Reform UK voters least likely to see social media posts from family and friends, study finds | Social media
A study found that Reform UK voters are the group least likely to see posts from friends and family on social media and the most likely to see content from brands and news organisations.
The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) think tank said algorithms were fueling isolation and division after its research analyzing users’ posts on Instagram, Facebook, X, Bluesky and TikTok found that just 13 per cent of voters in the Reformation UK had seen content from someone they knew. This rate was 23 percent among Green party voters.
The findings were based on a representative UK survey of 1,000 people who were asked to categorize the top four posts of their most used social media streams.
Of these first four posts, 18% came from someone the user actually knows, 35% came from influencers, public figures or recommended content, and 29% came from ads and brands.
The report called for the establishment of a public service social media platform, led by the BBC and European public service broadcasters, and said the “social” element of social media had been eliminated.
Senior research fellow at IPPR, Dr. Sofia Ropek-Hewson said: “It’s really interesting that people with different political views have such different algorithms that they see quite different amounts of personal content.
“We need to think more about which commercial algorithms feed different political groups. Many of these platforms are increasingly similar to TikTok, which doesn’t actually describe itself as a social media platform.”
“We don’t see what others see, and that makes it difficult to build shared cultures and challenge people.”
Researchers said “sticky” design, which keeps users engaged for longer, is prioritized over social connection, and TikTok-style short-form video content now dominates feeds across all apps.
They said influencers and celebrities are more likely to be promoted because users watch them longer and are more likely to spend money on their content.
The report’s authors said the public service social media platform should be developed as an alternative with greater transparency and privacy, as social media companies have a clear commercial incentive to maximize time spent on their platforms.
Ropek-Hewson said: “While all of these platforms are mutating to become more like TikTok, I don’t think we should be stuck with one thing social media means. There was a lot of optimism in the early 2000s about what social media could mean and what our online social lives would look like, and I think we can develop better platforms with better values that support those.”
The UK government is committed to tackling addictive features on social media, such as scrolling or “lines” that encourage casual use of apps. The Prime Minister recently said he was ready to take action to prevent children from becoming addicted to social media at a young age.
The report also called for an amendment to the Online Safety Act to tackle “manipulative algorithmic design” and give regulators stronger powers over platform architecture, as well as requiring platforms to promote content in the public interest, including charities, community groups and public bodies.
“People don’t want boring posts or completely civil or informative spaces. People like engaging, entertainment-based content, but I think people want a little more control over what they see,” Ropek-Hewson said.
