10% of Twitter users produce almost all of U.S. political tweets
Illustration: Rebecca Zisser/Axios
97% of tweets from U.S. adults regarding national politics came from only 10% of users in a yearlong analysis conducted by the Pew Research Center.
Why it matters: Those with intense opinions on President Trump — especially those who strongly disapprove of him — are "among the most prolific political tweeters," Pew notes.
By the numbers: Nearly 40% of users with public accounts tweeted at least once about national politics over the June 2018 through June 2019 study period.
- Those with strongly negative views of Trump generate 80% of all tweets from U.S. adults and 72% of all tweets on national politics. They're also overrepresented on Twitter compared to the general public.
- Those who strongly approve of the president produce 11% of all tweets from U.S. adults and 25% of all tweets on national politics. Similarly, they're underrepresented on Twitter compared to the general public.
The state of play: Those who tweet about politics — on either side of the spectrum — are more likely to be actively involved in political activities.
- The platform is also susceptible to an echo chamber effect. 37% of Twitter users say they follow a mix of political views, but a quarter follow mostly users that match their views. Only 4% say they mostly follow users with different political views.
Methodology: A total of 2,427 respondents with public Twitter accounts participated in the survey; collectively, they produced more than 1.1 million tweets over the course of June 10, 2018–June 9, 2019.
Go deeper: Political tweets turn blue in 2018