One-in-six US adults change settings to avoid religious content on social media – survey
We all have that friend who posts too much on social media. But what if we changed our settings to see less based on a religious post? Some 17% of US adults have changed social media settings to see less religious content, according to a 2022 Pew Research Center survey.
The survey measured the percentage of Americans who have blocked or unfollowed someone because of religious content, as well as adults who believe they themselves have been blocked or unfollowed for the same reasons. Participants were polled based on religious affiliation, commitment level, political ideology and age.
Religiously unaffiliated individuals were the most likely group to block or unfollow someone on social media for posting religious content. Atheists, at 36%, had the highest percentage. Agnostic and no religion were also high on the list.
“Nobody wants to get spammed with posts they don’t necessarily agree with,” a user wrote in response to the poll.
Twenty-two percent of Jewish and 20% of Catholic users reported changing social media settings to see less religious content. Only 13% of Protestants reported the same, and there was not a large enough sample size for Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus and other groups to measure.
Adults who reported having a low religious commitment were more likely than those with a medium or high commitment to block or unfollow due to religious posts.
According to the survey, Democrats or Democratic-leaning individuals were more likely to unfollow or block users than Republicans.
In addition, adults between the ages of 18 to 29 were the most likely to follow and unblock at 23%, with individuals aged 65 and over at only 7% likely to change social media settings for religious purposes. “Younger adults are also more likely than older adults to have blocked someone due to religious content,” according to Pew.
In contrast to the high percentages of users changing their own settings to block out religious content, very few Americans believe they personally have been unfollowed or blocked.
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