Polarizing Politics: Which Voters Post to Provoke a Reaction

Internet trolling is now a mainstream and accessible form of political discourse. Given its ability to reach a huge audience in a matter of minutes, a controversial post about politics can quickly go viral. Whether it's an unflattering screenshot from a news clip, a critique of a politician's fake tan, or a word fumble, there are plenty of posts about politics constantly circulating online.

Some social media users post about politics to inform their audience of what's going on in the world. Others post inciting content specifically to bait those with opposing views into an argument. Many internet users are drawn to drama, such as the endless stream of strangers arguing in the comments under political Facebook posts, so posts that attack the other side tend to travel furthest. A Cambridge University study of posts on Facebook and Twitter found that posts about the opposing political group were shared or retweeted about twice as often as posts about one's own group.

What the survey found

In March 2022, Redact surveyed 5,502 social media users who identify as Democrats, Republicans or independents, to find out whether they knowingly post polarizing content about politics with the explicit intention to incite a reaction from users with opposing views.

Despite frequent accusations from each side, voters who identify as Democrats (12%), Republicans (11%) or independents (11%) are almost equally likely to bait each other on social media.

The responses varied across states. Democrats in Florida, for example, are more than twice as likely to post provocatively as Republicans. In Montana, Republicans bait more than Democrats, though independents lead overall.

Which voters post to provoke, by state

The table below shows which voters in each state are more likely to share politically provoking posts. A few states list two groups, as the original survey results did.

Survey of 5,502 voters; March 2022.

Clean up old political posts

Political posts age fast, and a heated thread from years ago can resurface when you least expect it. Redact lets you find and bulk delete old posts and comments across your social media accounts, so what's public reflects what you think today.