Smartphone users in emerging economies – especially those who use social media – tend to be more exposed to people with different backgrounds and more connected with friends they don’t see in person.
Despite facing more scrutiny, Facebook is used by around seven-in-ten U.S. adults and remains popular across demographic groups.
Many who use social media say they regularly see false or misleading content, but also view these platforms as offering new avenues for political engagement.
Nearly six-in-ten Americans participate in some type of community group or organization, including 11% who say they take part in at least four such groups.
Whether in advanced or emerging economies, younger people, those with higher levels of education and those with higher incomes are more likely to be digitally connected.
Amid ongoing discussions about sexual harassment in the workplace and beyond, read five findings about how these issues have been discussed on Twitter and other social media outlets in the past year.
The use of digital technology has had a long stretch of rapid growth in the United States, but the share of Americans who go online, use social media or own key devices has remained stable the past two years.
Around half of U.S. adults who use Facebook say they do not understand why certain posts but not others are included in their news feed. Older users are particularly likely to say they do not understand the workings of the news feed.
Just over half of Facebook users have adjusted privacy settings in the past year. Around four-in-ten have taken a break from checking for several weeks or more.
A small share of the public – 14% – say they have changed their views about a political or social issue in the past year because of something they saw on social media.
