Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
How Americans Navigate Politics on TikTok, X, Facebook and Instagram
The largest shares of Instagram, TikTok and Facebook users say the platforms have no impact on democracy
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- How Americans Navigate Politics on TikTok, X, Facebook and Instagram
- X stands out as a place its users go to keep up with politics
- On TikTok, Facebook and Instagram, politics takes a backseat to entertainment, connections
- Republican X users have dramatically changed their views about its impact on democracy since 2021
- The largest shares of Instagram, TikTok and Facebook users say the platforms have no impact on democracy
- Across social media platforms, seeing politics far outweighs sharing about it
- 31% of X users say what they see about politics doesn’t lean liberal or conservative, versus slightly smaller shares on other platforms who say the same
- TikTok and X stand out as places people post political content because they feel it belongs there
- Majorities of Facebook and Instagram users who keep politics out of their posts say it doesn’t belong there
- Most users say people feel free to talk politics on social media platforms; GOP Facebook users are more skeptical
- Democrats who use X are far more likely than Republicans to say harassment is a major problem on the site
- 95% of TikTok users say entertainment is a reason for using the platform; only about a third say politics is
- 45% of TikTok users say at least some of what they see on the site is political
- Most users do not post political content on TikTok
- 81% of TikTok users who post about politics say it’s because their views are welcome there
- 56% of TikTok users who don’t post about politics say it’s because they don’t care about it
- More users think TikTok is mostly good rather than mostly bad for American democracy
- Most users say people feel free to express their political views on TikTok
- Roughly 1 in 5 users say the TikTok content they see leans liberal; fewer say it leans conservative
- Majority of TikTok users say harassment is a problem on the platform
- Most users are on X because it’s entertaining, but majorities also use it for politics, news
- 14% of X users say they post at least some political content there
- Most X users who post about politics say it’s because their views are welcome there – but also because they feel obligated to do so
- Republicans who post about politics on X are more likely than Democrats to say that a major reason they do so is that their views are welcome there
- 51% of those who don’t post about politics on X say it’s because they don’t think it will make a difference
- Growing share of Republican X users see it as mostly good for democracy
- Across parties, X users widely view it as a place where people feel free to express their political views
- X users are about equally likely to say the political content they see leans liberal versus conservative
- Many X users – especially Democrats – see harassment as a problem on the platform
- About 9 in 10 Facebook users say keeping up with friends, family is a reason they use the platform; far fewer cite news or politics
- Roughly half of Facebook users see at least some politics there
- Few Facebook users post or share at least some political content
- More Facebook users say they post about politics because they feel they should than say they do so because politics belongs there
- Democrats on Facebook are more likely than Republicans to say a major reason for posting about politics is because their views are welcome there
- Two-thirds of Facebook users who don’t post about politics say it’s because it’s not the place for that
- Politics not belonging on Facebook is a key reason some users across parties – especially Republicans – don’t post about it
- Across parties, Facebook users hold largely similar views about its impact on American democracy
- Most users think people feel free to express political views on Facebook, but fewer Republicans say so
- Republican Facebook users are far more likely to say the political content they see on the site leans liberal rather than conservative
- Most Facebook users say harassment on the site is a problem; Democrats more likely to say it’s a major one
- Entertainment, keeping up with friends and family are main reasons people use Instagram; relatively few say they use it for politics or news
- 36% of Instagram users see at least some political content on it
- Few Instagram users post political content
- 7 in 10 Instagram users who post about politics say it’s because they feel they should do so
- Majority of those who avoid posting politics on Instagram say it’s because it doesn’t belong there
- Republican Instagram users are more likely than Democratic users to say they don’t post about politics because it doesn’t belong there
- The largest share of Instagram users think it has no impact on American democracy
- Most Instagram users say people feel free to share their political views, but views still differ by party
- Instagram users are more likely to say the political content they see leans liberal than conservative
- Most Instagram users think harassment is a problem on the site, but Democrats are more likely to say this