TikTok users remain unimpressed by politicians trying to win their support.
In recent times, the emphasis on TikTok as a significant player in US politics, either positively or negatively, doesn't align with the average TikTok user's experience, as suggested by fresh survey results from the Pew Research Center and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.With the short-form video app's user base in the US mushrooming to 170 million, politicians have scurried to TikTok, hoping to entice young voters. Ex-president Donald Trump made his way onto TikTok in recent weeks and accrued a massive following of 6 million. The Biden campaign also launched on TikTok back in February and has uploaded over 200 videos; but, their fan base is significantly smaller at 373,000.
On the contrary, certain politicians caution that linkages between TikTok and China via its parent company might allow the Chinese government to potentially interfere massively in US politics if they acquired the personal data of TikTok users. This, however, remains a concern as TikTok insists it has never disclosed US user data to the Chinese government and is suing to halt a law signed by President Biden this spring that may outlaw the app in the US.
But Pew's recent surveys seem to reframe the view of TikTok as a political juggernaut. TikTok users are discovered to be less interested in politics than entertainment, culture, and friends. Their content preferences don't usually include politics, as per the survey, which aligns with users of Facebook and Instagram (although it differs from X, ex-Twitter), where news and politics have been hallmarks.
Pew's research comprised 10,287 adult Internet users in the US who were surveyed from 18th to 24th March. The findings were adjusted to mirror the US population across gender, race, ethnicity, political affiliation, education, and further categories, as per Pew.
This new outlook on TikTok and other social media platforms, often presented as the new town square—the crucible of political debate and manifestoes—challenges the widely held notion that politicians and politically engaged citizens gather there to engage and supposedly sway the broader electorate.
The vast majority of US TikTok users, according to the survey, don't view politics as a central or peripheral motivation for using the app, with just 12% of them having posted political content.
Why don't TikTok users care about politics?
Pew's study found that about four in ten TikTok users declared they have seen some form of politics on the app. However, politics wasn't among the top three reasons why people utilized the platform, stressing that most TikTok users are unfazed by political content and don't prioritize it. When questioned if they use TikTok to stay informed about politics or keep up with current events, only a third of users gave a positive response.
By contrast, a whopping 95% of respondents cited entertainment as their primary reason for using the app, while 62% used it to read product reviews or receive recommendations, and 53% employed it to keep up with sports or popular culture.
People who abstain from posting political content on TikTok had notably definitive views on the issue: half of them claimed that they simply didn't care about politics, while nearly half believed that politics had no place on TikTok.
The findings underscore the formidable challenge for political campaigns seeking to connect with younger audiences on TikTok.
How does TikTok lean ideologically?
Earlier Pew research indicates that 40% of TikTok users identify as Republican or lean towards the Republican Party, while 52% align with the Democratic Party. With Trump's involvement, there's the potential for a shift in TikTok's political tilt, as well as the type of content that gets promoted on the platform or how users perceive it.
A TikTok official told CNN that pro-Trump content delivers more engagement than pro-Biden content. Meanwhile, another research study suggests Biden's lackluster presence on TikTok possibly stems from his legal battle over a potential TikTok ban law and his administration's approach to the conflict in Gaza, which tends to fare poorly with young voters.
As per Pew's latest survey, 22% of TikTok users found the app's content to be predominantly liberal, while 6% classified it as predominantly conservative. Nevertheless, this isn't particularly revelatory. In September 2023, Pew discovered that similar proportions of Facebook and Instagram users expressed similar perspectives regarding the ideological inclination of their platforms' content. Interestingly, while 28% of TikTok users expressed an opinion on the app's ideological slant, almost half, or 48%, opined that the content doesn't practically lean right or left or they're unsure.
So, despite TikTok's growing political presence, TikTok users seem more preoccupied with entertainment, culture, and interpersonal connections. This aligns with trends observed on other social media platforms and heralds a reevaluation of TikTok and its political efficacy.
It's no wonder then that as US politicians condemn TikTok for challenging US democracy, 82% of TikTok users feel it either has no influence on or enhances democracy. TikTok users who see themselves as Republicans even slightly outweigh Democratic TikTok users in viewing TikTok as detrimental to American democracy, but only by a small difference of seven percentage points.
Sizable shifts in views on X
This data contrasts remarkably with the significant alteration in views towards X since Elon Musk took control of Twitter in the $44 billion acquisition in 2022. This may be a reflection of Musk's divisive style in managing the platform over the course of these past years.
In the Pew study released on Wednesday, Republican users have moved rapidly from viewing Twitter as predominantly negative for democracy in 2021 to now overwhelmingly viewing X as mostly advantageous for democracy in 2023 and 2024.
"Over the last three years, the proportion of Republican users who view X as mainly good for democracy has nearly tripled, and it appears to be growing," McClain explained. "This is a major shift. The pattern we see here differs slightly from that of other platforms."
Just 17% of Republican Twitter users considered X primarily beneficial for democracy in 2021. By 2023, this number increased to about half and is currently at its highest peak of 53%. Additionally, Republican users who share political content on X were far more likely to insist their views are welcomed there today (54%) compared to Democrats (33%). Negative opinions of X have, meanwhile, increased among Democratic users throughout this period and still show a negative trend, McClain pointed out.
"Views on X and democracy are deeply partisan," the Pew study elaborated. "Republicans are roughly twice as likely as Democrats to believe it's good for democracy, while Democrats are three times as likely as Republicans to view it as bad."
Pew's research doesn't explain why Republican users of X have shifted their outlook on the platform. However, this shift coincides with one of X's most crucial business decisions and its subsequent outcomes – the sale to Musk, who through layoffs, policy modifications, and other actions has transformed a platform once regarded as pivotal to news and politics.
In his leadership of the platform, Musk has declared that he has revoked censorship of conservative discourse and restored accounts that had been suspended due to hate speech or other violations of Twitter's terms. He has likewise engaged in antisemitic conspiracy theories, relaxed protections for users from marginalized communities, and amplified debunked election claims, sparking criticism from advertisers and civil rights groups. Moreover, his adjustments to the platform's verification badges, which acted as a catalyst for an initial wave of impersonated accounts, have made it more problematic for users to discern if an authentic celebrity or brand account is being encountered or if they're just encountering someone who purchased the appearance of authenticity.
As for Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok, the dominant response from users is that these platforms have little to no effect on democracy. The opposite is true for X.
Despite these findings, political campaigns will likely continue to bombard all platforms available to them in their efforts to reach potential voters. At the end of the day, posting a message on social media isn't the same thing as gaining people's attention.
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Despite the growing political presence on TikTok, recent surveys suggest that users predominantly use the app for entertainment, culture, and social connections. Consequently, businesses looking to make inroads on the platform might want to focus on these interests instead of politics. (business, tech)
In an attempt to engage younger audiences on TikTok, political campaigns have been beefing up their presence on the app with videos and content. However, data shows that young TikTok users are more interested in entertainment and culture than politics. This trend could pose a challenge for campaigns seeking to influence political opinions through the platform. (business, tech)
