H eadlines
As Facebook Groups Grow, Admins Dodge Politics
L OCA L
SASHA ROGELBERG | JE STAFF
AFTER MORE THAN 13
years of moderating the “Jewish
Philadelphia” Facebook group,
administrator Len Lipkin is
hoping to pass the torch.

The group — created by
Lipkin on Sept. 22, 2008 —
now boasts 3,600 members
from the Greater Philadelphia
community. And with the group’s rapid
growth over the past few years,
Lipkin said he doesn’t have the
time or energy to moderate the
group’s posts and comments,
which can reach up to 100 per
day. Lipkin put out feelers in
the community, asking group
members and community
organizations to help manage
the page, but with limited
interest. Over Lipkin’s tenure with the
largest Jewish Facebook group
in Philadelphia, he’s noticed a
lot of changes. Once created as
a forum for area Jews to find
synagogues or discuss Jewish
current events and antisem-
itism, the group now serves
as the virtual bulletin board
for area Jewish programming,
businesses and holiday events.

However, around five years
ago, Lipkin observed another
shift. “When the 2016 election
came around, there were a lot
of people that started getting
a little bit more testy with
one another,” Lipkin said. “I
started moderating, and we
started getting spam, groups of
people joining just to post ads
and things like that.”
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This wasn’t just the case for
Lipkin. Other administrators
of Jewish Facebook groups
locally and nationally noticed
a similar trend: increased
political posting and adver-
tisements that have caused
their experiences on the social
media site to sour.

When former Facebook data
scientist Frances Haugen testi-
fied at the Senate Commerce,
Science and Transportation
Subcommittee hearing on
Consumer Protection, Product
Safety and Data Security on
Oct. 5, she outlined Facebook’s
alleged use of algorithms to
further partisan agendas and
expose younger audiences to
content that may damage their
mental health.

“It is causing teenagers to
be exposed to more anorexia
content. It is pulling families
apart. And in places like
Ethiopia, it’s literally fanning
ethnic violence,” Haugen said
in her testimony.

For Facebook group admins,
political posts pose a nuisance.

Charles Schnur, adminis-
trator for the 2,600-member
“Jews in Center City” group,
said he’s noticed Facebook
becoming a politically divisive
space. He tries to keep politics
out, approving posts about
community events, not polit-
ical discussions.

“I’ve done my best to make
this as a unifying area for the
Jews in the area,” Schnur said.

However, Schnur said this
wasn’t the case in other Jewish
Facebook groups of which he
is a part.

“We live in a world where
both Biden and Trump are
antisemites,” Schnur said,
referring to the range of
opinions he’s seen in various
groups. “Can’t we just, for
a minute, put that all aside
and find something we have
in common? Whether it’s a
Shabbos dinner, a Torah event,
some other event — The labels
shouldn’t matter.”
JEWISH EXPONENT
Len Lipkin is the sole administrator of the Facebook group “Jewish
Philadelphia,” which has about 3,600 members.
Courtesy of Len Lipkin
Even “Frum Fandom,” a
Facebook group for Orthodox
Jews to discuss their favorite
science fiction and fantasy
media — and where Schnur is
a member — isn’t a sanctuary
from politics.

Group admin Chesky
Salomon said he sees a request
to post something divisive
about once a week. Salomon
immediately deletes those
requests. “I forbid it,” he said.

Salomon believes that
politics stray from the group’s
purpose, and that “politics ruin
everything.” Dustin Kidd, a sociology
professor at Temple University
who studies social media,
said Salomon’s disdain for
politics in his Facebook group
aligns with why others may
be frustrated with the social
media site.

“Political issues may be very
important, but people also
want a place of respite from
them,” he said.

In combination with a
“bombardment” of sponsored
content and advertisements,
Facebook can feel less like a
place to disconnect with outside
issues and more of a political
and economic minefield.

However, Kidd — and all of
his students — still use Facebook
or other social media sites.

Despite issues with Facebook,
it’s sometimes the only place for
people to find out about events
and programming.

“Many of [my students]
really hate these sites and want
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