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Lee Rainey, director of the Pew Research Center's Internet and American Life Project, doesn't think so.
Still Getting Things Done
"All the aggregate economic data say that American productivity has increased every year since 2002, which you could take as the beginning of the social media era with blogs coming into some cultural prominence," Rainey told us. (The rate of productivity growth, however, has declined during that period, from 4.6 percent to 0.7 percent in 2011.)
Studying engagement on social media has become a top fascination for researchers. A September phone survey by the Pew Center found that 46 percent of Internet users post original photos and videos online they have created themselves and 41 percent curate photos and videos they find elsewhere. It also found that women are more likely than men to use Pinterest, while Instagram and Tumblr attract equal shares of men and women.
A November survey found that 22 percent of registered voters had announced their pick for president on social media.
"There are lots of things that people do and feel about social media, so it's not just a matter of being all-for-the-good or all-for-the-worse," Rainey said.
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