Has social media made the UK more right wing?

[Phil1]

30% far left lol I highly doubt it.

You only have to read their defence of the indefensible on a weekly basis to assert that his notion of what far left means is somewhat skewered.

 

[Mr Kobayashi]

His Overton window is >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> skewed.

 

[Bournemouth Blue]

Regarding the original question, I think not, but I do thing social media has resulted in far more intolerance, not just among people but more people are ignoring common sense, traffic laws, etc. This has become so obvious since the Covid pandemic, yet some still argue this pandemic never happened, they seem to thing the government just wanted to totally screw up the country and never realised it was a global thing. I think social media is a potential minefield, I tend to just focus on City and a couple of music-related groups on Facebook, but even these get trolled, it is not about being more right wing, it is about being a sad git who has nothing better to do with their sad and pathetic existence than to weakly try to ruin the lives of othere, as if that would justify their actions, they might be right or left side of politics, but they are just morons, end of….

 

[Postman Pep]

I would say that about 30% of people on here are far left, probably another 35% are more moderately left wing but still definitely to the left (although it could be vice versa) then there’s about 25% who are in the middle with the remainder sitting on the right. Although having said that, 10% seems quite high for the right of centre.

It’s definitely not a normal distribution of political views.

Where do you see yourself on this spectrum?

 

[ChicagoBlue]

I didn’t mention x or any other platform but my experience is, you get shovelled down your neck exactly what you want to hear and read and it’s an echo chamber.

Left and right, just as biased, just as bad as each other and just as fucking crazy.

Then, I don’t understand why my left leaning tendencies get shoveled all this right wing shit, unless I somehow engaged with it without thinking it through a long while ago?! Regardless, it has made it almost unreadable!

 

[MadchesterCity]

I'd say no, more left wing

 

[Brewster's millions]

Where do you see yourself on this spectrum?

Fairly obviously I’m to the right of centre. So I’m in the very small minority of posters.

 

[BrianW]

I would not expect the Bluemoon politics forum to reflect the UK norm.

We are self-selecting; mainly northerners; mainly from a working-class background given City's historical background.

I would also guess the age profile is lower than the UK average.

So, broadly speaking, no more representative than (say) a pro-monarchy forum, or a downtrodden Scouser forum.

I would hesitate, though, to pronounce on the exact political positioning of individuals. A simple left/right axis is a tad outdated.

 

[Scottyboi]

False equivalency.

X is a right wing cesspit.

I only go on X if there is a link on here, but if I look at the next video underneath the City video, it is nearly always some right wing political bullshit (I’m not!), something religious (I’m not!), or some classroom/gang fight (in which I have zero interest and find repulsive). If I hit “For you” I get more of that, but if I hit “Follow” I get none of it because I don’t follow any if that other BS!

I don’t do any other social media, and I’m glad I don’t!

You're correct, I recently made a new X account as Elon has made it impossible to use without a login now. All you get are racially motivated posts, sex workers advertising or clear anti western propaganda. And I don't follow any accounts remotely related to anything of the sort. It is unusable, I don't even use it for Ukraine war info anymore as it's just full of russia propaganda.

But I still need it to follow an important account that gives updates for a compensation battle im involved in.

 

[Saddleworth2]

I am quite new to facebook and its full of right wing stuff, i have been on twitter for years and that is a pit of hatred. Who needs the Daily Mail when you get hate for free on social media.

Am i wrong? whats your experiences?

Other than BM I don’t do social media. It reflects the worst of the world which is predominantly fucked.

 

[Postman Pep]

Fairly obviously I’m to the right of centre.

I meant the sub-forum spectrum that you have constructed. In that context you sit on the far right. It is about as realistic almost a third of posters being far left.

So I’m in the very small minority of posters.

Call that a minority ... you want to try being in a gang of 4 ;-)

Ah well that's probably just due to the nature of forums where the people who speak most speak loudest. There's 4 posters who are responsible for 90% of the anti-Startmer and anti-Labour posts.

We see 100 posts and think it's a mainstream opinion, but then you realise it's just the same few people posting and liking each other's posts.

 

[Kompany Car]

Run by a neo liberal whilst Musk thinks he's being edgy with X turning it into an extremist cesspit that pays for his space dick launch.

Wrong megalomaniac, Bond-esque supervillain. The one with the cock shaped rocket is Bezos.

 

[TinFoilHat]

Wrong megalomaniac, Bond-esque supervillain. The one with the cock shaped rocket is Bezos.

I thought Bezos space cock had a tip whilst Elon's has been cut?

 

[Kompany Car]

I would hesitate, though, to pronounce on the exact political positioning of individuals. A simple left/right axis is a tad outdated.

This inherently is the problem with most things these days. The media and politicians have a need to put people in specific boxes, when in reality its much more nuanced.

I know personally that on some issues my views are left wing but on others right wing and my opinions on some subjects have changed through talking to people and gaining a better understanding. We are all a product of our own upbringing, experiences and learning, but being multifaceted doesn't fit with traditional pigeon hole politics.

 

[blueinsa]

Then, I don’t understand why my left leaning tendencies get shoveled all this right wing shit, unless I somehow engaged with it without thinking it through a long while ago?! Regardless, it has made it almost unreadable!

I stick to Ice Hockey, everything else gets blocked.

It has its downsides though as I’m sick to fucking death of hearing about Hull Seahawks, hate the cunts but there you have it, pick a topic like politics and guess what you will get?

Damn algorithms.

 

[inbetween]

I would say that about 30% of people on here are far left, probably another 35% are more moderately left wing but still definitely to the left (although it could be vice versa) then there’s about 25% who are in the middle with the remainder sitting on the right. Although having said that, 10% seems quite high for the right of centre.

It’s definitely not a normal distribution of political views.

I'll rephrase what I said and I think this is important - I think the politics forum on here is mostly left leaning with a sprinkling of far left. It makes sense that the most politically energised people would participate in the politics part of the forum and also the demographic of this forum reflects Manchester which like any city is left leaning.

People on here would probably say that I'm right leaning but you should hear the views of the people I work with and those in the pub etc! I've been called a lefty on many occasions!

Perceptions shape how we view the world and social media just heightens those perceptions. The fact is though there is no domination of the right or left and social media has no impact on that, the core UK voting demographic sits slap bang in the centre. Those people aren't going to change their views because they just aren't really interested in politics.

 

[Gorton_Tubster]

I think there's a very unhealthy strain of racism aroun d the places I work and live and my friends and family. I thought it had subsided but its more prevelant than ever. I predict Reform are going to do well in the next elections, there's a lot of fear and anger.

 

[grunge]

While that is part of it there algorithms are screwed, I get so much random shite.

You can see the suggestion loop it goes through. Anti Vegan->Anti Woke->Conspiracies->Gun nuts->Hunting->God botherers->back to the start and reloop and maybe add a new one into the mix the next time around. in the last few months I started to get lots of Thai sites and nightclubs being suggested. I have never shown any interest in going to Thailand!. the only thing I can think of is I went to a funeral for a mate who passed away and his wife is Thai and therefore there were a lot thai people at the funeral, it was a day or 2 after than I started getting all the random Thai posts.

I think I've blocked a good couple of thousand suggested pages over the last few years due to being total random nonsense. I actually think my block list is so long that I've made it even more confused to be honest :)

I appear to be entering the "gun nut and conspiracy" phase again as of today.

 

[urban genie]

I am quite new to facebook and its full of right wing stuff, i have been on twitter for years and that is a pit of hatred. Who needs the Daily Mail when you get hate for free on social media.

Am i wrong? whats your experiences?

No, plenty of left wing stuff on there, but as most social media is american owned then conservative values and right wing views are projected more.

 

[SebastianBlue]

I see this thread has remained rational and civil, as is the norm for the Politics Subforum.

Even extending to completely scientific and cogent estimations of the political alignment distribution of the forum, backed by unassailable data, and based in a complex, inclusive ideological assessment system.