Only 14 Percent of US Adults Say Social Media Posts Changed Their Mind on an Issue: Pew

By Published on August 15, 2018

Only 14 percent of U.S. adults say they have ever changed their mind on a political issue because of something they saw on social media.

A survey published Wednesday by Pew Research reveals social media’s mostly ineffective influence on Americans’ opinions on political issues and it’s unclear what issues they changed their views about.

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The survey, conducted May 29 to June 11, shows that while 14 percent say something on social media changed their mind, young adult men aged 18-29 are the most likely to change their mind, with about a 29 percent showing.

Almost twice as many Democrats responded that they changed their mind because of something they saw on social media than Republicans, with 17 percent and 9 percent saying they have changed their mind, respectively.

About 11 percent of whites said they had changed their mind from something they saw on social media — that number is 19 percent for blacks and 22 percent for Hispanics.

Two percent more male respondents, 15 percent, said they had changed their mind about a political issue from social media than females.

The poll adds new insights into whether the Russian-bot theory perpetuated by Democrats that Russia used successfully convinced unsuspecting Americans to vote for Donald Trump worked — providing less proof that the campaign worked.  

Additionally, the Russians’ social media presence — as seen in the 3,500 ads promoting Russian-controlled Facebook pages released by Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee on May 10 — was aimed at dividing Americans over hot-button issues, rather than simply rallying behind only Trump, since Russia created many pro-Trump and pro-Clinton accounts.

Follow Kyle on Twitter @KylePerisic

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