CNN: “Roughly three-quarters of adults believe Facebook is making American society worse, a new CNN poll conducted by SSRS finds, with about half saying they know somebody who was persuaded to believe in a conspiracy theory because of the site’s content. Americans say, 76% to 11%, that Facebook makes society worse, not better, according to the survey. Another 13% say it has no effect either way. That broadly negative appraisal holds across gender, age and racial lines. Even frequent Facebook users – those who report using the site at least several times a week – say 70% to 14% that the social network harms, rather than helps, US society. Although majorities across parties say Facebook is doing more harm than good, that feeling spikes among Republicans (82%).”
“Among the majority overall who think Facebook is worsening society, however, there’s less of an overwhelming consensus on whether or not the platform itself is primarily to blame: 55% say that the way some people use Facebook is more at fault, with 45% saying it’s more due to the way Facebook itself is run. Overall, about one-third of the public – including 44% of Republicans and 27% of Democrats – say both that Facebook is making American society worse and that Facebook itself is more at fault than its users.”