"Public trust in the media and in data has been undercut by information overload, relentless social media cycles, and targeted influence campaigns. Whether driven by politics, social movements, or commercial interests, the credibility of what we see and hear is under threat. By thinking through the ways that we've lost our trust, we might find more ways to reverse the trend and bring people back together."
"In 1990, only 25 million people used the internet globally-about 0.6% of the world. By 2025, 5.6 billion people use social media every day. That's 64% of the world, a roughly 20,000% increase - and we now spend about six and a half hours online every day. This explosive growth over the past 35 years has brought with it a variety of technological and social innovations and challenges."
"Last month, Gallup released the latest results of a survey on trust in the media that began in 1972. It showed that current confidence in the mass media is at a new historic low. A majority trusting public in 1972 has now flipped to being a majority distrustful public in 2025. As with most data sets, the subtleties are more complicated. During the first Trump administration, trust rebounded significantly-and then backslid to its lowest point ever after the pandemic."
Public trust in media and data has eroded amid information overload, relentless social media cycles, and targeted influence campaigns. Gallup survey data show confidence in mass media at a new historic low, with a flip from majority trust in 1972 to majority distrust in 2025. Trust rebounded during the first Trump administration but then fell to its lowest point after the pandemic. Partisan differences widened, notably a surge in the "no trust at all" category among Republicans. The internet’s explosive growth—from 25 million users in 1990 to 5.6 billion by 2025—has reshaped information access and daily online behavior, producing technological and social challenges.
Read at Fast Company
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