OPINION:
Conservatives don’t trust the liberal media to get their news, but they also aren’t going to social media for information as much as Democrats. And once on these sites, Republicans put more faith in Facebook, while liberals go to Twitter.
A new poll by the Pew Research Center identifies by political party which people get their news from these sites. Overall, Democrats get their news from social media more than Republicans (36 percent to 26 percent of adults).
Twitter and Google Plus have the largest spread of Democrats over Republicans as a news source. Democrats use Twitter 23 percent more than Republicans and Google Plus 24 percent more. LinkedIn and Facebook are places where the two parties have the smallest spread of political differences, 9 percent and 12 percent, respectively.
Republicans’ preferred social media sites for news are almost the same. They are, in order, Facebook (26 percent), LinkedIn (25 percent), YouTube and Twitter (22 percent each) and Google Plus (20 percent).
Democrats have stronger ties to certain social media as sources of information: Twitter (45 percent), Google Plus (44 percent), Facebook (38 percent), YouTube (36 percent) and, in last place, LinkedIn (34 percent).
LinkedIn does well with independents, who use the site more than any other to get their news (41 percent). Those with no party affiliation are least likely to use Twitter (29 percent) and Facebook (30 percent) for information.
So if you’re a conservative and find yourself getting in heated debates on Twitter, that’s because you’re way outnumbered. You should head over to Facebook, where you’re more likely to find like-minded patriots looking for the latest news.
Emily Miller is senior editor of opinion for The Washington Times and author of “Emily Gets Her Gun” (Regnery, 2013).
Please read our comment policy before commenting.