Poll: Almost Two-Thirds of Americans Say Social Media Is Ripping Country Apart

According to a recent NBC News poll, the majority of Americans say that they use social media at least once a day and also believe that platforms like Facebook and Twitter are dividing the nation rather than bringing it together. 77 percent of conservatives believe social media platforms are dividing the country.

NBC News reports that a recent national NBC News poll found that the majority of Americans admit that they use social media at least once a day and also believe that platforms like Facebook and Twitter are doing more to divide the country rather than unite it.

66 percent o adults say they use social media at least once a day, versus 33 percent who say that they don’t. These numbers are essentially the same as NBC poll figures from both 2018 and 2019.

64 percent of Americans reportedly think that social media platforms do more to divide the nation than unite it. This includes majorities of Republicans (77 percent), independents (65 percent), and Democrats (54 percent). The poll also reported that the majority of whites (70 percent), Latinos (56 percent), young adults (61 percent), and seniors (71 percent) all believe that social media is dividing the nation.

In comparison, only 27 percent of all adults believe that the platforms work to unite Americans. NBC notes that Black respondents are the one demographic split on the question, with 42 percent saying it’s more divisive and 40 percent saying it’s more unifying.

When the same questions were asked in a poll in March 2019, 57 percent of respondents said that social media platforms do more to divide Americans, while 35 percent said they do more to unite citizens.

Among daily social media users, 49 percent said that social media platforms improve their lives while 37 percent say that they make their lives worse. Democrats, women, and college graduates are more likely to say that social media improves their lives while Republicans, men, and those without college degrees are more likely to disagree.

The poll also finds that a majority of parents, 54 percent, say that the time their children have spent on computer screens, phones, and TVs has increased during the pandemic. 38 percent of parents say the amount of screen time for their children has stayed the same while 4 percent say it has declined.