Social media platforms like X (formerly Twitter) allowed people to create polls to see what others think about different topics. But, are these polls always right, especially during important events like elections?

A study focused on the 2020 U.S. presidential elections found that X (formerly Twitter) polls often gave different results from actual election outcomes. Researchers discovered that these polls were mostly created by older men and tended to favor candidate Donald Trump more than other mainstream polls.

The study also looked into why these polls were biased. They found that some votes in these polls might have been bought, which means people paid money to get more votes. Also, many of the accounts voting in these polls might not have been real people but bots, which are automated accounts that can be programmed to vote.

Interestingly, the study noticed that those polls showed more support for Trump before the election day but this support dropped right after the election. They also found many polls that spread false ideas about voter fraud, making people think the election was not fair. In 2020, around 2,470 polls on Twitter talked about voter fraud.

This research highlights the need for social media platforms to be more transparent and honest about how polls work and how they might be manipulated. Understanding these biases can help people make better decisions about what to believe and what not to believe when they see polls on social media.