All told, political disagreement does encourage unfriending, but it is relatively rare, occurring only among a minority of users. Despite concerns about social media “filter bubbles,” where users only see confirming information, this is one reason that most people report seeing a mix of political perspectives on social media. Few people are purging their news feeds of unfriendly opinions.

Of course, a more recent survey by Pew notes that when you include all ways of opting out of information on social media — not just unfriending, but also muting, blocking, hiding, or otherwise changing settings — this number of people having done so grows from 18 percent to 39 percent. But again, a majority of users report never having used these tools to avoid political posts.

But who is doing the unfriending that does occur? If it’s people who are uninterested in politics, that would suggest they may be using it as a way to opt out of politics altogether. People more interested in politics, on the other hand, are still likely to see political information in contexts outside of social media, like talking with friends and using traditional media, even if they cut ties on social media.