Majority says social media does more to divide than unite: poll

A majority of Americans said in a poll released Sunday that social media does more to divide the country than unite it. 

Sixty-four percent of Americans in the NBC News survey said that they believe social media does more harm than good, while 27 percent said that the platforms do more to unite Americans. 

Roughly three in four Republicans — 77 percent — said that they believe social media divides the country, as did 65 percent of independents and 54 percent of Democrats. 

Black respondents were split on the question, with 42 percent saying social media is divisive and 40 percent saying it is unifying. Whites, Hispanic and elderly people and young adults all agree in the new survey that social media divides the nation, pollster noted. 

When the topic was last examined in March 2019, 57 percent of all respondents said social media divides the country and 35 percent said it unites it. 

The new poll also found that 66 percent of adults said they actively use social media compared to 33 percent who say they don’t. 

The survey of 1,000 people was conducted from April 17-20. The sampling error was 3.1 percentage points.