• by Erik Sass , Staff Writer, May 4, 2016

The unstoppable rise of Donald Trump, who secured his victory in the Republican primary contest Tuesday with his win in Indiana, has brought with it a remarkable increase in online vitriol – and no surprise, his supporters are some of the most aggressive social media tub-thumpers, according to a new survey of 1,017 likely American voters conducted by Rad Campaign, Lincoln Park Strategies, and craigconnects.

Half of those surveyed said they have expressed an opinion about a presidential candidate online, again with negative sentiments in the majority: 48% of the respondents in this group said they have expressed support for a candidate online, while 52% have expressed opposition.

Supporters of different candidates have very different social media behaviors, per the same survey. Overall 57% of those surveyed said they think Trump supporters are the most aggressive when it comes to attacking other people based on their political opinions, compared to 30% for Clinton supporters, 21% for Cruz supporters, 16% for Sanders supporters, and 8% for Kasich supporters. Tellingly, 35% of Trump supporters agreed that they are the most aggressive or threatening online.

Many Americans also feel the candidates have some responsibility to rein in their most belligerent supporters, with 54% of all respondents agreeing with this sentiment, including 63% of Democrats and 50% of Republicans. Meanwhile some are taking matters into their own hands, with one in five respondents saying they have “unfriended” someone because of their political opinions; Hispanics and Americans under the age of 35 were the most likely to have done so, at 23% and 25% respectively.

Fear of workplace retaliation is also discouraging many Americans from expressing political opinions online: 14% of respondents under the age of 35 said they fear their jobs would be at risk for revealing their political preferences on social media.