Facebook data reveals that politics sometimes influences your pop culture favourites

Do you like Taylor Swift, Duck Dynasty and the Fast and the Furious?

If you do, you are more likely to support the Conservative party on Facebook, according to new data released exclusively to CTV News.

How about The Beatles, The Daily Show and Pulp Fiction?

Well, if that’s the case there is a higher chance you support the NDP party on the popular social networking site.

As for those who like the Liberals, the data shows that they are bigger fans of Adele, The Ellen DeGeneres Show and Dirty Dancing when compared to Tory and NDP supporters.

Though it’s not quite scientific, the data prepared by Facebook Canada paints an entertaining look at what the interests are of people on all sides of the political spectrum.

The data does not represent the top “likes” of those who support a given political party on Facebook but rather, it highlights trends among supporters of political parties.

For example, “Family Guy” is one of the most “liked” television show pages on Facebook among Canadian users. However, because Canadians of all political spectrums like the page, it does not show up in any of the various political party pop culture preferences list.

"Facebook is a place where real political conversation happens daily and where Canadians come to discuss issues of importance to them," Kevin Chan, Head of Public Policy for Facebook Canada, told CTV News. "With more than 20 million Canadians using Facebook, we thought it would be fun to see how the likes and interests of political party supporters on Facebook mirror wider society."

Before we get into the data, let’s take a look at the interests of the average Canadian Facebook user measured in the number of ‘Likes.’ as compared to those users who like a political party.

Now, let’s take a look at the films, television shows, actors, musicians and athletes that are most disproportionately liked by followers of each political party on the platform.

NDP supporters tend to like athletes who have done some community outreach or activism. The top athletes unique to NDP supporters include speed skater and mental health advocate Clara Hughes and the CFL’s first openly-gay player in Montreal Alouettes defensive end Michael Sam.

Meanwhile, Green Party supporters disproportionately liked athletes closer aligned with their values with noted-vegan lifestyle advocate and triathlete Brendan Brazier and race car driver and environmentalist Leilani Munter both listed in the top five.

Perhaps most surprisingly, the data shows that the athlete that appealed to the widest spectrum of political party supporters isn’t a hockey player. It’s UFC fighter George St Pierre, who appeared in the top five for those who like the Liberals, Conservatives, Bloc Québécois and Forces et Démocratie.

As for music, Conservative supporters tend to be bigger fans of country artists, which is perhaps a reflection of the party’s strong base in Western Canada. Tory supporters disproportionately like Taylor Swift, Carrie Underwood, George Strait, Brad Paisley and the Christian rock band Casting Crowns.

Meanwhile, it seems that Liberal, NDP and Green Party supporters both agree on their appreciation for the Beatles.

The Liberal supporters, however, are the only group to have Eminem included in their top five musicians as measured by likes. It should be noted that the Detroit-born rapper was listed in the top five for Facebook Canada users as a whole.

While the Facebook data illustrates that supporters of the various political parties often have widely different interests and likes it also shows that there is plenty of common ground.

For example when it comes to actors and actresses, NDP, Green Party and Liberal supporters all have former Star Trek actor George Takei listed in their top five while Liberal and Conservative supporters both have Vin Diesel, Adam Sandler and Will Smith in their top five.

NDP and Green Party supporters are the most closely aligned overall, with their supporters sharing four of their top five in Takei, Bill Nye the Science Guy, Kevin Smith and Ricky Gervais.

When it comes to television, there is a lot of overlap between Liberal, NDP, and Green Party supporters but those who “Like” the Conservative party on Facebook appear to be off in a field of their own.

In fact, Conservative party supporters don’t have any shows in their top five that are listed in the top five of any of the other party supporters and just have one show – Wipeout – that is listed in the top five of Canadian Facebook users as a whole.

Those who like the Conservative Party also tend to like Two and a Half Men and Duck Dynasty.

Conversely, Liberal, NDP and Green Party supporters all had the Rick Mercer Report included in their top five while NDP and Green Party supporters also had This Hour has 22 Minutes, The Daily Show and Democracy Now on their list.

Much like on the TV dial, Conservative supporters also tend to have rather unique interests when it comes to the silver screen.

Of their top five most over-represented movies measured by “Likes” none also appear in the top five of another party’s supporters and just one – Fast and the Furious – appears in the top five of Facebook Canada users overall.

Meanwhile, those who liked the NDP and Liberals also tended to like Harry Potter while Green Party and NDP supporters were in agreeance on their appreciation for the Lord of the Rings.

Overall, many of the books liked on Facebook by supporters of the various political parties also overlap with the books liked by Canadians as a whole.

For example, Lord of the Rings was in the top five for all Canadian Facebook users and also made the list for supporters of the NDP and the Green Party. Hunger Games: Catching was also among the titles most liked by Canadians that was also uniquely liked by the supporters of one political party – in this case the Conservatives.

A closer look at the differences between the parties, however, does uncover some interesting data for political strategists.

Specifically, the book Marijuana is Safer, which makes the argument that Cannabis is better for you when compared with alcohol, appeared on the list of books uniquely liked by supporters of the NDP, Liberals and Green Party.