Lee Rainie

Director, Internet and Technology Research

Lee Rainie is the director of internet and technology research at Pew Research Center. Under his leadership, the Center has issued more than 650 reports based on its surveys that examine people’s online activities and the internet’s role in their lives. The American Sociological Association gave Rainie its award for “excellence in the reporting on social issues” in 2014 and described his work as the “most authoritative source of reliable data on the use and impact of the internet and mobile connectivity.”

Rainie is a co-author of Networked: The new social operating system and five books about the future of the internet that are drawn from the Center’s research. He gives several dozen speeches a year to government officials, media leaders, scholars and students, technology executives, librarians, and nonprofit groups about the changing media ecosystem.

Prior to launching Pew Research Center’s technology research, Rainie was managing editor of U.S. News & World Report. He is a graduate of Harvard University and has a master’s degree in political science from Long Island University.

Publications

Pew Research CenterMarch 7, 2019

Access to mobile phones and social media is common across emerging economies. People around the world see certain benefits from these technologies, yet there are also concerns about their impact on children.

Internet & TechJanuary 16, 2019

About half of Facebook users say they are not comfortable when they see how the platform categorizes them, and 27% maintain the site's classifications do not accurately represent them

Internet & TechDecember 10, 2018

Experts say the rise of artificial intelligence will make most people better off over the next decade, but many have concerns about how advances in AI will affect what it means to be human, to be productive and to exercise free will.

ScienceSeptember 12, 2018

According to new survey data, many fear that humans could lose their autonomy or even their free will

Internet & TechJuly 11, 2018

As the #BlackLivesMatter hashtag turns 5 years old, a look at its evolution on Twitter and how Americans view social media's impact on political and civic engagement

Internet & TechJuly 3, 2018

While many technology experts and scholars have concerns about the social, political and economic fallout from the spread of digital activities, they also tend to report that their own experience of digital life has been positive.

Pew Research CenterMarch 27, 2018

The trends in Americans' views of social media tell a complex story. Read about the dynamics of Americans' feelings toward social media.

ScienceFebruary 17, 2015

At the AAAS 2015 Annual Meeting, Lee Rainie discussed new findings from a representative survey of 3,748 scientists connected to the AAAS about their views about the state of science in America and, particularly, how scientists use a variety of methods to bring their work to the general public.

ScienceJanuary 29, 2015

Scientists and their work have an important place in every major aspect of American life. Many hope that advances in science will improve people's lives and enhance the economy.

Lee Rainie

Research Areas

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