Recent scandals involving historic social media posts may force the UK's users to rethink what they post.
Labour politician Jared O'Mara, rapper Stormzy and YouTube personalities Zoey 'Zoella' Sugg and Jack Maynard have all apologised over the past few weeks after others had recovered old content.
According to research conducted by Online Spy Shop, that appears to have led non-celebrity social media users to 'audit' their histories and remove any posts they now regret making.
Over half of the UK’s social media users (54%) say they’ve performed an ‘audit’ of their old Twitter posts within the past month. A third of those have deleted at least one post or made the content private.
Many say they were prompted to take action after several celebrities, including Jared O'Mara, Stormzy, and Zoella, faced criticism for historical posts.
Key Findings
54% of British social media users have performed a Twitter audit in the past month
Of those, a third (32%) say they deleted multiple posts
Millennials are the most likely to audit their tweets - 68% of those aged 18-34 say they’ve done this in the past month, and almost half of those (48%) say they deleted regrettable content
A third believe they’ve tweeted things in the past that could be perceived as offensive
Three quarters (74%) say recent apologies from celebrities have prompted them to review their social media behaviour
Most common reasons for deleting old Twitter posts
|
Reason |
Men |
Women |
Average |
|
“My opinion has changed” |
24% |
54% |
39% |
|
“What I said could be perceived as offensive/in bad taste” |
40% |
29% |
35% |
|
“What I said could be perceived as bullying” |
12% |
10% |
11% |
|
“What I said could be perceived as sexist” |
13% |
1% |
7% |
|
“What I said could be perceived as harmful to marginalised communities” |
8% |
1% |
5% |
|
Other |
3% |
5% |
4% |
Celebrity Influence
Google search data shows that celebrity apologies are directly influencing public behaviour. Searches on Google for 'how to delete old tweets' spike in direct correlation with celebrity apologies, suggesting that social media users are seeing the trouble celebrities are getting into and taking steps to remove their posts.
About the study: Online Spy Shop polled 2,000 Britons between November 15th and November 28th 2017.