Social media platforms have become a ubiquitous method of communication and conversation in Australia and globally. How to address issues of concern with social media, while supporting the positive uses of social media platforms, is likely to be an issue of significant public and political debate in coming years. There will be major questions about trade-offs, the role of the state in regulating private businesses, policing individual speech, and whether and how to regulate social media platforms.

The Susan McKinnon Foundation funded a newDemocracy Foundation pilot project to explore the potential for opinion polling to improve the quality of public policy decision making in Australia (the Pilot). JWS Research was commissioned to undertake one of three pilot research projects, in this case, to understand how the Australian public is using and thinking about social media. This was not an exhaustive policy test, but instead an exploratory piece of research to assist in policy making and implementation.

The research examined:

• What aspects of social media people find most valuable, and the aspects that are most troubling.
• How people use social media, including the extent to which it is a trusted source of information.
• The role of social media as a news source and views of mis- and dis-information.
• Which social media issues are matters of concern to the public and whether these issues are likely to change how people use social media.
• Understanding and perceptions of algorithms.
• To what extent people are aware of the data social media companies collect and what it is used for.
• Views about whose responsibility it is to regulate social media, and whether social media platforms should have a role in policing content and users on their platforms.