From Unpolitical Sporadics to Political Activists: Identifying political social media user types

The diversity of social media platforms has expanded the possibilities for citizens to encounter political content and express political opinions. However, the patterns of users’ contact with political information and political expression across different platforms are largely unclear. Based on survey data from Germany ( n = 1054), this study investigates social media use, exposure to political content, and political expression across nine platforms and presents a typology of political social media users. A cluster analysis identified five user types: Unpolitical Sporadics , Casual Mainstreamers , Twitter-focused Mainstreamers , Expressive Contributors , and Political Activists . Multinomial logistic regressions reveal that these types are associated with different socio-demographic characteristics, political attitudes, and media usage habits. In particular, a small group of users with right-leaning attitudes is very active on all platforms. These Political Activists could potentially contribute to the much-discussed dominance of the political right on social media.