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What are the most irritating social media topics?

Religion has been ranked one of the most annoying subjects on social media sites when it comes to us Brits, with 30 per cent of respondents voting for it in a survey by communications agency, Diffusion. The study, which included over 2,000 Brits, scored ‘romance’ (25%) as another social media put off, while posting things about children or babies onto your Facebook and Twitter page came third with 21 per cent. All three over took other habits such as holiday status’s and gym pics. The table below shows the full list of irritating social media behaviours:

Updates/topics which Brits find most irritating on social media

Religion

30%

Romance (public displays of affection between couples)

25%

Children and babies

21%

Exercise/gym photos and updates

20%

Shopping purchases

20%

Politics

17%

Sport (either watching or playing)

13%

Food, meals and restaurants

12%

Holidays

7%

Other social media no-no’s included sexism, racism (53%) and lewd comments (46%), with respondents saying they would unfriend a person if they tweeted, posted or pinned anything related to those issues. It seems as the world of social media gets bigger, we have begun to form a type of digital etiquette, with the risk of losing friends or followers if the rules are broken. Tom Malcolm, Head of Consumer at Diffusion, commented: “For brands, social media represents a huge opportunity to engage directly with the public, but it’s critical that they first understand how their customers are using these platforms. This research gives an insight into what really turns us off online and shows that the public won’t just continue to follow without discrimination if something isn’t to our taste. Any brand which underestimates the power and necessity of these learnings before diving into the world of social does so at their own peril.”

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