Facebook leans red, TikTok trends blue, and YouTube is a swing state: Here’s how social media usage is linked to the 2020 election

• Social media is well established as a major factor in American politics, but how voter preferences align with different platforms is less understood.
• Preferred social media platforms and how one uses them — such as simply browsing or posting regularly — are indicators of how Americans plan to vote, according to a series of Insider polls taken from August through October.
• Those who say they check Twitter at least daily are 20 percentage points more likely to say they’ll vote for Joe Biden than the overall respondent.
• People who post or share links on Facebook at least once a week are the most heavily aligned with President Donald Trump, with that group being 10 percentage points more likely than the average respondent to say they’ll vote for his reelection.
• YouTube is the closest platform to a “swing state,” with some differences between those who post comments frequently and those who just watch videos.

Both social media preferences and behavior are aligned with who Americans plan on voting for in the 2020 election, according to a series of Insider polls conducted from August through October.

Self-described Twitter and TikTok users lean more toward voting for Democratic nominee Joe Biden, while active Facebook users are more likely to back President Donald Trump.

YouTube is a mixed bag, with those who post or comment more frequently tending to be more likely Trump voters, while those who simply browse the site to watch videos prefer Biden.

People who said they checked Twitter at least once a day had the highest lean toward Biden compared to the overall set of respondents, while Trump performed best with those who said they post or share links on Facebook at least once a week.

Read more: https://www.businessinsider.com/