Social Times

Pew Research Center released its newest report, The Political Environment on Social Media, and its findings included:

• 37 percent of the more than 4,500 U.S. adults surveyed by Pew said they were worn out by the amount of political content they have encountered on social media, while just 20 percent enjoy seeing political content on social networks, and 41 percent did not feel strongly one way or the other.
• 59 percent of respondents described their online interactions with people they disagree with politically as stressful and frustrating, while just 35 percent find them interesting and informative.
• 64 percent said such encounters leave them wondering if they have even less in common with those people than they originally thought, while 29 percent believed the opposite.
• 40 percent of respondents believe people discussing politics on social media platforms say things they would never say in-person, while 49 percent believe political conversations on social media are angrier, 53 percent feel that they are less respectful and 49 percent believe they are less civil.
• 83 percent try to ignore political posts from friends that they disagree with, while 15 percent said they respond with comments of their own.
• 39 percent of respondents have blocked or unfriended other social media users or changed settings in order to see fewer posts from them over politics—31 percent changed settings and 27 percent blocked or unfriended other users. 60 percent of those who resorted to those steps said it was due to political content that they found offensive.
• 19 percent of highly engaged users said they often comment, discuss or post about political issues on social media, compared with just 6 percent of less politically engaged users.
• 31 percent of politically engaged users feel that social media helps bring new voices into the discussion, while 30 percent feel that it helps people get involved with issues that matter to them.