---
title: "Shareable quotes from experts about the impact of digital life"
description: "Stories from experts about the impact of digital life, from @pewresearch and @ImagineInternet.  "
date: "2018-07-03"
authors:
  - name: "No Author"
url: "https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2018/07/03/shareable-quotes-from-experts-about-the-impact-of-digital-life/"
categories:
  - "Emerging Technology"
  - "Future of the Internet (Project)"
  - "Online Privacy & Security"
  - "Platforms & Services"
  - "Privacy Rights"
  - "Religion & Social Values"
  - "Social Media"
  - "Technology Adoption"
---

# Shareable quotes from experts about the impact of digital life

Technology experts and scholars have never been at a loss for concerns about the current and future impact of the internet.

Over the years of canvassings by Pew Research Center and Elon University’s Imagining the Internet Center, many experts have been anxious about the way people’s online activities can [undermine truth](https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2017/10/19/the-future-of-truth-and-misinformation-online/), foment [distrust](https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2017/08/10/the-fate-of-online-trust-in-the-next-decade/), jeopardize individuals’ [well-being](https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2018/04/17/concerns-about-the-future-of-peoples-well-being/) when it comes to physical and emotional health, enable [trolls](https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2017/03/29/the-future-of-free-speech-trolls-anonymity-and-fake-news-online/) to weaken democracy and community, compromise [human agency](https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2017/02/08/code-dependent-pros-and-cons-of-the-algorithm-age/) as algorithms become embedded in more activities, [kill privacy](https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2014/12/18/future-of-privacy/), make institutions [less secure](https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2014/10/29/cyber-attacks-likely-to-increase/), open up larger social divisions as [digital divides](https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2014/03/11/digital-life-in-2025/#less-hopeful-theses) widen, and wipe out untold numbers of [decent-paying jobs](https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2014/08/06/future-of-jobs/).

An early-2018 expert canvassing of technology experts, scholars and health specialists on [the future of digital life and well-being](https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2018/04/17/the-future-of-well-being-in-a-tech-saturated-world/) contained references to some of those concerns. The experts who participated in that research project were also asked to share anecdotes about their own personal experiences with digital life. Below are some of their responses.

### Anecdotes from experts about the personal impacts of digital life

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[shareable url="https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2018/07/03/stories-from-experts-about-the-impact-of-digital-life/" display_image_id="20700" social_image_id="20700" post_id="20558"]