FOR SOME AMERICANS, seeing something on social media is enough for them to change their opinions on a topic.

According to a Pew Research Center study published Wednesday, 14 percent of Americans have changed their views on a political or social topic in the last year because of something they saw on social media.

Not everyone is easily swayed, however. Responses differed among generations, genders, party lines and races. Older people are less likely to change their opinions. Only 6 percent of those aged 65 and older said their views changed because of social media, compared to 23 percent of those aged 18 to 29. Those aged 30 to 49 and 50 to 64 were almost equally as likely — 14 percent compared to 13 percent, respectively.

Men were far more likely than women to change their minds because of something they saw on social media. Forty-one percent of men, compared to just 29 percent of women reported having their views changed. It was most common among younger men, with 29 percent of those aged 18 to 29 changing their opinions, compared to only 12 percent of men 30 and older.

Younger women were also more likely than their older counterparts to shift their views, though the gap wasn't as large. Eighteen percent of women aged 18 to 29 said their opinions changed because of social media, compared to 11 percent of women aged 30 and older.

A discrepancy also exists among the races. Whites were least likely (11 percent) to change their views based on something they saw on social media. That's compared to 19 percent of African-Americans and the 22 percent of Hispanics.

Among political parties, Democrats were almost 10 percentage points more likely than Republicans to change their views based on social media postings — 17 percent compared to 9 percent. And there was a gender gap among Democrats. While an equal share of male and female Republicans (9 percent) said their views shifted, 21 percent of male Democrats compared to just 14 percent of female Democrats said the same, according to the survey.

The survey also found that there was a connection between how important a person thinks social media is for "personal political engagement and activism" and how likely they were to change their views. People whose views were changed by social media were more likely than those whose views were not to say that social media is an important tool for engaging in political and social issues — 63 percent to 35 percent.

Of people whose views changed, 67 percent said social media is an important tool in finding others who share their views, compared to 38 percent of people who held their beliefs. Additionally, 56 percent of people whose opinions shifted said social media is important in providing them a platform to express their political opinion, compared to 33 percent of people whose views were not altered.

No matter the importance people placed on social media, however, the survey found that people think the platforms distract from real issues and make people believe they are making an impact when they really aren't.

Pew's survey was conducted from May 29 through June 11 among 4,594 U.S. adults.

Alexa Lardieri, Staff Writer

Alexa Lardieri is a reporter and digital producer at U.S. News & World Report. You can follow h... READ MORE