With election season in full swing it's hard not to log onto Facebook or Twitter without being inundated by political posts. Corina Cappabianca spoke with a psychologist to see what the thinking is behind the messages.
SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Maybe one or even a few friends of yours just can't stop posting their political opinions on social media.
"I see 50 posts a day on just B.S. politics," said Syracuse University student Noah London.
"Some people do have very strong opinions and it's just like I just need to keep scrolling," said Syracuse University student Antonia Green.
"It's just like, why are you saying things you're saying right now?" said Syracuse University student John Jankovic.
Upstate Medical University psychologist Richard O'Neill says it comes down to this:
"When we're with somebody we can see their facial expressions and their body language and they are a real human being to us and when we're typing on our computer to somebody who's anonymous we don't have any real human connection to them."
He says it can initially feel good to target someone else when you're frustrated, but it can often later lead to remorse.
"It sort of relieves the pressure of our own irritation and anger and subsequently we can see we really hurt that person's feelings and we can feel empathy for them and feel some shame about what we've done," said O'Neill.
And, it can lead to some awkward situations.
"I've definitely unfollowed several people and unfriended certain people too, just because sometimes it's like overkill. And, it's like alright we get you feel this way, but it doesn't mean everybody else feels that way," said Green.
“I used to comment back on them like ‘this is diluted or this is misconstrued’ and explain why. But, you see enough of them, you just stop caring,” said London.
It can be a lot to take in but, some say it's good that people are following the election.
"It's cool to see that people are involved I guess, it's better informed than not informed," said Green.
"I like to see people's opinions and I like to see what they think," said Jankovic.
"I'll share posts occasionally that are like actually informed and hope that people will read them," said London.