How Americans Navigate Politics on TikTok, X, Facebook and Instagram
Sample sizes and margins of error, ATP Wave 144
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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