About half of the experts responding to this canvassing said people’s uses of technology will mostly weaken core aspects of democracy and democratic representation, but even those who expressed optimism often voiced concerns. This section includes comments about problems that were made by all respondents regardless of their answer to the main question about the […]

Ahlander, Johan and Mansoor Yosufzai. July 13, 2017. “Sweden intensifies crackdown on illegal immigrants.” Reuters. Albano, Alessandro, Veronica Corsini and Andrea Gereöffy. 2015. “Demographic statistics: A review of definitions and methods of collection in 44 European countries.” Annunziata, Marco. April 14, 2018. “Twenty years and nothing to show for it: Italy’s broken economic model.” Forbes. […]

The data in this report is drawn from a national cross-sectional, address-based sampling (ABS) survey conducted for Pew Research Center by Westat. This survey was fielded Nov. 19, 2019, through June 3, 2020.  Self-administered screening interviews were conducted with a total of 68,398 U.S. adults either online or by mail, resulting in 4,718 interviews with […]

This study is based on an analysis of 12,832 sermons, homilies or worship services delivered between Aug. 31 and Nov. 8, 2020, and collected from the websites of 2,146 churches found via the Google Places application programming interface (API), a tool that provides information about establishments, geographic locations or points of interest listed on Google […]

Many of these experts pointed out that technology is neither inherently helpful nor harmful. It is simply a tool. They said the real effects of technology depend upon how it is wielded. It can be used to inspire and catalyze change just as easily as it can be used in ways that are detrimental to […]

The survey asked mobile phone users about 10 activities they might do on their mobile phones. First, it included four activities that may be social in nature, including: sending text messages, taking pictures or video, posting pictures or videos to social media, and posting thoughts on social media. Second, it asked people whether they have […]

The following expert contributions offer deep, broad insights that represent the diversity of thought expressed by leading expert commentators in this canvassing. If we develop guardrails, the core elements of democracy will be strengthened Amy Webb, founder of the Future Today Institute, wrote, “There are too many variables in play to predict just one plausible […]

The following sections share selections of comments from technology experts and futurists who elaborate on the ways internet use has shaped humanity over the past 50 years and consider the potential future of digital life. They are gathered under broad, overarching ideas, rather than being tied to the specific themes highlighted above. Many of the […]

When asked about how people’s uses of technology will affect core aspects of democracy in the next decade about 18% of the experts responding to this canvassing said they will not affect much change in core aspects of democracy and democratic representation. Fred Baker, board member of the Internet Systems Consortium and longtime leader in […]