Media & Communication: Research Guide

Religion & Public Life A weekly digest of the Center’s latest research on religion and public life in the U.S. and around the world ·Subscribe↗ Media mentions Mail order abortion pill at stake as red states go to High Court Oct. 6 – Bloomberg Law * I went to America’s largest gathering of astrologers. It […]

Most Americans chat privately about news online, but only about a quarter post publicly.

This report explores the posting activity and topics discussed by health and wellness influencers on social media. It is based on an analysis of 535,512 Instagram, TikTok and YouTube posts published by 6,334 influencers from Feb. 1 to April 30, 2026. These influencers were first identified in our initial study of health and wellness influencers. […]

Influencers who describe themselves as healthcare professionals tend to post much more often about topics like medical conditions, mental health or treatments requiring the supervision of a doctor.

This report is made possible by The Pew Charitable Trusts. It is a collaborative effort based on the input and analysis of the following individuals. Find related reports online at pewresearch.org. Primary researchers Galen Stocking, Associate Director, Science and Society Research Regina Widjaya, Computational Social Scientist Anna Lieb, Computational Social Science Analyst Kaitlyn Radde, Computational […]

Just over half of health and wellness content on social media focuses on healthy living, while about a third discusses medical topics. And 38% of posts have a product or service promotion.

Weekly Roundup The latest findings from Pew Research Center ·Subscribe↗ From our research The share of Americans who prefer to make in-person payments with a credit or debit card. Just 16% prefer cash.

Many don’t consider themselves Republicans or Democrats. Instead, they're independents or something else – though they often “lean” toward a major party.

The Briefing ☀️ Happy Thursday! The Briefing is your guide to the world of news and information. Sign up here! In today’s email: ???? Featured story Prosecutors this week reopened an investigation into a former Cornell University student’s claim that multiple men raped her at a campus fraternity house in 2024. The woman also filed […]

About eight-in-ten Australian adults support restricting access to social media for kids. This includes 51% who strongly support it.

In 2026, 64% of Americans say social media is harming their democracy, and attitudes in many other countries are significantly more negative than they used to be.

Facebook is generally the top platform globally, followed by Instagram, while fewer overall use TikTok, X or Snapchat.

Most think social media leads to manipulation and division, but they also say it informs people and gives them a voice in politics.

Key takeaways shared in “From AI Insight to AI Impact,” a ComNet 2026 session hosted by Claudia Deane, Executive Vice President, and Monica Anderson, Director, Internet and Technology Research, at Pew Research Center. For more about how Americans view AI, visit Pew Research Center’s Artificial Intelligence topic page. Artificial intelligence systems have become an intermediary […]

Since 2015, the share of Americans who say they use cash for all or almost all of their purchases in a typical week has fallen by half, from 24% to 12%.

The standard profile The extended profile For a full list of questions used in the extended profile, refer to the Wave 183 topline.[8. numoffset=”8″ Variables POLFUT, NATPROBS battery (DEF, IMM, GUN, CLIM, RAC, VCRI and INEQ), GOVSIZE_SM, GOVSIZE_BIG, SNGLPYER, NOGOVTHC, THERMO battery (THERMREP and THERMDEM), SOSEC_RED, SOSEC_KEEP, SHTDWN_KNOW, KNOW_SHTDWN, KNOW_SHTDWN_WHY and SHTDWN_SELF_CONF were not included […]

You are a respondent to a public opinion survey in the United States of America. Your task is to answer survey questions. You are playing the role of a person with the following profile: {PROFILE_JSON} You are already in the middle of answering the survey. Here are the questions you have previously seen and the […]

This report is a collaborative effort based on the input and analysis of the following individuals: Primary researchers Athena Chapekis, Computational Social Scientist Arnold Lau, Former Research Methodologist Andrew Mercer, Principal Research Methodologist Samuel Bestvater, Associate Director, Data Labs Sono Shah, Former Associate Director, Data Labs Research team Aaron Smith, Director, Data Labs Anna Brown, […]

Survey experiments with Opus 4.6 and GPT-5.1 each paint a very different picture of U.S. public opinion, neither of which reflect reality.

AI survey respondents are more likely than humans to agree on one answer choice or avoid a response option entirely.

Synthetic surveys fail to replicate public opinion on timely and topical issues in early 2026, including presidential approval and views of data centers.

AI survey respondents are far less likely than humans to select "not sure" or factually incorrect answers.

Synthetic survey respondents tend to exaggerate differences between demographic subgroups and portray some responses as nearly universal.

Synthetic surveys using digital twins do a poor job estimating the public mood and are especially error-prone for some subgroups, including Republicans and Black adults.

Internet, Science & Tech A monthly digest of the Center’s latest research on how the internet, science and technology are impacting society · Subscribe ↗ Media mentions Half of Americans Admit to Spending Too Much Time on PhonesToday America’s supplement habit: 80 percent of adults are taking at least oneScripps News Most Young Americans Are […]

As Americans gear up for another tumultuous midterm election year, voters should be aware that the most notorious billionaire in politics is still actively trying to bend society into his own personal plaything from an entire menu of political and sociocultural angles. MRC George Soros, who has emerged as one of the top political donors (again) for the midterms, has dedicated his massive fortune over the years to exploiting the…

Religion & Public Life A weekly digest of the Center’s latest research on religion and public life in the U.S. and around the world · Subscribe ↗ Media mentions These Democrats are making Christianity a centerpiece of their midterm campaigns Sept. 27 – NPR In the news Religious scholars met with Anthropic. What they heard stunned them […]

Image MRC Original Graphic The elitist media are pushing one narrative when it comes to illegal immigration enforcement that an “authoritarian” Trump administration has unleashed out-of-control ICE agents to terrorize local communities around the country.So it’s no surprise that the September 20 ICE shooting of illegal alien Wilber Rafael Garces Perez in Austin, Texas sparked three days of intensive coverage of alleged…