Significant
shares of Facebook users have taken steps within the past year to reframe their relationship with the
social media platform.
Just over 1/2 Facebook users ages 18 and older (54%) say they have adjusted their privacy settings in the past 12 months, according to a new Pew Research Center survey.
Around four-in-ten (42%) say they
have taken a break from
checking the platform for a period of several weeks or more, whereas around 1/4 (26%)
say they have deleted
the Facebook app from their mobile
phone. All told, some 74% of
Facebook users say they have taken at least one of these 3 actions in the past year.
The findings come from a survey of U.S. adults conducted May 29-June 11, following revelations that the former consulting firm Cambridge
Analytica had collected information on
tens of millions of Facebook
users without their
knowledge.
Facebook has separately faced scrutiny
from conservative lawmakers and pundits over allegations that it suppresses
conservative voices. The center found
that the vast majority of
Republicans assume that
social platforms generally censor
political speech they find objectionable.
Despite these issues, the
poll found that nearly identical
shares of Democrats and Republicans (including political independents that lean toward either party)
use Facebook. Republicans are no more likely than Democrats to have taken a
break from Facebook or deleted the app from their phone in the past year.
