From global protests against racial injustice to the 2020 election, some Americans who use social media are using social media to mobilize others and show support for a cause or issue. is using the platform. However, a Pew Research Center survey of U.S. adults conducted June 16-22, 2020 found that experiences and attitudes related to political activity on social media vary by race/ethnicity, age, and political affiliation. different.
People can be politically active on social media in a variety of ways. The survey asked Americans about four different types of activities they may have participated in on these platforms. Overall, around a third (36%) of social media users have used sites like Facebook and Twitter in the past month to post photos showing support for a cause or to support an event in India. They also searched for information about upcoming rallies and protests. Encourage others to take action in their field (35%) or on issues they think are important (32%). During this period, they were less likely to report using hashtags related to political or social issues on social media (18%).
Pew Research Center conducted this study to understand how Americans use social media to engage in civic action and online activities. For this analysis, he surveyed 4,708 U.S. adults from June 16, 2020 to June 22, 2020. All participants are members of the Pew Research Center’s American Trends Panel (ATP). The ATP is an online survey panel recruited through a nationwide random sampling of residents. address. In this way, nearly every American adult has the opportunity to choose. The survey is weighted to be representative of the U.S. adult population by gender, race, ethnicity, partisan affiliation, education, and other categories. Learn more about ATP’s methodology here.
Below are the questions, answers, and methodology used in this report.
Hispanic and Black social media users (46% and 45%, respectively) are more likely than white users (29%) to say they have looked up information about protests and gatherings in their area on social media in the past month. It becomes more sexual.
But certain activities stand out to Black users. 48% of Black social media users say they posted a photo on social media to show support for a cause in the past month. In comparison, 37% of Hispanic users and 33% of white users. Black adults who use social media (45%) are more likely than Hispanics (33%) and whites (30%) to have used social media to urge others to take action on an issue in the past month. Things that are important to them who are likely to say they have used them.
Black users are also more than twice as likely as white users to say they have used hashtags related to political or social issues on these platforms in the past month (33% vs. 15%); The user is located between these two users. Group (22%).
Social media engagement with causes and issues also varies by age. Just over half (54%) of social media users aged 18 to 29 say they have used these sites to find information about rallies and protests in their area in the past month. compared to 36% (26%) of social media users aged 30-49. % for those aged 50-64 and 20% for those aged 65 and over. Social media users under 30 were also more likely than those over 30 to use hashtags related to political or social issues and encourage others to take action on issues they think are important. They are more likely to say yes, but the age group is lower. The gap when it comes to posting photos to show support for a cause.
There are also racial differences At the inner Young Black social media users in particular are more likely to post hashtags and encourage others to engage politically. For example, 55% of Black social media users between the ages of 18 and 49 say they posted a photo showing support for a cause in the past month, compared to 37% of Hispanic users. Fewer than 4 in 10 users were white (36%). ) are in the same age group. Among adults under 50, black users (44%) are more likely than white (22%) or Hispanic users (23%) to have posted hashtags related to political or social issues in the past month. Almost twice as likely to say they used tags. problem.
Partisanship is also a factor. Approximately 4 in 10 Democratic voters and Democratic voters have posted a photo showing support for a cause or used social media to show support for a rally or protest nearby in the past month. They said they sought out information about activism and encouraged others to take action on issues that matter to them. By comparison, less than 3 in 10 Republicans or Republican voters say they have done this. Democrats are also more than twice as likely as Republicans to say they have used a hashtag related to a political or social issue in the past month (25% vs. 10%).
Another survey by the Center conducted in June 2020 found that while this survey did not specifically ask respondents about the types of topics they were posting about or researching, these findings showed that the majority It comes at a time when Americans are having conversations about race and racial inequality. Following the death of George Floyd while in police custody at the end of May.
A separate analysis of tweets by Pew Research Center found unprecedented use of the #BlackLivesMatter hashtag on Twitter. The hashtag was used approximately 47.8 million times between May 26th and June 7th. And a 2018 center report found that people are using social media to discuss a variety of political and social issues, from #MeToo to #MAGA to #LoveWins.
Racial and ethnic differences in the importance of these platforms for finding like-minded people and tackling issues
Social media users were also asked in three different ways how important these sites were to them personally as venues for political activity. We found that Black and Hispanic users tend to place greater emphasis on social media for these activities.
Overall, 45% of users say social media is very or somewhat important to them personally in terms of finding others to share their opinions on important issues, but not politically or somewhat. Similar proportions say the same when engaging with social issues (44%) or providing a forum for expressing political opinions (40%).
Black and Hispanic social media users perceive more personal benefits than white users when it comes to this type of civic-minded activity.
Black and Hispanic social media users (60% and 57%, respectively) are more likely than white users (39%) to personally use social media to find others who share their opinions on important issues. They are more likely to say it is very or somewhat important. There are similar racial disparities when asked about the personal importance of these sites for engaging with issues they care about or providing a space to express political opinions.
Democratic users are also more likely than Republicans to say these sites are personally important for participating in certain types of civic activities. About 55% of Democrats say social media is very or somewhat important for engaging with political and social issues that are important to them, compared to Republicans (who lean toward each party). (including people), 32% answered the same. Similar partisan gaps exist in finding others who share your views (54% vs. 36%) and in giving users a place to express their political opinions (47% vs. 33%). This is also evident when the importance of media is at issue.
Younger social media users are also more likely than older users to say social media is important to them in these ways. About six in ten (58%) 18- to 29-year-olds say social media is very or somewhat important when engaging with political and social issues that are important to them. Among older adults, 43% of those aged 30-49 say so, while a smaller proportion (36%) of those over 50 say so.
The majority (59%) of social media users aged 18-29 say social media is at least somewhat important for finding others who share their views on important issues, but 30 A lower percentage of social media users (45%) are between the ages of ~49. People over 50 (37%) are the least likely to think social media is personally important in these ways.
Overall, the level of personal importance social media users place on these platforms for political engagement is broadly consistent with the Center’s 2018 survey, the last time it asked these questions. For example, 43% of social media users at the time said these sites were somewhat or very important to them personally for finding others to share their opinions on important topics; That’s roughly on par with the 45% of today’s social media users who say the same thing. Additionally, there is little or no difference in the level of importance that users place on engaging with social and political issues that are important to them and using social media as a forum to share political opinions.
There is a shift in the degree to which some users, particularly younger users, consider social media platforms to be important for certain forms of online activity.
59% of social media users aged 18-29 now say these platforms are at least somewhat important for finding people to share their opinions on important topics, up from 47% in 2018. % has increased. We’re also seeing double-digit increases among younger users when it comes to getting involved in political or social issues and having a platform to express opinions. By comparison, there is little change in these questions for social media users over the age of 30.
Democrats are now more likely than before to describe these platforms as personally important. In 2018, about 44% of Democrats said they personally felt social media was at least somewhat important for engaging with politics and social issues, compared to 55% now. More and more Democrats are thinking about the importance of finding people who share their views on social media and giving them a platform to express their political opinions. But for Republican social media users, little has changed on these questions.
For these questions, the share of Black, White, and Hispanic users has remained statistically unchanged since 2018, although there has been some variation by age and political affiliation.
Correction (July 24, 2020): An earlier version of this post revealed that among Hispanic social media users, the percentage of Hispanic social media users who say social media is very or somewhat important for finding others to share with was incorrectly stated as having increased since 2018. That their opinions and involvement in social or political issues that they care about are important to them. The difference was not statistically significant.
Note: Here are the questions, answers, and methodology used in this report.
Brooke Auxier is a former research fellow specializing in internet and technology at Pew Research Center.