unsplash / Timon Studler / CC BY-SA 4.0
Analyses of a representative study by the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung look into these and other questions. It shows that an individual’s partner, in particular, has the potential to exert influence. Moreover, notable differences are discernible between the supporters of different parties with respect to discussions both within and outside the partnership. In addition, a parallel analysis of private use of the Internet for political communication explores the questions of who consumes political content online and who interacts with political content on social media. Finally, the two topics are linked in answering the question as to whether there is overlap between those who talk about politics actively online and those who do so offline.
Some results are in detail:
- In discussions with friends, colleagues and neighbours, eligible voters also prefer an interlocutor who, based on their own estimate, has the same party preference. In addition, the more frequently two people have discussions with one another and the more rarely they disagree in these discussions, the more likely they are to vote for the same political party.
- The reach of online political content is limited: Only half of the voting-eligible population reads political content on the Internet. In contrast, almost a third of eligible voters never use the Internet for the political domain and 18 percent say they do not use the Internet at all.
- Those who frequently discuss politics in real life are also more present in social networks by “liking”, commenting on or sharing political posts. AfD voters and Left party voters do this particularly often.
Read our study here as a PDF.
