A Pew Research Center survey of adults across 11 countries has showed that in many key respects, smartphone users – especially those who use social media – are more “regularly exposed” to people who have different backgrounds & more connected with friends they don’t see in person. Those with smartphones are also more likely to have accessed new information about health & government services.
Across most of the 11 emerging economies, people with smartphones also tended to be more likely to interact regularly with people from different political parties, income levels & racial or ethnic backgrounds, the survey showed.
Although smartphones & social media may be broadening horizons, adults in these emerging economies saw both positives & negatives stemming from this change.
As results from an earlier Pew Research Center report indicate, adults in these 11 countries said access to mobile phones, the Internet & social media both make people more divided in their political opinions & sometimes more accepting of those who have different views than they do.
In most countries, larger shares said technology was causing people to be more divided than say it has caused them to be open to different groups of people.
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