Twitter Followers of Each Presidential Candidate Have Vastly Different Media Consumption Habits
Where do you get your news? Apparently, the answer may predict which presidential candidate you support—and no, we aren’t just talking about CNN versus Fox News.
A new study published by Demographics Pro breaks down the media consumption habits of the Twitter followers of each presidential candidate. The differences are stark.
Check out the chart below for a full breakdown:
Here are Demographics Pro’s key findings when it comes to the supporters of the two Democratic candidates:
Hillary Clinton’s followers are tuned into the political soap opera, being 18.5x more likely than average to read Politico. They also show an interest in pure celebrity soap opera media, reading Gawker and Jezebel (a Gawker Media site) at 18.5x and 19.0x higher than the Twitter average, respectively. …
Bernie Sanders reaches prototypical millennials, consuming highly digestible and technology focused media. His followers read the statistics-driven FiveThirtyEight and the science blog Nerdist at 21.0x and 23.0x the Twitter average, respectively.
The Republican side also has some wild divisions. Donald Trump supporters are 13.3 times as likely to read CNBC and 16.2 times as likely to read Fortune. Most astonishingly, Demographics Pro notes, “Trump followers are nearly 12.0x times more likely than average to read Men’s Humor, which, in its own words, is ‘A website full of humor, hot girls, funny videos, and more. What else could a guy ask for?’”
Both Ted Cruz and John Kasich supporters read The Weekly Standard, National Review and the Drudge Reports at rates much higher than the average Twitter user. Demographics Pro adds that “[w]hile John Kasich is often mentioned as a ‘moderate’ relative to Ted Cruz and Donald Trump, his followers are dramatically more polarized than Trump supporters in their media consumption.”
The candidates themselves could use this insightful study to find ideas for how to better reach their audiences—and the audiences of their opponents.
In addition, the sharp differences in media consumption habits of different voting groups could explain why some portions of the electorate say they perceive certain biases in political reporting.
For example, progressives have said that coverage of Hillary Clinton is overwhelmingly sexist and that the mainstream media has been avoiding coverage of Bernie Sanders. GOP candidates, meanwhile, have accused media outlets of having a liberal bias.
—Posted by Emma Niles
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- April 19, 2016 Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off
Source: http://www.truthdig.com/eartotheground/item/twitter_followers_of_each_presidential_candidate_20160419/
