Facebook is the best online watering hole for shared content that pushes the philosophies of Republicans, while Twitter and Reddit are social homes to higher percentages of media that promote the ideologies of the Democrats, according to study released just in time for midterm elections.
The study, conducted by ShareThis, looked at information shared between July 18 and Oct. 18. It found approximately 58 percent of Democratic candidates were active on Facebook in that period, while 79 percent Republican hopefuls shared content on the social network.
Approximately 27 percent of Democratic hopefuls share content on Twitter, while roughly 14 percent of Republican candidates tweeted information, according to the study. Around 13 percent of Democratic hopefuls posted regularly on Reddit during the midterm race, while 6 percent of Republican candidates did the same.
It appears the candidates have the right of it, as the rest of the users on Facebook lean to the right in general, according to ShareThis. Twitter's and Reddit's users generally lean to the left.
For a lively conversation on the economy or immigration, head over to Facebook where users are 41 percent less likely to politicize abortion on other sites. Facebook users are 42 percent more inclined to talk about the economy, 21 percent more likely to talk about foreign affairs, 14 percent more likely to discuss taxes and 21 percent more likely to debate immigration policy when sharing political content.
To discuss all of that science behind a warming planet, head over to Reddit, where there's a 67 percent chance political content will touch on global warming, or visit Twitter, where there's a 46 percent chance to find tweets regarding the topic in a debate.
There's a 24 percent likelihood of walking into a political discussion on the economy on Twitter, a 10 percent chance of finding a conversation on foreign affairs, an 11 percent chance of finding content about equal pay and a 16 percent chance some one will politicize abortion.
Redditors were 32 percent more likely to discuss equal pay when talking politics, 12 percent more likely to bring up abortion and 15 percent more likely to discuss health care. Redditors were 64 percent less likely to discuss taxes, 41 percent less likely to discuss the economy and 2 percent less likely to debate immigration -- however, there's 23 percent likelihood they offer an opinion on foreign affairs.
Part of the motive behind ShareThis's study was an effort to spice up midterm elections, which it says are particularly boring this year. With millennials more likely to rebuke the voting process than older Americans, the ShareThis study highlights the area where they are active in politics: social media.
"They may be less likely to vote but they are still the most likely to engage in politics on social media. If politicians could find a way to channel that activity they really would hit the gold mine," says Vivien Pillet, manager of research at ShareThis.
