Americans who spend hours each day scrolling through social media are substantially less confident in democracy itself, according to fresh research from the Charles F. Kettering Foundation and Gallup.
The divide is stark. Among people who avoid social media or use it less than an hour daily, roughly 72-73% say democracy remains the best form of government. That drops to 57% among those glued to their feeds for five or more hours each day.
The erosion goes deeper than mere skepticism about the system. Heavy users are more than twice as likely to view facts as fundamentally subjective (16% compared to 9% of non-users). They are also nearly three times more willing to accept political violence as sometimes justified (22% versus 8%).
The pattern suggests social media's dual nature: it democratizes information flow while simultaneously fracturing how Americans process reality. The constant exposure to competing narratives and algorithmic filtering appears to corrode faith in shared democratic institutions.
Yet the data contains a counterintuitive twist. Heavy social media users feel more empowered to shape politics. The more time spent online, the more likely Americans believe ordinary citizens can actually influence what happens in their country. Meanwhile, 42% of heavy users believe their views are respected by others, compared to just 31% of non-users.
This gap between perceived civic agency and actual democratic commitment points to a particular vulnerability: people who spend the most time online may feel heard and influential within their chosen digital communities, even as they grow cynical about democracy's legitimacy.
The broader picture remains mixed. Two-thirds of Americans still embrace democracy as the superior form of government and largely support core democratic values, according to earlier findings from the same research initiative. That baseline has held.
The survey included responses from more than 20,000 U.S. adults between mid-July and late August 2025, with a sampling error margin of plus or minus 0.9 percentage points at the 95% confidence level.
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