Trendspotting: Who's Writing All Those Tweets?

NewsWire: 7/5/22

• The majority of political tweets on Twitter are produced by a very skewed minority of users. Political tweets are dominated by educated older people, by women, and by Democrats. (Pew Research Center)
• NH: Analysts have often called Twitter the new "town square." But according to a recent Pew analysis, the social media platform mostly reflects the political views of a few special demographic groups. 
• Consider the percentage of all political tweets written by each group.
• Age: While 18- to 49-year-olds produce only 22%, users aged 50+ produce a whopping 78% of all political tweets.
• Sex: 29% are written by men, and 70% are written by women.
• Education: 30% are produced by users with some college or less, and 70% are produced by college graduates.
• Political Party: 13% are written by Republicans, and 85% Democrats.

• Pew also found that Democrats are more likely to follow people who share their beliefs. While only 20% of Republicans say they mostly follow people or accounts that match their views, 40% of Democrats say the same. 

• This report bolsters the idea that Twitter is an echo chamber. It doesn't reflect the views of the vast majority of Americans, but rather the opinions of a vocal minority speaking to people who largely agree with them. A telling finding: Only 45% of Twitter users believe the platform is effective at "changing other people's minds."