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When the debate over health care boiled over this summer, there was a big, new shiny melting pot just waiting to hold it:
Facebook.
Nearly 300,000 people of voting age are on Facebook in the greater Charlotte area, and almost 73million American adults are, according to the site.
And for the past month, we've been talking about health care. Nielsen Online, which measures Web traffic, says overall online discussions of the proposed health care overhaul have boomed 1,000percent the past month, sweeping aside other topics such as Cash for Clunkers and swine flu.
Welcome to a new kind of town-square dialogue.
Here's the good part:
“Hearing opinions from friends (real friends) who believe differently from me, it's hard to discount someone's views as nutty or ill-informed when I really like these people,” says Facebook user Anita Blanchard, who teaches psychology at UNC Charlotte.
Here's the not-so-good:
“Information can be skewed, misunderstood or just plain made up,” says Raleigh's Andre Blackman, an online health care analyst and writer. Adding to that danger, “Everyone has an opportunity to instantaneously broadcast,” says Queens University of Charlotte's John McArthur, an assistant professor of communications and a social media expert.
The debate has played out on Facebook particularly since Sarah Palin's Aug. 7 remarks about the proposed health care overhaul being “evil” on her Facebook page, where she has 800,000 supporters. Her comments there that “death panels” could kill her child with Down syndrome caused an uproar. Media analysts pointed out that Palin's Facebook followers saw those remarks before the news media or policy experts could point out that the death-panel claim was false.
Palin's use of social media is the perfect way for “a controversial politician to communicate with her public in an unfiltered way,” said analyst Larry Sabato of the University of Virginia Center for Politics.
The Obama administration responded by blasting away to the 6.6 million supporters on its Facebook page. The White House has posted more than 20 items related to health care on its page in the past few weeks, including policy papers and invitations to online events.
About two-thirds of American adults – some 150 million people – are not on Facebook. And the site's demographics tend to skew toward wealthier people.
“Your average conservative, working American doesn't have the time nor the interest in the online environment,” argues Charlotte public relations man Harry Hoover, who works a great deal with social networks. Even so, the proportion of Democrats and Republicans on Facebook is about the same as for the entire country.
There are other problems with using a neighborly social network to discuss a thorny and complex political issue. Namely, people tend to share ideas with those who already agree with them. Charlotte's Bob McSwain supports health care overhaul, and believes that is the prevailing feeling on Facebook. Michael LeBard of Charlotte has a different friend set, and he believes most Facebook users oppose the health care overhaul.
With its broad reach, Facebook is changing the way people talk about public policy. And in the end, experts say, dialogue is good.
“Facebook is a great way for many people to get together surrounding a specific topic and lend their thoughts and concerns,” says Raleigh's Blackman.
Charlotteans are chiming in on both sides:
“The President is right,” wrote Chrystal Safari in answer to the Observer's health care discussion on Facebook. “We do need to increase competition among health insurance/coverage providers.”
“I just wish Obama would be as honest as he's asking everyone else to be,” counters Randy Reece. “The majority of people do not want ‘public health care.'”
One thing is certain: The debate will go on. But in a new way.
