It’s hard to overemphasize the impact social media has had on the national political landscape over the past two decades. The sources we choose to follow and the algorithms that form around us not only affect the color and tone of the news we get, but in many ways they define our reality every time we check our smartphones.
A recent global survey from the Pew Research Center shows how much our relationship with social media has become a love/hate affair. And that’s especially true when you compare the attitudes of Americans to the attitudes of those in other countries.
To start with, we might be addicted to the devices in our pockets and the content that pops on Facebook, Twitter or TikTok — but Americans also believe it’s probably not the healthiest habit.
Overall, about two-thirds of Americans, 64%, said they think social media is bad for democracy. The median “bad for democracy” numbers for the 18 other counties in the survey was only 34%. That’s a massive gap.
There was a real range in the data. In Poland, for instance, only 15% of those surveyed said they believed social media was bad for democracy. At 64%, the U.S. stood out as having the most negative feelings about the impact of social media platforms on our form of governance.
One big reason Americans are down on social media? They are more likely to believe the platforms are increasing divisions in the nation and decreasing civility.
Nearly 80% of those in the U.S. said they believe social media has made people more divided in their political opinions, and roughly 70% said the platforms have made people less civil in how they talk about politics. The U.S. led the way on negative views on those two questions.
On the whole, other nations also tend to believe social media has been a divisive force in their politics — the median number was 65% who said they see the platforms that way. But the median believing social media has made them less civil was only 46% among the other countries surveyed.
Americans aren’t completely sour on social media. One positive in the data is that they believe it has positive impacts on informing the citizenry.
Roughly two-thirds of U.S. citizens in the poll, 64%, said they believe social media has made people “more informed about current events” in their home country. That sounds like something of an endorsement for the platforms. But the figure is still lower than the median score of 73% of people in other countries who say the same thing.
And even on this positive measure, the U.S. figure was lower than that of any other country surveyed. Sweden clocked in with the highest score — 85% of Swedes said they believed social media made their citizenry more informed.
Considering the reservations Americans have about social media, it may be a surprise that the data suggest they are not cutting back on usage. In fact, the opposite is true.
In the past decade, the number of Americans who use social media has climbed by 22%, according to Pew. In 2012, half of those surveyed said they used social media sites. By 2022, the figure had climbed to 72%.
And that number is not likely to drop any time soon when you look at who uses social media most, according to the survey.
The survey showed Americans of all ages use social media platforms, but the numbers are much higher among young age groups. Among those 50 or older, 60% said they use social media sites. For those who are 30 to 49 years old, the figure rises to 81%. And among the youngest adults, 18 to 29, 84% say they use social media.
If those younger Americans bring their internet habits with them as they age, social media usage seems certain to keep rising for the foreseeable future.
Taken together, all those numbers suggest Washington may soon insert itself into the social media landscape.
It can be tempting to look at the numbers around social media and think the best answer is simply people’s checking themselves. “Stop me before I scroll again” is an odd call for regulation. But when there is that much unhappiness with something that has become such a big part of life in the U.S., the status quo seems unlikely to go on for too much longer.