Chart(s) of the week: Social networking sites & politics
Some 18% of social networking site users have blocked, unfriended, or hidden someone for at least one of the following reasons:
- 10% of SNS users have blocked, unfriended, or hidden someone because that person posted too frequently about political subjects
- 9% of SNS users have blocked, unfriended, or hidden someone because they posted something about politics or issues that they disagreed with or found offensive
- 8% of SNS users have blocked, unfriended, or hidden someone because they argued about political issues on the site with the user or someone the user knows
- 5% of SNS users have blocked, unfriended, or hidden someone because they posted something about politics that the user worried would offend other friends
- 4% of SNS users have blocked, unfriended, or hidden someone because they disagreed with something the user posted about politics
At the other end of the scale, 16% of SNS users have friended or followed someone because that person shared the user’s political views. In addition:
- 47% of SNS users have hit the “like” button in response to political comments or material posted by someone else.
- 38% have posted positive comments in response to a political post or status update from someone else.
Source: pewinternet.org
