Social media has become a part of the fabric of all of our everyday lives.
But the debate rages on about whether social media has been good or bad for society and if giant Big Tech companies warrant the trust of the American public.
Now a brand-new poll suggests Big Tech may be losing that debate.
This George Mason University survey shows Americans do not trust the largest social media companies in the world.
- 72% Distrust Facebook
- 63% Distrust TikTok (Owned by Chinese company, ByteDance)
- 60% Distrust Instagram (Owned by Facebook)
- 53% Distrust YouTube (Owned by Google)
The poll did not ask about SnapChat, a favorite app among Generation Z.
It also failed to ask about Twitter – a platform notorious for censoring speech and even news stories it doesn’t like.
The results were shocking when asked if Facebook has a positive or negative impact on society.
- Facebook has a positive impact on society: 10%
- Facebook has a negative impact on society: 56%
- Facebook has neither a positive nor negative impact on society: 33%
That’s right, only 1 out of ten people believe Facebook has benefited our society.
What’s more, American attitudes about social media have changed drastically over the past nine years.
Back in 2012, only 38% of Americans wanted to see more regulation for social media conglomerates.
Today, that number is up to 64%.
Of course, the best regulation would be reversing Section 230, which allows Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and others to operate as platforms instead of publishers.
However, picking and choosing what content can be displayed should put publisher limitations on social media sites.
If listed as a publisher, Facebook, Twitter, and the like would be legally liable for its content – think Nicholas Sandmann.
