A recent study conducted by the Pew Research Center, published today, investigates the distinct patterns in how U.S. Democrats and Republicans utilize Twitter. Analyzing data gathered from November 11, 2019, to September 14, 2020, the research reveals that individuals from both political affiliations generally tweet at a low frequency. However, the majority of the platform’s most active contributors lean towards the left.

This report builds upon Pew’s 2019 study, which presented comparable results. That earlier research indicated that 10% of U.S. adults on Twitter were responsible for 80% of all tweets originating from U.S. adults.

Currently, these percentages have shifted. Throughout the study timeframe, the most engaged 10% of users generated 92% of all tweets posted by U.S. adults.

Notably, 69% of these highly active users identify as Democrats or independent voters who lean Democratic.

Furthermore, the most active Democrats typically publish approximately twice as many tweets each month (157) in comparison to their Republican counterparts (79).

However, these highly active users do not reflect the typical Twitter behavior of most individuals.

Pew’s findings demonstrate that, irrespective of political affiliation, the majority of Twitter users post relatively infrequently.

The average U.S. adult Twitter user posted only once a month during the study period. The typical Democrat posts approximately once a month, while the average Republican posts even less frequently.

The standard adult user also maintains a small number of followers, with the median Democrat having 32 followers and the median Republican having 21. Democrats, however, generally follow a greater number of accounts than Republicans, with averages of 126 and 71, respectively.

The new study also explored additional distinctions in how members of the two parties interact with the platform, beyond the frequency of their posts.

The research revealed that 60% of Democrats on Twitter describe themselves as either very or somewhat liberal, compared to 43% of Democrats who do not use Twitter. Self-described conservatives on Twitter and those not on the platform showed similar percentages, at 60% and 62%, respectively.

Pew also determined that the two Twitter accounts followed by the largest proportion of U.S. adults belonged to former President Barack Obama (@BarackObama) and President Donald Trump (@RealDonaldTrump).

As expected, Obama was followed by a greater number of Democrats—42% of Democrats followed him, compared to just 12% of Republicans. Trump, conversely, was followed by 35% of Republicans and only 13% of Democrats.

Other prominent political accounts exhibited similar trends. For example, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) is followed by 16% of Democrats and 3% of Republicans. Conversely, Fox News personalities Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) and Sean Hannity (@seanhannity) are both followed by 12% of Republicans but only 1% of Democrats.

This observation may be more significant than the study initially suggests, as it demonstrates that despite Twitter’s initial intention to create a public forum for open conversation, users have constructed similar echo chambers as those found on other social media platforms.

Due to Twitter’s main timeline displaying only tweets and retweets from followed accounts, users primarily encounter perspectives that reinforce their existing viewpoints.

This issue is not exclusive to Twitter, as Facebook has faced ongoing criticism for presenting differing realities to its users. A 2016 article from The WSJ illustrated this contrast by showcasing “blue” and “red” feeds side-by-side.

This trend is becoming more pronounced as users from both parties are increasingly leaving mainstream platforms, like Twitter, and further isolating themselves. On the conservative side, users have migrated to platforms like Gab and Parler, which prioritize free speech and minimize fact-checking. The new social network Telepath, on the other hand, caters to left-leaning users by actively blocking misinformation—often from conservative news sources—and prohibiting identity-based attacks.

Pew’s new study also examined the two parties’ utilization of hashtags on Twitter.

The research found that no single hashtag was used by more than 5% of U.S. adults on Twitter during the study period. However, a more substantial difference emerged in the use of the #BlackLivesMatter hashtag, which was tweeted by 4% of Democrats on Twitter and just 1% of Republicans.

Other frequently used hashtags across both parties included #covid10, #coronavirus, @mytwitteranniversary, #newprofilepic, #sweepstakes, #contest and #giveaway.

The limited use of hashtags is also a cause for concern.

While their popularity has waned—using a hashtag can be perceived as outdated—hashtags were originally intended to allow users to quickly engage in broader conversations around specific topics. This decline in adoption suggests fewer tweets are connecting users to a wider range of perspectives.

Twitter currently addresses this issue through its “Explore” section, which highlights trending topics, and users can investigate tweets using its keyword search tools. However, if Twitter genuinely aims to break down user echo chambers, it may need to develop a new feature—one that offers an alternative way to connect users to the diverse range of conversations occurring around a term, whether hashtagged or not.