Supporters of Reform UK are the most likely to see content from brands and influencers on social media over posts from friends and family, a new study has found.
Online algorithms are fuelling “isolation and division”, according to the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) think tank, which found that only 13 per cent of Reform UK voters saw content from someone they knew, compared with 23 per cent of Green Party voters.
Researchers looked at users feeds’ on Instagram, Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), Bluesky and TikTok to draw their findings. They were based on a representative survey of 1,000 people in the UK, who were asked to categorise the top four posts of their most-used social media feed.
Across all participants, they found that 18 per cent of posts came from someone a user actually knew, while 35 per cent were from influencers, public figures or recommended content, and 29 per cent were from adverts and brands.
Dr Sofia Ropek-Hewson, senior research fellow at IPPR, said: “Social media was once about connecting with friends and building communities. Now, it’s increasingly about watching strangers and being sold to.
“These platforms are not just reflecting society – they are shaping it. By prioritising content that keeps us hooked, they are making us less visible to each other and more isolated.”
The IPPR’s report called for a new “public service model” social media platform, which would be led by the BBC and European public service broadcasters, to provide an alternative to current platforms.
The authors write that that there has been a decline of “social” social media content as channels have become optimised to hold users’ attention. Content has become “sticky”, they added, with influencers and celebrities more likely to be promoted because users spend longer watching them, and more inclined to spend money engaging with their content.
Many algorithms were also “highly personalised” meaning people were less likely to see what others were seeing. Researchers argue that this is increasing social fragmentation by “making it harder to build common beliefs and politics”.
Dr Ropek-Hewson said: “If we want a healthier, more democratic online world, we need to take back control from algorithms designed purely for profit.”
The IPPR calls on the government to amend the Online Safety Act to tackle manipulative algorithms and give regulators such as Ofcom stronger powers over how platforms work.
The UK government recently committed to tackling addictive social media features, such as scrolling or “streaks” that encourage daily usage of apps.
Speaking last month, education minister Bridget Phillipson said some social media “is designed to get your attention and to keep your attention”.
“Now, that’s one thing for an adult, but of course we have to think pretty seriously about what that means for the developing brains of younger children,” she told the BBC One’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg.
The comments came after the government announced new screen time guidance for parents of children under five, advising that they engage with devices for no more than an hour a day.
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