Digital literacy is widely seen as an essential skill. But Americans’ understanding of digital topics varies notably depending on the subject. For example, majorities of U.S. adults know what cookies on websites do and can identify a secure password. Far fewer can recognize an example of two-factor authentication – a cybersecurity practice that makes signing into online accounts more secure.

In addition, much larger shares know Elon Musk was running Tesla and Twitter in April 2023 than understand the technology behind ChatGPT. (Twitter was recently renamed X in July 2023, after the survey was conducted.)

Overall, Americans answer a median of five out of nine questions correctly on a digital knowledge survey that Pew Research Center conducted among 5,101 U.S. adults from May 15 to May 21, 2023. The questions span a range of topics, including cybersecurity practices, facts about major technology companies, artificial intelligence and federal online privacy laws.

Some 26% of U.S. adults can answer at least seven of the nine questions accurately, but just 4% can correctly answer all nine. And as was the case in past digital knowledge surveys by the Center, the public’s understanding of digital issues differs by age and educational attainment. (Refer to the Appendix for race, ethnicity and gender breaks.)

How Americans’ digital knowledge varies by topic

Cybersecurity

• 87% of U.S adults can correctly identify which password – out of four choices – is the most secure option.
• 67% know that the purpose of cookies is to track visits and activity on a website.
• 48% can correctly identify an example of two-factor authentication from a series of pictures.

Major technology companies

• 80% know Elon Musk was running Tesla and Twitter in April 2023.¹
• 77% know Facebook changed its company name to Meta.

Artificial intelligence

• 42% know a deepfake is a seemingly real image, video or audio of something that didn’t occur.
• 32% know large language models, such as ChatGPT, produce answers based on word patterns and relationships they previously learned from text pulled from the internet.

Federal privacy laws

• 23% know the United States lacks a national privacy law that sets common standards for what companies can do with all of the data their products and services collect.
• 21% know websites in the U.S. are prohibited from collecting personal data from minors under 13.

Still, Americans acknowledge they don’t know the answers to some of these questions. When it comes to artificial intelligence, similar shares say they’re not sure how large language models work (53%) or what a deepfake is (50%).

Uncertainty is also common when it comes to privacy laws: 52% of adults aren’t sure if the U.S. has a national online privacy law. And 40% aren’t sure about the age under which minors are protected from websites collecting their data without parental consent.

How Americans’ digital knowledge varies by education level

Americans’ digital knowledge differs widely by educational attainment.

Adults with a bachelor’s or advanced degree answer a median of six out of nine questions correctly. Those who have some college education answer a median of five questions accurately. And those with a high school diploma or less education correctly answer a median of four questions.

Educational differences appear on all nine questions asked in the survey.

For example, college graduates particularly stand out as more likely to know the answer to each of the following than those who have a high school education or less:

• 64% of college graduates can correctly identify an example of a two-factor authentication, compared with 31% of those with a high school diploma or less education.
• 82% of college graduates know that cookies track users’ visits and activity on websites. Half of Americans with a high school diploma or less education know this.
• 49% of college graduates know how large language models, like ChatGPT, create responses, compared with 17% of those with a high school diploma or less education.
• 57% of college graduates can correctly define what a deepfake is, compared with 28% of those with a high school diploma or less education.

While double-digit educational differences are still seen, majorities of U.S. adults – regardless of their formal educational attainment – know what companies Elon Musk was running in April 2023, that Facebook changed its name to Meta, and which password (of four listed) is most secure.

Educational differences are less pronounced when it comes to knowledge of federal legislation. For example, few Americans – regardless of education level – are familiar with the federal protections that are in place to safeguard children’s privacy online.

How Americans’ digital knowledge varies by age

Age differences in Americans’ digital knowledge widely vary depending on the topic. The patterns seen across age groups are not always consistent, but adults under 50 generally fare better than those 50 and older.

Adults ages 18 to 29 answer a median of six questions correctly. That number drops to 5 among those ages 30 to 49 and to four among those ages 50 to 64 and ages 65 and older.

The most pronounced age differences appear when Americans are asked about two-factor authentication, deepfakes and large language models:

• 68% of adults under 30 can identify an example of two-factor authentication, compared with 26% of those ages 65 and older.
• 60% of Americans under 30 know what a deepfake is, compared with 24% of those 65 and older.
• 45% of those under 30 know how large language models work, compared with 15% of those ages 65 and older.

But these gaps are more modest on other questions. Similar shares of older and younger Americans know the U.S. does not have a comprehensive digital privacy law in place. And clear majorities across age groups can correctly identify an example of the most secure password and know Musk was running Tesla and Twitter in April 2023.

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The post Appendix appeared first on Pew Research Center: Internet, Science & Tech.

Primary researchers

Olivia Sidoti, Research Assistant      
Emily A. Vogels, Research Associate

Research team        

Monica Anderson, Director, Internet and Technology Research
Colleen McClain, Research Associate
Michelle Faverio, Research Analyst
Risa Gelles-Watnick, Research Analyst
Eugenie Park, Research Intern
Lee Rainie, Former Director, Internet and Technology Research 

Editorial and graphic design

John Gramlich, Associate Director, Short Reads
Kaitlyn Radde, Associate Information Graphics Designer
Rebecca Leppert, Copy Editor

Communications and web publishing

Kelsey Beveridge, Communications Associate
Haley Nolan, Communications Manager
Sara Atske, Digital Producer
Abby Stafford, Digital Intern

In addition, the project benefited greatly from the guidance of Pew Research Center’s methodology team: Courtney Kennedy, Andrew Mercer, Dorene Asare-Marfo, Ashley Amaya, Arnold Lau and Dana Popky. This project also benefited from feedback by the following Pew Research Center staff: Aaron Smith, Gonzalo Rivero, Sono Shah and Samuel Bestvater.

The post Acknowledgments appeared first on Pew Research Center: Internet, Science & Tech.

Overview

The American Trends Panel (ATP), created by Pew Research Center, is a nationally representative panel of randomly selected U.S. adults. Panelists participate via self-administered web surveys. Panelists who do not have internet access at home are provided with a tablet and wireless internet connection. Interviews are conducted in both English and Spanish. The panel is being managed by Ipsos.

Data in this report is drawn from ATP Wave 127, conducted from May 15 to May 21, 2023, and includes an oversample of Hispanic men, non-Hispanic Black men, and non-Hispanic Asian adults in order to provide more precise estimates of the opinions and experiences of these smaller demographic subgroups. These oversampled groups are weighted back to reflect their correct proportions in the population. A total of 5,101 panelists responded out of 5,841 who were sampled, for a response rate of 87%. The cumulative response rate accounting for nonresponse to the recruitment surveys and attrition is 3%. The break-off rate among panelists who logged on to the survey and completed at least one item is 2%. The margin of sampling error for the full sample of 5,101 respondents is plus or minus 1.7 percentage points.

Panel recruitment

The ATP was created in 2014, with the first cohort of panelists invited to join the panel at the end of a large, national, landline and cellphone random-digit-dial survey that was conducted in both English and Spanish. Two additional recruitments were conducted using the same method in 2015 and 2017, respectively. Across these three surveys, a total of 19,718 adults were invited to join the ATP, of whom 9,942 (50%) agreed to participate.

In August 2018, the ATP switched from telephone to address-based recruitment. Invitations were sent to a stratified, random sample of households selected from the U.S. Postal Service’s Delivery Sequence File. Sampled households receive mailings asking a randomly selected adult to complete a survey online. A question at the end of the survey asks if the respondent is willing to join the ATP. In 2020 and 2021 another stage was added to the recruitment. Households that did not respond to the online survey were sent a paper version of the questionnaire, $5 and a postage-paid return envelope. A subset of the adults who returned the paper version of the survey were invited to join the ATP. This subset of adults received a follow-up mailing with a $10 pre-incentive and invitation to join the ATP.

Across the five address-based recruitments, a total of 23,176 adults were invited to join the ATP, of whom 20,341 agreed to join the panel and completed an initial profile survey. In each household, one adult was selected and asked to go online to complete a survey, at the end of which they were invited to join the panel. Of the 30,283 individuals who have ever joined the ATP, 12,409 remained active panelists and continued to receive survey invitations at the time this survey was conducted.

The U.S. Postal Service’s Delivery Sequence File has been estimated to cover as much as 98% of the population, although some studies suggest that the coverage could be in the low 90% range.² The American Trends Panel never uses breakout routers or chains that direct respondents to additional surveys.

Sample design

The overall target population for this survey was noninstitutionalized persons ages 18 and older living in the U.S., including Alaska and Hawaii. It featured a stratified random sample from the ATP in which Hispanic men, non-Hispanic Black men, and non-Hispanic Asian adults were selected with certainty. The remaining panelists were sampled at rates designed to ensure that the share of respondents in each stratum is proportional to its share of the U.S. adult population to the greatest extent possible. Respondent weights are adjusted to account for differential probabilities of selection as described in the Weighting section below.

Questionnaire development and testing

The questionnaire was developed by Pew Research Center in consultation with Ipsos. The web program was rigorously tested on both PC and mobile devices by the Ipsos project management team and Pew Research Center researchers. The Ipsos project management team also populated test data that was analyzed in SPSS to ensure the logic and randomizations were working as intended before launching the survey.

Incentives

All respondents were offered a post-paid incentive for their participation. Respondents could choose to receive the post-paid incentive in the form of a check or a gift code to Amazon.com or could choose to decline the incentive. Incentive amounts ranged from $5 to $20 depending on whether the respondent belongs to a part of the population that is harder or easier to reach. Differential incentive amounts were designed to increase panel survey participation among groups that traditionally have low survey response propensities.

Data collection protocol

The data collection field period for this survey was May 15-21, 2023. Postcard notifications were mailed to all ATP panelists with a known residential address on May 15. 

Invitations were sent out in two separate launches: soft launch and full launch. Sixty panelists were included in the soft launch, which began with an initial invitation sent on May 15. The ATP panelists chosen for the initial soft launch were known responders who had completed previous ATP surveys within one day of receiving their invitation. All remaining English- and Spanish-speaking sampled panelists were included in the full launch and were sent an invitation on May 16.

All panelists with an email address received an email invitation and up to two email reminders if they did not respond to the survey. All ATP panelists who consented to SMS messages received an SMS invitation and up to two SMS reminders.

Data quality checks

To ensure high-quality data, the Center’s researchers performed data quality checks to identify any respondents showing clear patterns of satisficing. This includes checking for very high rates of leaving questions blank, as well as always selecting the first or last answer presented. As a result of this checking, five ATP respondents were removed from the survey dataset prior to weighting and analysis.

Weighting

The ATP data is weighted in a multistep process that accounts for multiple stages of sampling and nonresponse that occur at different points in the survey process. First, each panelist begins with a base weight that reflects their probability of selection for their initial recruitment survey. These weights are then rescaled and adjusted to account for changes in the design of ATP recruitment surveys from year to year. Finally, the weights are calibrated to align with the population benchmarks in the accompanying table to correct for nonresponse to recruitment surveys and panel attrition. If only a subsample of panelists was invited to participate in the wave, this weight is adjusted to account for any differential probabilities of selection.

Among the panelists who completed the survey, this weight is then calibrated again to align with the population benchmarks identified in the accompanying table and trimmed at the 1st and 99th percentiles to reduce the loss in precision stemming from variance in the weights. Sampling errors and tests of statistical significance take into account the effect of weighting.

The following table shows the unweighted sample sizes and the error attributable to sampling that would be expected at the 95% level of confidence for different groups in the survey.

Sample sizes and sampling errors for other subgroups are available upon request. In addition to sampling error, one should bear in mind that question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of opinion polls.

Dispositions and response rates

© Pew Research Center, 2023

The post Methodology appeared first on Pew Research Center: Internet, Science & Tech.

This report is a collaborative effort based on the input and analysis of the following individuals. Find related reports online at pewresearch.org/internet.

Primary researchers

Janna Anderson, Director, Elon University’s Imagining the Internet Center                    
Lee Rainie, Director, Internet and Technology Research                           

Editorial and graphic design

Peter Bell, Design Director
Rebecca Leppert, Editorial Assistant

Communications and web publishing

Sara Atske, Associate Digital Producer
Kelsey Beveridge, Communications Associate

The post Acknowledgments appeared first on Pew Research Center: Internet, Science & Tech.

In July 2013, activists first used the #BlackLivesMatter hashtag to spark conversation about racism, violence and the criminal justice system following George Zimmerman’s acquittal in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Florida.

Ten years later, Black Lives Matter stands as a model of a new generation of social movements intrinsically linked to social media. The enduring power of the hashtag itself is clear: More than 44 million #BlackLivesMatter tweets from nearly 10 million distinct users currently exist on Twitter today, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of publicly available tweets from July 2013 through March 2023.²

Use of the hashtag has fluctuated over the years, often in response to instances of police violence against Black Americans. And perhaps no event is more directly tied to the use of the hashtag than the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin on May 25, 2020.

Over half of all existing tweets that include the #BlackLivesMatter hashtag were posted from May to September 2020. And of the nearly 10 million distinct users who have tweeted the #BlackLivesMatter hashtag, 6.8 million of them – most of whom had never used the hashtag previously – posted it during that five-month period.

Summer 2020 marked a high point in the number of tweets mentioning #BlackLivesMatter. But the hashtag remains an ongoing presence on Twitter to this day. Since October 2020, it has been used in nearly a quarter-million tweets per month.

Here are some of the key findings of this analysis of a decade of #BlackLivesMatter on Twitter:

• Most #BlackLivesMatter tweets express support for the Black Lives Matter movement. Some 72% of all #BlackLivesMatter tweets have expressed clear support for the movement or its broader objectives. Just 11% have expressed opposition, with the remainder not expressing clear opposition or support.
• Policing and police violence have been a consistent topic of focus in these tweets. One-third of all #BlackLivesMatter tweets over the last decade have mentioned police, victims of police violence or violent confrontations between civilians and law enforcement. Despite the many changes in the political and social landscape that have occurred during that time, policing has been a consistent focus of the #BlackLivesMatter conversation since 2013.
• Over the years, #BlackLivesMatter has been associated with a diverse set of other hashtags and causes. Some 55% of all #BlackLivesMatter tweets also include other hashtags. In the movement’s early years, the most common of these other hashtags referred primarily to specific instances or victims of police violence against Black Americans. More recently, they have expanded to include a variety of issues and causes.
• Much of the #BlackLivesMatter historical record is no longer available. Black Lives Matter is one of the most prominent social movements to develop and evolve entirely within the social media era. But our analysis indicates that around one-third of all #BlackLivesMatter tweets that were known to be posted from 2013 to 2021 – and as much as 40% of those posted during the summer of 2020 – are no longer accessible on Twitter.

Survey results: Black Lives Matter and social media activism

Along with this analysis of tweets, the Center also fielded a survey of 5,101 U.S. adults from May 15 to 21, 2023. It asked about Americans’ political activity on social media, and their views on social media’s role in national conversations about race and racial inequality.

The survey finds that exposure to Black Lives Matter on social media is widespread. Fully 77% of social media users say they have come across content related to Black Lives Matter on these sites. And this is true for majorities of users across most demographic groups.

Americans are much more likely to see posts related to Black Lives Matter than they are to personally post or share their views on the subject. And when they do choose to post, they are more likely show their support:

• 24% of social media users say they have ever posted or shared things in support of Black Lives Matter;
• 10% of users say they have done so in opposition.

Black social media users stand out for showing their support: 52% say they have posted or shared things in support of Black Lives Matter on social media. That share drops to about one-in-five each among Hispanic, Asian and White users.

The survey also finds that 7% of Americans overall say they have ever attended a Black Lives Matter protest. And that share rises to 15% among those who are Black.

Younger Black people are especially likely to be vocal supporters of Black Lives Matter on social media. Some 61% of Black social media users ages 18 to 49 say they have posted or shared things in support of Black Lives Matter. This group also stands out for attending Black Lives Matter protests, with 17% of Black Americans in this age range saying they have been to one.

Views of social media and the press as tools for bringing attention to police violence against Black people

Three years since nationwide protests and debates following the murder of George Floyd, an 81% majority of Americans believe police violence against Black people in the U.S. is a problem. But while 85% of Black adults describe it as a major problem, that share falls to 56% among Hispanic adults and 50% among Asian adults.³ An even smaller share of White adults feel this way (36%).

But how effective are social media or news organizations for bringing awareness to this issue? Among those who agree that police violence against Black people is a problem in the U.S., social media holds a modest edge:

• 43% say social media is an extremely or very effective way of bringing attention to this issue;
• 32% say news organizations are extremely or very effective.

The degree to which people view social media as an effective tool for spreading awareness varies by race and ethnicity, as well as by political attitudes.

About half or more Black, Asian and Hispanic adults describe social media as an extremely or very effective way to bring attention to police violence against Black adults, compared with a much smaller share of White adults (35%) who say this.

And Democrats and Democratic leaners who view police violence as a problem are more likely than their Republican counterparts to say social media is an extremely or very effective way to shed light on police violence against Black people (51% vs. 32%).

By comparison, views of news organizations’ ability to bring attention to these issues do not vary as greatly by race or ethnicity or by political party.

At the same time, the survey shows the public has complex views of the impact of social media on political engagement more broadly. Many Americans acknowledge how social media can be helpful in raising awareness, saying the following statements describe social media very or somewhat well:

• 67% say “social media highlights important issues that might not get a lot of attention otherwise”;
• 67% say “social media helps give a voice to underrepresented groups”;
• 47% say “social media make it easier to hold powerful people accountable.”

But larger shares believe these platforms can be a distraction and are ineffective:

• 82% say “social media distracts people from issues that are truly important”;
• 76% say “social media makes people think they’re making a difference when they really aren’t.”

Value users place on social media for finding like-minded people, sharing political views

Overall, four-in-ten social media users say these platforms are very or somewhat important to them personally when it comes to finding others who share their views about important issues. Smaller shares place high importance on using social media to get involved with political or social issues (30%) or express their political opinions (27%).

But the level of importance users place on these sites for their own political engagement has declined over time.

The share of social media users who describe these sites as very or somewhat important to them for getting involved with issues they care about dropped from 44% in 2020 to 30% today. This decline is also present in views about social media being personally important for expressing their political views or finding like-minded people.⁴

As was true in previous Center surveys about social media activism, the value users place on social media for their own political engagement varies by race and ethnicity.⁵ About half each among Black, Hispanic and Asian social media users say these sites are important to them for finding others who share their views about important issues, compared with one-third of White users. A similar pattern is present when asked about getting involved with issues or expressing their political beliefs on social media.

Other key survey findings:

This survey also asked about five specific activities people may have recently participated in on social media, and it finds that some activities are more common than others. Among U.S. social media users, in the past year:

• 34% say they have taken part in a group that shares an interest in an issue or cause;
• 26% have encouraged others to take action on issues that are important to them;
• 14% have looked for information about rallies or protests happening in their area;
• 14% have changed their profile picture to show their support for a cause or issues;
• 12% have used hashtags related to a political or social issue.

In total, 46% of social media users have done at least one of these activities. Certain groups – particularly those who are Black – are more likely to report recently using social media for these purposes.

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The phrase “Black lives matter” first appeared in a July 2013 Facebook post by activist Alicia Garza, following the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin. Use of #BlackLivesMatter as a hashtag quickly spread to other social media sites such as Twitter.

Over the ensuing decade, the Black Lives Matter movement has been a consistent and substantial topic of conversation on Twitter. We collected all publicly available tweets containing the #BlackLivesMatter hashtag going all the way back to 2013 – more than 44 million tweets in total.⁵

We then examined these tweets to understand:

• How the volume of tweets tagged with the #BlackLivesMatter hashtag has changed over time;
• Whether these tweets express support or opposition to the movement as a whole;
• How often these tweets mention policing or police violence;
• How audiences engaged with and amplified these tweets;
• What other hashtags are included alongside #BlackLivesMatter.

How use of the #BlackLivesMatter hashtag has changed over time

Over the last decade, the #BlackLivesMatter hashtag has appeared in 3,024 tweets on a typical (median) day. However, its use has surged well above this baseline around major news events – often those involving incidents where Black Americans were killed by police.

Use of the #BlackLivesMatter hashtag increased dramatically in November 2014, to a peak of more than 95,000 times in a single day. This increase followed the announcement that Ferguson, Missouri, police officer Darren Wilson would not be indicted in the fatal shooting of Michael Brown.

Another notable spike – to a peak of more than 422,000 tweets in a single day– occurred in July of 2016. Alton Sterling was killed by police officers in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on July 5 of that year. Philando Castile was killed the next day by an officer outside St. Paul, Minnesota. During the protests following these deaths, multiple police officers in both Dallas, Texas, and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, were shot and killed.

But the most active period by far for #BlackLivesMatter on Twitter was summer 2020, following the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin. During this period, the hashtag was used more than 160,000 times a day, on average, and peaked at over 1.2 million uses in a single day.

Of the 44 million tweets from the last decade using the #BlackLivesMatter hashtag that were still available at the time of this study, more than half – 24.5 million – were posted between the beginning of May and the end of September 2020.

Summer 2020 marked a new high point for references to #BlackLivesMatter on Twitter

In addition to being the most active period for #BlackLivesMatter on Twitter, summer 2020 also marked a shift in how frequently the hashtag would be referenced on the platform moving forward. Prior to May 2020, #BlackLivesMatter appeared in around 151,000 tweets per month, on average. From October 2020 through March 2023, it appeared in nearly 236,000 tweets per month – an increase of 56%. 

How many users have tweeted about #BlackLivesMatter

Nearly 10 million distinct users posted or retweeted a tweet containing the #BlackLivesMatter hashtag between 2013 and 2023. But similar to tweeting behavior among the general public, #BlackLivesMatter tweets are highly concentrated among a smaller subset of users. More than half of the users who have posted a tweet containing the hashtag only did so one time and never again subsequently. And of the 44 million tweets examined for this analysis, 77% – or 34 million – were shared by just one-quarter of the users who ever posted the hashtag.

Summer 2020 was also a high-water mark for the number of distinct users participating in the #BlackLivesMatter conversation on Twitter. Some 6.8 million distinct users shared a tweet with the hashtag between May and September 2020, and of those, 85% – or 5.8 million users – had never used the #BlackLivesMatter hashtag before.

When Twitter users do share a tweet with #BlackLivesMatter, they are more likely to be using someone else’s words rather than their own. Of the over 44 million total tweets collected for this analysis, 56% are retweets. Quote tweets, replies and original tweets together make up 44% of the collection.

Expressions of support and opposition to the #BlackLivesMatter movement over time

The vast majority of #BlackLivesMatter tweets posted in the last decade have taken a stance – typically a positive one – toward the broader social movement the hashtag represents. Cumulatively since 2013, 72% of #BlackLivesMatter tweets have expressed clear support for the wider movement and its objectives. Conversely, 11% of these tweets have expressed clear opposition for the movement. The remaining 17% of tweets do not state a clear position. The share of tweets with a neutral stance has increased slightly in recent years. But overall, the broad distribution of opinions in these tweets has remained relatively consistent in expressing support for the movement as a whole.

Language used in tweets that support and oppose the broader movement

Supportive and oppositional tweets often use different words to frame the Black Lives Matter movement and major events surrounding it.

Supportive tweets are frequently characterized by words like:

• Together
• Justice
• Change
• Fight
• Brutality
• Murder

By contrast, opposing tweets often use words like:

• Riot, looting (when discussing Black Lives Matter protests)
• Assault
• Defacing
• Criminal, violent, Marxist, terrorist, antifa (when describing Black Lives Matter supporters)

One-third of #BlackLivesMatter tweets since 2013 mention police violence or its victims

The Black Lives Matter movement and hashtag first grew to prominence in response to the killing of Michael Brown by police officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Missouri. Issues of policing and its impact on Black Americans remain at the forefront of discourse around the hashtag. Our analysis finds that one-third of tweets using the #BlackLivesMatter hashtag have included references to policing, police brutality, or have included the names of Black people killed by police.

This share has remained remarkably consistent over the course of the last decade. Despite all the changes in the technological and political landscapes that have occurred during this time, racialized policing has remained at the core of the online discourse surrounding the Black Lives Matter movement.

The most common hashtags used in #BlackLivesMatter tweets

This analysis is based on tweets containing the #BlackLivesMatter hashtag. But 55% of these tweets over the last decade also included other hashtags alongside #BlackLivesMatter. Particularly in the early years of the movement, the most popular of these “co-occurring” hashtags included references to victims of police violence or the circumstances surrounding those events.

Other hashtags that commonly occur alongside #BlackLivesMatter include an expanded range of issues and concerns. These include general references to Black history and culture (#BlackHistoryMonth, #BlackTwitter, #BlackExcellence); broader social movements and issues, both in the United States and abroad (#TigrayGenocide, #DefundThePolice, #AsianLivesMatter); and other issues related to politics and current events (#Trump, #resist, #antifa). Additionally, #AllLivesMatter – a hashtag frequently used to critique or oppose the Black Lives Matter movement – also appears somewhat commonly in these tweets.

As a broader look at how other hashtags are used to link #BlackLivesMatter tweets to expanded audiences and conversations, we identified several common topical hashtag groupings that appear consistently in these tweets. And as is true of the most common individual hashtags discussed above, the most common grouping refers to the location of specific protests (such as #Ferguson) or individual victims of police violence (such as #GeorgeFloyd). Hashtags from this group have been mentioned in 15% of #BlackLivesMatter tweets over the last decade.

Other somewhat common hashtag groupings offer general support for the broader movement or reference Black culture and history. Smaller shares refer to U.S. politicians or politics, celebrities, or non-Black Lives Matter movements and causes.

Audience engagement with #BlackLivesMatter tweets

Retweeting is one of the primary ways that messages are “amplified” on Twitter: Tweets reach new audiences when they are shared by others, and these retweets are often shared again, and so on. Tweets containing the #BlackLivesMatter hashtag over the last decade were retweeted an average of 18 times each.

But a majority of these tweets never traveled outside their original author’s network: 65% of these posts were retweeted zero times. Another 30% received 1 to 10 retweets.

Only a small proportion (just 1%) of #BlackLivesMatter posts were retweeted more than 100 times. But this small group of high-engagement tweets accounts for the vast majority (90%) of all retweets of the hashtag over the last decade.

By far the most retweeted #BlackLivesMatter tweet from the last 10 years was a June 2020 post by the Korean pop group BTS, which at the time of writing had been retweeted over 831,000 times. Retweets of just this post represent nearly 2% of all publicly available tweets tagged with #BlackLivesMatter from the past decade.

Of those tweets that did rise to prominence, many came from activists, musicians or other celebrities. But some tweets that garnered hundreds of thousands of retweets were originally posted by individual users on their personal accounts.

And of the twenty most retweeted posts with the #BlackLivesMatter hashtag, all are supportive of the movement. Some simply offer general support for the movement and its values, while others document protests or call attention to specific victims of police violence. Even in conversation about a serious social movement, a notable portion of the most retweeted tweets (4 out of 20) use humor to get their point across. The vast majority include a photo or video, but few include explicit calls to action.

Favorable #BlackLivesMatter tweets have wider reach on the platform

Much like the volume of tweets containing the #BlackLivesMatter hashtag, the volume of retweets has not been evenly distributed over time. June 8, 2020, was the day with the single highest volume of retweets for posts with the hashtag. And all of the top five days by retweet volume fell between June 5 and June 9, 2020, two weeks after George Floyd’s murder. Summer 2020 as a whole was the most active time for retweets related to Black Lives Matter in the last decade.

Sometimes spikes in retweet volume corresponded to many unique users tweeting about a widely publicized news event, such as Floyd’s murder. Other times, one viral tweet was primarily responsible for a daily spike. For example, an increase in retweets on June 15, 2019, was largely due to a video tweeted by media outlet Occupy Democrats of a police officer in Phoenix, Arizona,  threatening to shoot a Black family. That tweet was then amplified through retweets by Meek Mill, YG, Jemele Hill and other celebrities, and accounts for 97% of all retweets of the hashtag on the day it was posted.

Tweets supporting the Black Lives Matter movement received more retweets on average than tweets opposing the movement. Supportive tweets were retweeted an average of 22 times, while opposing tweets were retweeted 13 times on average. Neutral tweets had the lowest average retweet count (7). But the majority of tweets, regardless of stance, were not retweeted at all, with 63% of supportive tweets, 72% of oppositional tweets and 71% of neutral tweets receiving zero retweets.

Many #BlackLivesMatter tweets can no longer be viewed on Twitter

Conversation around the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter has been a consistent and culturally impactful presence on Twitter over the past decade. However, data on Twitter can be impermanent – Twitter users can delete tweets they previously posted, they can deactivate their account or make it private, or they can be suspended by the platform itself. When any of these things happens, tweets that were previously available to view publicly can disappear from the record entirely.

The Center’s new analysis is based on tweets tagged with #BlackLivesMatter that were publicly available as of spring 2023. But we were also able to reference past data collection efforts to estimate the share of #BlackLivesMatter tweets that have been deleted or otherwise become inaccessible over the years. According to this comparison, 35% of #BlackLivesMatter tweets created between 2013 and 2021 are no longer available on the platform. That share is even higher when looking at tweets created in summer 2020 – the highest peak of activity for the hashtag. Out of all the #BlackLivesMatter tweets posted between May and September 2020, fully 40% are no longer accessible.

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This work also explores the online and offline ways people have engaged with one of the most recognizable topics in online activism in the last decade: Black Lives Matter.

Political and civic engagement on social media

Some people are turning to social media to engage with the political and social issues they care about. This survey asks about five activities related to causes or issues that people may have done on social media in the past year.

About one-third of social media users (34%) say they have taken part in a group that shares an interest in an issue or cause, while a smaller share (26%) say they have encouraged others to take action on social media in the past year.

Smaller shares have looked up info on protests or rallies happening in their area (14%), changed their profile picture to support a cause (14%) or used hashtags related to a political or social issue (12%) in the past year.

Taken together, 46% of social media users say they have done at least one of these activities in the past year.

Black users stand out for their activity on social media, with a majority (58%) saying they’ve participated in at least one of these activities in the past year, compared with less than half each among White (45%) and Hispanic (40%) users. Asian users do not significantly differ from their Black, White or Hispanic counterparts: 49% say they have done at least one of these activities in the past year.

In particular, Black users are more likely to have changed their profile picture to support a cause: One-quarter of Black social media users say they have done this in the past year, while smaller shares of Hispanic (15%), Asian (15%) and White (11%) users say the same.

Democrats and Democratic-leaning users are also more likely than their Republican counterparts (53% vs. 41%) to have engaged politically on social media in any of these five ways. One of the largest gaps is in finding information about rallies or protests happening in their area: 20% of Democratic social media users have done this in the past year, compared with 9% of Republican users.

Personal importance of social media for political action

Four-in-ten social media users say these platforms are very or somewhat important to them personally when it comes to finding others who share their views about important issues. Smaller shares say the same for getting involved with political or social issues that are important to them (30%) or giving them a venue to express their political opinions (27%).

The share of social media users who say online platforms are important for each of these reasons has decreased since the last time the Center asked this question in June 2020, following massive protests after the killing of George Floyd. For example, the share of users who said social media is an important venue for expressing their political opinions has declined from 40% in 2020 to 27% today.

As was true in previous Center surveys, the level of importance that users place on these platforms for their own political engagement continues to vary by race and ethnicity.

Roughly half of Black, Hispanic and Asian users say social media is very or somewhat important for finding other people who share their views about important issues, compared with one-third of White users who say this. Black, Hispanic and Asian users also place a higher level of importance on social media than White users when it comes to getting involved with issues they care about or giving them a place to express their political views.

There are also differences in the personal importance of social media by age and political party, which are displayed in the appendix.

Positive and negative impacts of social media on political discourse

The survey also sheds light on how Americans overall – not just those who use social media – think about these platforms’ impact on society and civic life. The public offers up a mix of criticism and praise for these sites.

On the more negative side, clear majorities of Americans overall – including those across racial and ethnic groups – say the statement that “social media distracts people from issues that are truly important” (82%) or “makes people think they’re making a difference when they really aren’t” (76%) describes social media very or somewhat well.

Still, the public broadly agrees social media can be a helpful tool for shedding light on underrepresented stories or communities. Two-thirds each say social media “highlights important issues that might not get a lot of attention otherwise” and “helps give a voice to underrepresented groups,” while roughly half (47%) believe the statement “social media makes it easier to hold powerful people accountable for their actions” describes these platforms well.

People’s assessment of social media’s impact varies widely by race and ethnicity. While about six-in-ten each among Black, Hispanic and Asian adults say social media helps hold the powerful accountable, that share drops to 39% among White adults.

Views of social media highlighting important issues that might otherwise go unnoticed or giving a voice to underrepresented groups follow a similar pattern – with Black, Hispanic and Asian Americans more likely to agree with this statement than their White counterparts.

White Americans are more negative than Black or Hispanic Americans about the impact of these platforms on political engagement. White adults (80%) are more likely than Black (64%) or Hispanic adults (70%) to say the statement “social media makes people think they are making a difference when they really aren’t” describes these sites well.

Asian adults (77%) are more likely than Black adults to say social media creates a false sense of changemaking, but do not differ significantly from Hispanic or White adults.

For differences by age, political party and social media use, see the appendix.

Support for and opposition to Black Lives Matter on social media

In addition to measuring Americans’ views about online activism more broadly, the survey also focused on people’s engagement with content directly related to Black Lives Matter.

While most social media users (77%) have come across content related to Black Lives Matter, far fewer have shared their personal views – whether positive or negative – about this on social media.

Overall, 24% of social media users say they have ever posted or shared things on these sites in support of Black Lives Matter, while a smaller share (10%) say they have posted things in opposition. But both actions vary widely by race and ethnicity, age, and political party.

Roughly half of Black social media users (52%) say they have posted or shared things in support of Black Lives Matter, compared with smaller shares of Hispanic (24%), Asian (22%) and White (18%) users.

Racial and ethnic differences are more modest when looking at those who have voiced their opposition on social media. Still, Asian users are less likely than Black, Hispanic or White users to share content opposing Black Lives Matter.

Younger adults are more likely than their older peers to voice their support of Black Lives Matter on social media. Four-in-ten users ages 18 to 29 say they have done this, compared with 24% of those 30 to 49 and an even smaller share of those 50 and older. However, there are no meaningful age differences among those who post disapproving content. 

Partisan differences are also present. Much larger shares of Democratic rather than Republican users say they have posted things in support of Black Lives Matter (41% vs. 6%). More modest gaps exist when asked about posting things in opposition: 14% of Republican users report sharing content opposing Black Lives Matter on social media, compared with 6% of Democratic users. 

Racial and age differences in being politically active on social media  

Younger Black social media users consistently stand out for their higher levels of political engagement on social media and the importance they place on that engagement.

In this survey, we ask whether users have done each of five issue-based actions on social media in the past year, including taking part in a group related to a cause and encouraging others to take action on issues. Roughly two-thirds of Black social media users ages 18 to 49 (64%) have done at least one of these activities in the past year, compared with fewer than half of White or Hispanic users under 50 and 48% of older Black users.

This pattern is also true when looking at activities that amplify Black Lives Matter. While 61% of Black social media users under 50 say they have posted or shared things in support of Black Lives Matter, that share drops to 35% among older Black users and even is smaller among White and Hispanic users, regardless of age. Notably, a somewhat similar pattern is also seen for sharing opposition, with one-fifth of younger Black users having posted their opposition to Black Lives Matter on social media.

Social media also holds a high personal importance for many younger Black users. A majority of Black users ages 18 to 49 (59%) say social media is very or somewhat important to them for finding other people who share their views about important issues. Some 48% of younger Hispanic users say this, as do smaller shares of Black users 50 and older (38%) and younger White users (36%). The same pattern holds when looking at the shares of each group who say social media is important to them for getting involved with political or social issues and giving them a venue to express political opinions.

Attending Black Lives Matter protests

Massive protests and demonstrations have been a mainstay of the Black Lives Matter movement – often swelling around high-profile killings of Black Americans by law enforcement.

This survey finds that 7% of Americans say they have ever attended a Black Lives Matter protest, and those who have done so are more likely to be younger, Black and identify with the Democratic party.

Black Americans (15%) are more likely than those who are Hispanic (7%), Asian (7%) or White (5%) to say they have attended a Black Lives Matter protest.

Age differences on this question are also pronounced: 15% of Americans ages 18 to 29 say they have attended a Black Lives Matter protest, compared with 8% of those 30 to 49 and 3% of those 50 and older.

And Democrats are more likely than Republicans to say they have attended a Black Lives Matter protest (12% vs. 3%).

Views on police violence against Black people

One of the central discussions around criminal justice in recent years focuses on the relationship between policing and racial bias – particularly the violent and fatal encounters that Black people have with law enforcement.

This survey finds that roughly eight-in-ten Americans say police violence against Black people in the U.S. is a major (46%) or minor (34%) problem. Another 18% say this is not a problem in this country.

While majorities say police violence against Black people in the U.S. is a problem, groups differ over how big of an issue it is. For example, 85% of Black adults describe this as a major problem, compared with 56% of Hispanic adults, 50% of Asian adults and 36% of White adults.

There are also striking partisan differences. Democrats are far more likely than Republicans to describe police violence against Black people as a major issue in the U.S. (75% vs. 15%).

How effective are social media and news organizations in bringing awareness to police misconduct?

About four-in-ten Americans who view police violence against Black people as a problem (43%) say social media is an extremely or very effective way to bring attention to the issue, while a smaller share say the same about news organizations (32%).

Views on the effectiveness of social media in shedding light on this issue differ by race and ethnicity. Among White adults who view police violence against Black people as a problem, 35% say social media is extremely or very effective in bringing attention the issue, that share rises to half or more among those who are Black (58%), Asian (52%) or Hispanic (50%).

By comparison, racial and ethnic differences on news organizations’ ability to bring attention to this issue are somewhat more modest. Still, Asian adults (42%) in this group are more likely to say news organizations are extremely or very effective in bringing attention to police violence against Black people than White (31%) or Hispanic adults (32%). Black adults do not meaningfully differ from other groups.

Political party is also a factor. Democrats who think police violence against Black people is a problem are more likely than their Republican counterparts to say social media is extremely or very effective way of bringing awareness to these issues (51% vs. 32%). And while there are partisan gaps in views about news organizations’ ability to bring attention to this topic, they are far more modest.

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The post Appendix appeared first on Pew Research Center: Internet, Science & Tech.

Primary researchers

Samuel Bestvater, Computational Social Scientist
Risa Gelles-Watnick, Research Assistant
Meltem Odabaş, Computational Social Scientist
Monica Anderson, Director, Internet and Technology Research
Aaron Smith, Director, Data Labs

Research team        

Gonzalo Rivero, Associate Director, Data Labs              
Galen Stocking, Senior Computational Social Scientist
Emily A. Vogels, Research Associate
Athena Chapekis, Data Science Analyst
Sono Shah, Computational Social Scientist

Editorial and graphic design

Alissa Scheller, Information Graphics Designer
Anna Jackson, Editorial Assistant

Communications and web publishing

Haley Nolan, Communications Manager
Sara Atske, Associate Digital Producer

In addition, the project benefited greatly from the guidance of Pew Research Center’s methodology team: Courtney Kennedy, Andrew Mercer, Dorene Asare-Marfo, Ashley Amaya, Arnold Lau and Dana Popky. This project also benefited from feedback by the following Pew Research Center staff: Lee Rainie, Kiana Cox, Khadijah Edwards, Juliana Horowitz, Jocelyn Kiley and Carroll Doherty.

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