You’re ruining Facebook (and friendships) with political rants, by Karol Markowicz.

This year’s presidential election seems to be more divisive and personal — friendships fraying, families fighting and acquaintances going their separate ways — than in years past. And nowhere is that more apparent than on Facebook.

Facebook isn’t for politics — or at least, it shouldn’t be. This is hard for people to understand because politics has otherwise permeated every part of our culture, so why not the most social of social media?

Musicians lecture from the concert stage, professors sidebar their opinions in class, religious leaders deliver whole sermons about presidential candidates from the pulpit.

People assume it’s normal to agitate for a candidate no matter their job and post positive information about their pick and negative information about the other guy (or gal).

Facebook is not the place for political rants and regurgitated talking points:

Besides, you’re probably preaching to the choir and your friends who disagree with you have long ago silenced your missives. Facebook introduced the “unfollow” option in 2013.

This allows people to essentially mute their friends without permanently unfriending them. A Pew study from 2014 found that about a quarter of Facebook users have blocked people over political disagreements. And that’s before the election really got into high gear. It’s easy to imagine that number being higher now.

The silo effect:

A different Pew survey from August found that nearly half of Clinton supporters don’t have any friends who support Trump and 31 percent of Trump supporters don’t know anyone voting for Hillary. We’re already in our bubbles, why make it worse with your ranting? …

The election will hopefully end someday and you want to still have your friends on the other side. So post a picture of your lunch instead of the latest Trump meme, or alert your friends to an article that has nothing to do with politics. Let politics become a subject in the background of your life.