It has become quite common for political debates in US to become heated after a short amount of time and this leads to negative/offensive remarks being passed around. This offensive content is then reported on TV, posted on Social Media etc. Most of the Americans believe that social platforms should remove this type of content. Pew Research Center conducted a survey of 10,170 US adults between April 29 and May 13.
The respondents discussed how present-day political debates are filled more with negativity and less with respect, facts and logical claims.
Over half of the respondents (55%) believe that this negative change is mainly due to how US President Donald Trump presents himself on Twitter. 24% of the respondents disagree with this claim while 20% believe that the current US President didn’t have that much of an effect that people give him credit for. His tweets are considered concerning by 76% of the respondents, confusing by 70%, embarrassing by 69%, exhausting by 67% and entertaining by 54%.
Coming back to the topic of whether social platforms should be responsible for removing such kind of controversial/offensive content, 66% of the respondents believed so. Out of them, 77% were Democrats and 52% were Republicans, 72% were women and 59% were men, 74% were black in comparison to 66% Hispanic and 64% white respondents. In terms of age, 73% of respondents were 65+ while only 59% belonged to the 18-29 age bracket.
Thus, around two-thirds of the surveyed individuals believe that social platforms should take down offensive political content. However, only 31% of them had a reasonable amount of faith in the platforms actually taking appropriate action or deciding which content to take down. 4% of respondents, on the other hand, fully trusted the social platforms to realize what’s right.
Shedding more light on the facts and figures regarding the above mentioned claim, the confidence level was higher in Democrats (37%) as compared to that in Republicans (23%). More in women (36%) and less in men (25%). Higher in Black respondents (48%) and significantly lower in Hispanic (40%) and white (25%) respondents. In terms of age, respondents aged 65 years or above have more confidence in the social platforms’ abilities than people aged between 18 and 29 years.
Lastly, a large number of respondents agreed that it is crucial for them on a personal level to use inoffensive language. Out of them, 77% are in the favor that social platforms should get rid of offensive content. Moreover, 44% of the respondents who believe that inoffensive language can’t have a lasting positive effect said that regulating content should be the social platforms’ responsibility.
Read next: Facebook, TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram: Which are the Most Downloaded Social Networking Apps in May 2019?
The respondents discussed how present-day political debates are filled more with negativity and less with respect, facts and logical claims.
Over half of the respondents (55%) believe that this negative change is mainly due to how US President Donald Trump presents himself on Twitter. 24% of the respondents disagree with this claim while 20% believe that the current US President didn’t have that much of an effect that people give him credit for. His tweets are considered concerning by 76% of the respondents, confusing by 70%, embarrassing by 69%, exhausting by 67% and entertaining by 54%.
Coming back to the topic of whether social platforms should be responsible for removing such kind of controversial/offensive content, 66% of the respondents believed so. Out of them, 77% were Democrats and 52% were Republicans, 72% were women and 59% were men, 74% were black in comparison to 66% Hispanic and 64% white respondents. In terms of age, 73% of respondents were 65+ while only 59% belonged to the 18-29 age bracket.
Thus, around two-thirds of the surveyed individuals believe that social platforms should take down offensive political content. However, only 31% of them had a reasonable amount of faith in the platforms actually taking appropriate action or deciding which content to take down. 4% of respondents, on the other hand, fully trusted the social platforms to realize what’s right.
Shedding more light on the facts and figures regarding the above mentioned claim, the confidence level was higher in Democrats (37%) as compared to that in Republicans (23%). More in women (36%) and less in men (25%). Higher in Black respondents (48%) and significantly lower in Hispanic (40%) and white (25%) respondents. In terms of age, respondents aged 65 years or above have more confidence in the social platforms’ abilities than people aged between 18 and 29 years.
Lastly, a large number of respondents agreed that it is crucial for them on a personal level to use inoffensive language. Out of them, 77% are in the favor that social platforms should get rid of offensive content. Moreover, 44% of the respondents who believe that inoffensive language can’t have a lasting positive effect said that regulating content should be the social platforms’ responsibility.
Read next: Facebook, TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram: Which are the Most Downloaded Social Networking Apps in May 2019?
