Activism now spans social media posts, petitions, volunteering, public meetings, protests, and everyday help for neighbors. The figures below show how often people take part, how participation differs by age and political identity, and how civic action appears across countries and communities.
Contents
- Social media activism
- Who participates online
- Issue-based visibility and Black Lives Matter
- Offline and online civic engagement
- Volunteering and informal community action
- Political engagement across countries
- Protests, political violence, and local officials
Social media activism
Pew Research Center’s Activism in the Social Media Age measured five social-media activities among U.S. adults during the previous year. The most common activity was joining a social media group that shares an interest in an issue or cause: 34% of adults reported doing so. Another 32% encouraged others to take action on an issue important to them.
Three activities were reported by 14%, 14%, and 12% of U.S. adults, respectively. The first 14% used social media to find information about rallies or protests happening in their area. The second 14% changed a profile picture to show support for a cause. The 12% used hashtags related to a political or social issue.
Taken together, 53% of U.S. adults engaged in at least one of those five activities during the previous year. This combined measure counts people who did one or more activities; it should not be added from the individual percentages because the activities can overlap.
Social media also mattered to people as a way to connect and express themselves. Among social media users, 42% said the platforms were personally important for finding others who share their views about important issues. A further 39% said social media were personally important for getting involved with political or social issues that matter to them, while 37% said the platforms were personally important as a venue for expressing political opinions.
U.S. adults also assessed the broader civic role of social media. Sixty-nine percent said social media were important for getting elected officials to pay attention to issues, 67% said they were important for creating sustained movements for social change, and 58% said they were important for influencing policy decisions. In addition, 65% said social media highlight important issues that might not receive much attention otherwise.
Who participates online
Participation differed by political affiliation and age in Pew Research Center’s survey. Fifty-nine percent of Democrats reported doing at least one of the five social-media activism activities, compared with 45% of Republicans.
Age differences were especially visible in activities that require searching, posting, or changing a public-facing profile. Among adults ages 18 to 49, 23% changed their profile picture to support a cause, compared with 13% of those ages 50 and older. Twenty-four percent of adults ages 18 to 49 looked up information about local rallies or protests on social media, versus 13% of adults ages 50 and older. Hashtag use was reported by 20% of the younger group and 8% of the older group.
Views about social media’s influence also varied by party. Eighty percent of Democrats said social media were important for creating sustained movements for social change, compared with 53% of Republicans.
Race and ethnicity were associated with different views about whether social media can attract official attention. Thirty-six percent of Black social media users said social media were very important for getting elected officials to pay attention to issues. The corresponding figures were 27% among Hispanic users and 19% among White users.
| Measure | Reported share |
|---|---|
| U.S. adults doing at least one of five social-media activism activities | 53% |
| Democrats doing at least one activity | 59% |
| Republicans doing at least one activity | 45% |
| Adults ages 18–49 using issue-related hashtags | 20% |
| Adults ages 50 and older using issue-related hashtags | 8% |
| Democrats saying social media are important for sustained movements | 80% |
| Republicans saying the same | 53% |
Issue-based visibility and Black Lives Matter
Pew Research Center’s Americans’ views of and experiences with activism on social media examined exposure to and participation around Black Lives Matter. Among social media users, 77% had come across content related to Black Lives Matter. Twenty-four percent had posted or shared things in support of Black Lives Matter, while 10% had posted things in opposition.
Supportive posting varied by race and ethnicity. Fifty-two percent of Black social media users had posted or shared things in support of Black Lives Matter. The figures were 24% among Hispanic users, 22% among Asian users, and 18% among White users.
Age was another dividing line. Forty percent of social media users ages 18 to 29 had posted or shared things in support of Black Lives Matter, compared with 24% of users ages 30 to 49. Political affiliation showed an even wider difference in the survey: 41% of Democratic social media users had posted supportive content, compared with 6% of Republican users. In contrast, 14% of Republican users had posted things opposing Black Lives Matter, compared with 6% of Democratic users.
The survey also reported differences among Black users by age. Sixty-four percent of Black social media users ages 18 to 49 had done at least one issue-based activity on social media in the previous year, compared with 48% of older Black social media users. Sixty-one percent of Black social media users under 50 had posted or shared things in support of Black Lives Matter, versus 35% of older Black social media users.
Offline and online civic engagement
Pew Research Center’s Civic Engagement in the Digital Age measured several recent political and civic activities among American adults. Thirty-nine percent had contacted a government official or spoken out in a public forum about an important issue through offline means. Thirty-four percent had done so online.
Petitions were another common route into civic participation. Twenty-two percent had recently signed a paper petition, while 17% had signed a petition online. Twenty-one percent had contacted a government official in person, by phone, or by letter; 18% had contacted an official online, by email, or by text message.
Other forms of public expression reached smaller shares. Seven percent had called into a live radio or television show to express an opinion about a political or social issue. Eighteen percent had commented on an online news story or blog post about a political or social issue. Three percent had sent a letter to the editor by regular mail, and 4% had sent one online, by email, or by text message.
Social networking sites were also part of civic participation. Thirty-nine percent of American adults did political or civic activities on social networking sites, while 60% used social networking sites such as Facebook or Twitter. Among social-network users, 38% liked or promoted political or social issue material posted by others, 35% encouraged other people to vote, and 34% posted their own thoughts or comments on political or social issues.
Across four broad categories of civic and political engagement measured in the study, 72% of all American adults did at least one activity.
Volunteering and informal community action
The U.S. Census Bureau and AmeriCorps reported that 75.7 million U.S. residents age 16 and older formally volunteered through an organization between September 2022 and September 2023. That represented 28.3% of the U.S. population in that age range. During the same period, formal volunteers contributed 4.99 billion hours and more than $167.2 billion in economic value.
Formal service included digital participation for some volunteers. Eighteen percent of formal volunteers served completely or partially online, and 13.4 million formal volunteers engaged in service that included at least some online activities.
Community action extended beyond organizations. Between September 2022 and September 2023, 54.2% of Americans helped or exchanged favors with neighbors. The Census Bureau and AmeriCorps counted 137.5 million people who helped their neighbors informally. About one in 10 Americans engaged in informal helping a few times a week or more.
The amount of time contributed by formal volunteers changed over time. Average hours served per volunteer fell from 96.5 hours in 2017 to 70 hours in 2023. The median also declined: half of formal volunteers served 40 hours in 2017, compared with 24 hours in 2023.
Recovery was uneven geographically. In 14 states and five of the 12 largest metropolitan statistical areas, formal volunteering rates in 2023 matched or exceeded 2019 levels. In 11 states and the District of Columbia metropolitan area, 2023 formal volunteering rates remained more than 5 percentage points below pre-pandemic levels.
Political engagement across countries
Pew Research Center’s Political Engagement Around the World surveyed adults in 14 countries. Across the survey, 34% had attended a political campaign event or speech at least once, 27% had participated in volunteer organizations, 17% had posted comments on political issues online, 14% had participated in an organized protest, and 12% had donated money to a political or social organization.
Age and education shaped several forms of engagement. In 12 of the 14 countries surveyed, people ages 18 to 29 were more likely than older adults to post comments online about political or social issues. In 10 countries, people ages 50 and older were more likely than 18- to 29-year-olds to say they had voted in at least one election.
Social media use was associated with willingness to act. In 13 of the 14 countries, social networking users were more likely than nonusers to say they might take political action on free speech issues. In 10 countries, people with more education were more likely to say they would take political action on free speech issues.
Brazil illustrates how these differences can appear within one country. Twenty-nine percent of higher-educated adults in Brazil had participated in a protest, compared with 8% of adults with less education. Seventy-three percent of Brazilian adults under 30 said they could be motivated to get politically involved over free speech, versus 39% of those ages 50 and older.
Political identity also mattered in country-specific findings. In Israel, 63% of people on the political left said they would likely take political action on discrimination, compared with 33% of people on the right.
Protests, political violence, and local officials
ACLED recorded more than 143,000 protests worldwide in 2024. Its broader count of political violence and protest events reached more than 165,000 in the 12 months to June 30, 2024. That total was 15% higher than in the previous 12 months and 64% higher than the June 2020–July 2021 figure. ACLED reported that the top 50 ranked locations accounted for more than 97% of all conflict events it recorded in the past year.
ACLED also recorded 2,625 events of violence targeting local officials globally in 2024. Ninety-six countries experienced at least one such incident, and 88% of this violence was concentrated in Asia-Pacific, Latin America, and Africa. Fifty-seven percent of recorded violence targeting local officials took place in countries holding elections in 2024.
The regional and country counts show the concentration of these incidents. ACLED recorded 1,008 events in Asia-Pacific. Mexico recorded 342, Myanmar 305, India 272, Nigeria 137, and the Philippines 119.
Direct attacks accounted for 44% of all violence targeting local officials in 2024. Non-state armed actors were responsible for 70% of such incidents, while attacks by mobs and demonstrators accounted for 25% of incidents globally. By the first quarter of 2025, ACLED had already recorded more than 540 incidents in 59 countries.
Protest activity was also substantial in Europe. ACLED’s Europe dataset added more than 23,500 new political violence and protest events, and France saw more than 1,200 protests in 2024. In France, the number of protests was twice the number of pro-Palestine and anti-Israel demonstrations recorded in the country.