64% of Americans say social media have a mostly negative effect on the way things are going in the U.S. today
Just one-in-ten Americans say social media sites have a mostly positive effect on the way things are going in the U.S. today.
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23% of users in U.S. say social media led them to change views on an issue; some cite Black Lives Matter
The share of social media users who say they have changed their views on an issue has increased since we last asked this question in 2018.
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Most Americans see a place for anonymous sources in news stories, but not all the time
A majority (82%) say there are times when it is acceptable for journalists to use anonymous sources, with 67% saying it is acceptable only in special cases.
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Many Americans Get News on YouTube, Where News Organizations and Independent Producers Thrive Side by Side
Videos from independent news producers are more likely to cover subjects negatively and discuss conspiracy theories.
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Political Divides, Conspiracy Theories and Divergent News Sources Heading Into 2020 Election
Republicans are about four times as likely as Democrats to say voter fraud has been a major issue with mail-in ballots.
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Americans have heard more about clashes between police and protesters than other recent news stories
The public is more likely to have heard “a lot” about ongoing confrontations between police and protesters than several other stories.
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Few Americans are confident in tech companies to prevent misuse of their platforms in the 2020 election
73% of Americans express little or no confidence in tech companies to prevent the misuse of their platforms to influence the 2020 election.
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Rising share of lawmakers – but few Republicans – are using the term Latinx on social media
One-quarter of United States lawmakers mentioned the term on Facebook or Twitter during the 116th Congress.
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A growing share of voters say it’s important to them to hear from the Trump and Biden campaigns
A majority of voters said it is very or somewhat important to them to get messages from the presidential campaigns about important issues.
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Americans Who Mainly Get Their News on Social Media Are Less Engaged, Less Knowledgeable
U.S. adults in this group are less likely to get the facts right about COVID-19 and politics and more likely to hear some unproven claims.
