Which do you trust most as a source of advice on important issues?
People tend to trust friends & family and the mainstream media far more than they trust websites & search engines.
| Vote | All (1204) |
|---|---|
| friends & family | 37.1% (+3.0 / -2.9) |
| newspapers | 32.5% (+3.0 / -2.8) |
| search engines | 19.3% (+2.6 / -2.4) |
| social media websites | 6.7% (+2.0 / -1.6) |
| weblogs | 4.4% (+1.9 / -1.3) |
Relative to one another, men tend to trust newspapers, search engines & weblogs more; whereas women tend to trust friends & family and social media websites more.
| Vote | Men (643) | Women (561) |
|---|---|---|
| friends & family | 34.7% (+4.0 / -3.8) | 39.4% (+4.6 / -4.4) |
| newspapers | 34.1% (+4.0 / -3.8) | 31.0% (+4.4 / -4.1) |
| search engines | 20.1% (+3.5 / -3.1) | 18.6% (+3.9 / -3.4) |
| social media websites | 5.7% (+2.5 / -1.8) | 7.6% (+3.3 / -2.3) |
| weblogs | 5.5% (+2.5 / -1.8) | 3.4% (+3.3 / -1.7) |
The youngest age group tends to trust social media a bit more & newspapers a bit less than other age groups do. Outside of that, it is somewhat hard to see other age-based patterns.
| Vote | 18-24 year-olds (278) | 25-34 year-olds (307) | 35-44 year-olds (158) | 45-54 year-olds (191) | 55-64 year-olds (166) | 65+ year-olds (104) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| friends & family | 39.8% (+5.8 / -5.5) | 34.2% (+5.8 / -5.4) | 38.9% (+7.8 / -7.2) | 34.0% (+6.9 / -6.3) | 36.3% (+7.6 / -6.9) | 37.2% (+9.8 / -8.8) |
| newspapers | 26.2% (+5.5 / -4.8) | 35.8% (+5.9 / -5.5) | 33.9% (+7.7 / -6.9) | 31.7% (+6.8 / -6.1) | 33.1% (+7.6 / -6.8) | 34.6% (+10.0 / -8.8) |
| search engines | 19.7% (+5.1 / -4.2) | 16.8% (+4.9 / -4.0) | 17.7% (+6.7 / -5.2) | 23.5% (+6.5 / -5.5) | 21.8% (+7.1 / -5.7) | 17.7% (+8.5 / -6.2) |
| social media websites | 11.0% (+4.2 / -3.1) | 6.8% (+3.6 / -2.4) | 3.6% (+5.1 / -2.1) | 7.4% (+4.6 / -2.9) | 4.3% (+4.5 / -2.3) | 6.6% (+8.0 / -3.8) |
| weblogs | 3.3% (+2.8 / -1.5) | 6.4% (+3.5 / -2.3) | 6.0% (+5.1 / -2.9) | 3.4% (+4.1 / -1.9) | 4.4% (+5.3 / -2.5) | 3.9% (+7.4 / -2.6) |
Here is data by geographic region.
| Vote | The US Midwest (252) | The US Northeast (311) | The US South (372) | The US West (269) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| friends & family | 40.2% (+6.9 / -6.6) | 39.0% (+6.2 / -5.9) | 34.9% (+5.3 / -5.0) | 36.1% (+6.2 / -5.8) |
| newspapers | 30.4% (+6.8 / -6.1) | 36.0% (+6.1 / -5.7) | 33.7% (+5.2 / -4.9) | 29.9% (+6.1 / -5.5) |
| search engines | 21.5% (+6.4 / -5.3) | 15.7% (+5.2 / -4.1) | 18.7% (+4.6 / -3.9) | 21.2% (+5.5 / -4.6) |
| social media websites | 6.7% (+5.1 / -3.0) | 5.2% (+4.3 / -2.4) | 6.6% (+3.8 / -2.5) | 7.9% (+4.5 / -3.0) |
| weblogs | 1.3% (+9.5 / -1.1) | 4.1% (+4.3 / -2.1) | 6.2% (+3.6 / -2.3) | 4.8% (+4.3 / -2.3) |
Rural people tend to trust friends & family more, while urban people tend to trust newspapers more.
| Vote | Urban areas (602) | Rural areas (91) | Suburban areas (480) |
|---|---|---|---|
| friends & family | 30.9% (+4.4 / -4.0) | 45.8% (+11.3 / -10.9) | 38.7% (+4.9 / -4.7) |
| newspapers | 38.5% (+4.7 / -4.5) | 25.4% (+11.3 / -8.7) | 30.0% (+4.5 / -4.2) |
| search engines | 18.4% (+4.2 / -3.6) | 20.2% (+10.4 / -7.5) | 20.2% (+4.3 / -3.7) |
| social media websites | 8.5% (+4.1 / -2.8) | 2.3% (+14.6 / -2.1) | 6.2% (+4.3 / -2.6) |
| weblogs | 3.7% (+4.2 / -2.0) | 6.3% (+11.2 / -4.2) | 4.8% (+4.3 / -2.3) |
The richer you are, the less you generally trust friends & family. The rich also trust newspapers & blogs more (though the blog data point had a small sample size).
| Vote | People earning $ 0-24K (138) | People earning $ 25-49K (655) | People earning $ 50-74K (307) | People earning $ 75-99K (81) | People earning $ 100-149K (25) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| friends & family | 40.6% (+8.7 / -8.2) | 38.2% (+4.1 / -4.0) | 33.9% (+6.3 / -5.8) | 36.6% (+11.1 / -9.8) | 14.4% (+19.1 / -9.1) |
| newspapers | 25.6% (+9.1 / -7.4) | 30.6% (+4.0 / -3.7) | 37.0% (+6.4 / -6.0) | 42.2% (+10.6 / -10.0) | 42.2% (+20.3 / -18.0) |
| search engines | 22.8% (+9.1 / -7.1) | 20.6% (+3.7 / -3.3) | 17.4% (+5.7 / -4.5) | 13.4% (+10.9 / -6.4) | 22.0% (+21.5 / -12.7) |
| social media websites | 7.2% (+9.2 / -4.2) | 7.0% (+3.2 / -2.3) | 5.4% (+5.6 / -2.8) | 5.2% (+13.2 / -3.9) | 5.8% (+23.7 / -4.9) |
| weblogs | 3.8% (+11.0 / -2.9) | 3.6% (+3.5 / -1.8) | 6.3% (+5.4 / -3.0) | 2.6% (+18.2 / -2.3) | 15.6% (+21.7 / -10.2) |
