Excellent New Pew Study On How Americans Navigate Politics on TikTok, X, Facebook and Instagram

American social media users have a number of options these days when it comes to how they do or don’t engage with or even see political content online. When users gravitate towards one platform or another, those choices bring with them decidedly different consumption and engagement patterns, often dictated by the platforms themselves. A fantastic new study from the Pew Research Center dives deep.

Americans’ experiences with politics on social media often depend on the platforms they use, from TikTok and X to Facebook and Instagram.

X stands out as a place people turn to for politics. A majority of X users (59%) say keeping up with politics or political issues is a reason they use it, compared with 36% of TikTok users and even smaller shares of Facebook or Instagram users (26% each).

There’s a range of reasons people are drawn to social media platforms – even on X, where using it to keep up with politics is relatively common. On TikTok, Facebook and Instagram, politics takes a backseat to other reasons we explored.

For example:

Entertainment largely reigns, especially on TikTok. Nearly all TikTok users (95%) say they’re on it because it’s entertaining, and about three-quarters or more say the same for X, Facebook and Instagram.

On Facebook and Instagram, friends and family are motivators. Most Facebook and Instagram users say a reason for using each is to keep up with friends and family. This share drops to 44% for TikTok and 33% for X.

Xitter is the only platform where a majority of users cite politics as a reason they use it. But people on TikTok, Facebook and Instagram still come across political content. And what they do or don’t do with that content again depends largely on what platform they are using.

This is just a taste. There’s so much more at the link and it is well worth your time.