Since July 1, 2013, Wikipedia’s Impression, Quality, and Recommend scores have increased among conservatives, yet remain lower than Wikipedia’s scores among liberals
With millions of articles and topics, it’s understandable why many people, regardless of ideology, might look to Wikipedia as a source of information. According to new data from YouGov BrandIndex, America’s Impression of Wikipedia is on the rise, particularly among conservatives.
Since July 1, 2013, Wikipedia’s Impression score has generally been increasing among conservatives, growing from an initial score of 24 to 29. The same is true of the online encyclopedia’s Quality and Recommend scores, which during the same time period rose from 18 to 22, and 21 to 24, respectively.
During this same time period, Wikipedia’s Impression, Quality and Recommend scores have remained higher among liberals. Between July 1, 2013 and July 29, 2018, the brand’s Impression score has hovered around 47, while the Quality score has consistently been in the low-to-mid 30s. The Recommend score has stayed in the high 30s to low 40s.
Data from YouGov Profiles shows that 56% of Liberals, 40% of Conservatives, and 50% of the general public have visited a dictionary or encyclopedia website on a desktop or laptop in the past 30 days.
Liberals and conservatives may be looking for different things in their research, though people on both sides tend to say that they’re skilled at convincing people to understand their viewpoint.
Liberals and conservatives were sharply divided on the statement, “There are only two kinds of people in this world: those for the truth and those against the truth.” Close to two-thirds (61%) of conservatives agreed with this statement, compared to 34% of liberals. About half (48%) of the general public agreed with this.
They also aren’t seeing eye-to-eye on the statement “I’m more sophisticated than most people.” While 38% of the general public says they agree with this, 45% of liberals agree. On the other end of the political spectrum, only 33% of conservatives agreed.
But something that liberals and conservatives tend to think similarly about is their ability to make others understand their viewpoints. Roughly 40% of both liberals and conservatives agreed with the statement “I can usually convince people to see it my way.”
Learn more about YouGov Plan & Track.
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