Survey Reveals Growing Distrust of Social Media

Photo of a person browsing on their smart phone while sitting in front of a Mac computer.

A just-released Washington Post-Schar School Tech Survey reveals Americans are deeply suspicious of Big Tech, even as they engage in heavy use of their products.  Some key findings:

  • 74% find targeted ads to be invasive.
  • 73% view Big Tech’s data collection used for targeted ads as “an unjustified use of people’s private information”.
  • Just 10% believe Facebook has a positive impact on society, compared to 56% who believe it has a negative one.

With responses like these, it should come as no surprise that 64% of respondents think the government should do more to regulate how Internet companies handle privacy issues.

The survey was conducted by the Washington Post and the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University, and has a margin of error of 3.5 percentage points.


Seeking a speaker for your library or organization? In need of a professional development webinar? Let’s talk! Need a roadmap for introducing emerging technologies into your library? Check out Best Technologies for Public Libraries!

Leave a Reply

%d bloggers like this: