How Political Should You Get on Social Media?

Maybe you're a die-hard Democrat, and you think Barack Obama wiped the floor with Mitt Romney in the presidential debates. Or maybe you're a staunch Republican, you believe Mitt Romney was on top of his game.

Do you share these opinions with your friends on Facebook and Twitter?

Maybe you shouldn't, suggests a recent article on Boston.com. People of all political leanings told the Globe they're learning too much about their friends' and relatives' attitudes.

A February study by the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project provided the data for the article.

The study found that 18 percent of social media users have blocked, unfriended or hidden someone because of political differences or a distaste for the sheer volume of the friends’ political posts. It also found that 38 percent of social media users discovered that their friends' political leanings are different than originally thought.

"A lot of people are stupider than I thought they were," Boston-area resident John Clarke, a self-described fiscal conservative and social liberal, told the Globe. "That includes relatives and close friends."

The Pew study surveyed 2,253 adults via phone. None of the questions specified a social networking platform.