can safely express my views, yours should be the same. And if we meet in person? Well, we can always talk about the weather.

Zoya Patel is an author and freelance writer from Canberra.

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