If it's in the News, it's in our Polls. Public opinion polling since 2003.

LIFESTYLE

Americans Worry About Personal Information On Social Networking Sites

One-out-of-two Americans now use some sort of social networking site such as Facebook, Myspace, LinkedIn or Twitter, but an overwhelming majority of Adults are concerned about the safety of personal information on these sites.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 50% of American Adults say they now belong to a social networking site. Forty-eight percent (48%) do not. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

In January 2009, just 29% said they belonged to a social networking site such as Myspace, Facebook or LinkedIn. That survey did not mention Twitter in the question. 

Adults 40 and under are much more likely to be members of such sites than those who are older.

Eighty-six percent (86%) of those who belong to social networking sites say they use them primarily for personal reasons. Just 12% rely on them chiefly for business.

But 82% of all Americans are at least somewhat concerned about the security of personal information posted on the social networking sites, including 52% who are Very Concerned. Just 16% are not very or not at all concerned about the safety of this information.

Women are more concerned than men. Older adults worry more about the security of this information than younger Americans do.

(Want a free daily e-mail update? If it's in the news, it's in our polls). Rasmussen Reports updates are also available on Twitter or Facebook. 

The survey of 1,000 Adults nationwide was conducted on December 8-9, 2010 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.

Want to read more?

Become a Rasmussen Reader to read the article

Have an account?

Log In

Become a Reader

Subscribe

Rasmussen Reports is a media company specializing in the collection, publication and distribution of public opinion information.

We conduct public opinion polls on a variety of topics to inform our audience on events in the news and other topics of interest. To ensure editorial control and independence, we pay for the polls ourselves and generate revenue through the sale of subscriptions, sponsorships, and advertising. Nightly polling on politics, business and lifestyle topics provides the content to update the Rasmussen Reports web site many times each day. If it's in the news, it's in our polls. Additionally, the data drives a daily update newsletter and various media outlets across the country.

Some information, including the Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll and commentaries are available for free to the general public. Subscriptions are available for $4.95 a month or 34.95 a year that provide subscribers with exclusive access to more than 20 stories per week on upcoming elections, consumer confidence, and issues that affect us all. For those who are really into the numbers, Platinum Members can review demographic crosstabs and a full history of our data.

To learn more about our methodology, click here.