Fifty-two percent of self-identified liberal Democrat Facebook and Twitter users “like” or promote political and social content on those platforms, according to the latest Pew Internet & American Life Project survey. Meanwhile, only 42 percent of self-identified conservative Republicans do the same. When it comes to encouraging voters through social media, liberal Democrats (42 percent of whom have tried to sway their friends online) again have an edge over conservative Republicans (only 36 percent of whom did the same). The picture is somewhat flipped when it comes to who follows elected officials and political candidates — conservative Republicans lead liberal Democrats on this metric 32 to 27 percent. Of course, liberal voters tend to be younger than their conservative counterparts, so we’re not exactly surprised to find that they’re better off making use of their Twitter and Facebook presences.
