More than three-quarters of Americans think that Facebook is making American society worse, according to a new CNN poll.
The survey, conducted by SSRS, also found that about half claim they know someone who was influenced to believe in a conspiracy theory because they saw it on the social media site.
“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,” CNN reported. “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%).”
But not everyone points the finger at the site itself: 55% say that the way people use Facebook is to blame, while 45% say the way Facebook is run is at fault.
Nearly half of Americans (49%) say they “know someone who they think was persuaded to believe in a conspiracy theory because of content on Facebook. That number is higher among younger Americans: 61% of adults younger than 35 saying they know someone who adopted a conspiracy theory based on Facebook content, compared with just 35% of those age 65 or older,” CNN reported.
In a New York Times story last week about Facebook delaying a new Instagram app for users 13 and younger, the writers laid out why the social media giant has pulled back on the plan:
Facebook said on Monday that it had paused development of an Instagram Kids service that would be tailored for children 13 years old or younger, as the social network increasingly faces questions about the app’s effect on young people’s mental health.
The pullback preceded a congressional hearing this week about internal research conducted by Facebook, and reported in The Wall Street Journal, that showed the company knew of the harmful mental health effects that Instagram was having on teenage girls. The revelations have set off a public relations crisis for the Silicon Valley company and led to a fresh round of calls for new regulation.
Facebook said it still wanted to build an Instagram product intended for children that would have a more “age appropriate experience,” but was postponing the plans in the face of criticism.
The article continued:
With Instagram Kids, Facebook had argued that young people were using the photo-sharing app anyway, despite age-requirement rules, so it would be better to develop a version more suitable for them. Facebook said the “kids” app was intended for ages 10 to 12 and would require parental permission to join, forgo ads and carry more age-appropriate content and features. Parents would be able to control what accounts their child followed. YouTube, which Google owns, has released a children’s version of its app.