Which do you trust most as a source of advice on important issues?

People tend to trust friends & family and the mainstream media far more than they trust websites & search engines.

Vote	All (1204)
friends & family	37.1% (+3.0 / -2.9)
newspapers	32.5% (+3.0 / -2.8)
search engines	19.3% (+2.6 / -2.4)
social media websites	6.7% (+2.0 / -1.6)
weblogs	4.4% (+1.9 / -1.3)

Relative to one another, men tend to trust newspapers, search engines & weblogs more; whereas women tend to trust friends & family and social media websites more.

Vote	Men (643)	Women (561)
friends & family	34.7% (+4.0 / -3.8)	39.4% (+4.6 / -4.4)
newspapers	34.1% (+4.0 / -3.8)	31.0% (+4.4 / -4.1)
search engines	20.1% (+3.5 / -3.1)	18.6% (+3.9 / -3.4)
social media websites	5.7% (+2.5 / -1.8)	7.6% (+3.3 / -2.3)
weblogs	5.5% (+2.5 / -1.8)	3.4% (+3.3 / -1.7)

The youngest age group tends to trust social media a bit more & newspapers a bit less than other age groups do. Outside of that, it is somewhat hard to see other age-based patterns.

Vote	18-24 year-olds (278)	25-34 year-olds (307)	35-44 year-olds (158)	45-54 year-olds (191)	55-64 year-olds (166)	65+ year-olds (104)
friends & family	39.8% (+5.8 / -5.5)	34.2% (+5.8 / -5.4)	38.9% (+7.8 / -7.2)	34.0% (+6.9 / -6.3)	36.3% (+7.6 / -6.9)	37.2% (+9.8 / -8.8)
newspapers	26.2% (+5.5 / -4.8)	35.8% (+5.9 / -5.5)	33.9% (+7.7 / -6.9)	31.7% (+6.8 / -6.1)	33.1% (+7.6 / -6.8)	34.6% (+10.0 / -8.8)
search engines	19.7% (+5.1 / -4.2)	16.8% (+4.9 / -4.0)	17.7% (+6.7 / -5.2)	23.5% (+6.5 / -5.5)	21.8% (+7.1 / -5.7)	17.7% (+8.5 / -6.2)
social media websites	11.0% (+4.2 / -3.1)	6.8% (+3.6 / -2.4)	3.6% (+5.1 / -2.1)	7.4% (+4.6 / -2.9)	4.3% (+4.5 / -2.3)	6.6% (+8.0 / -3.8)
weblogs	3.3% (+2.8 / -1.5)	6.4% (+3.5 / -2.3)	6.0% (+5.1 / -2.9)	3.4% (+4.1 / -1.9)	4.4% (+5.3 / -2.5)	3.9% (+7.4 / -2.6)

Here is data by geographic region.

Vote	The US Midwest (252)	The US Northeast (311)	The US South (372)	The US West (269)
friends & family	40.2% (+6.9 / -6.6)	39.0% (+6.2 / -5.9)	34.9% (+5.3 / -5.0)	36.1% (+6.2 / -5.8)
newspapers	30.4% (+6.8 / -6.1)	36.0% (+6.1 / -5.7)	33.7% (+5.2 / -4.9)	29.9% (+6.1 / -5.5)
search engines	21.5% (+6.4 / -5.3)	15.7% (+5.2 / -4.1)	18.7% (+4.6 / -3.9)	21.2% (+5.5 / -4.6)
social media websites	6.7% (+5.1 / -3.0)	5.2% (+4.3 / -2.4)	6.6% (+3.8 / -2.5)	7.9% (+4.5 / -3.0)
weblogs	1.3% (+9.5 / -1.1)	4.1% (+4.3 / -2.1)	6.2% (+3.6 / -2.3)	4.8% (+4.3 / -2.3)

Rural people tend to trust friends & family more, while urban people tend to trust newspapers more.

Vote	Urban areas (602)	Rural areas (91)	Suburban areas (480)
friends & family	30.9% (+4.4 / -4.0)	45.8% (+11.3 / -10.9)	38.7% (+4.9 / -4.7)
newspapers	38.5% (+4.7 / -4.5)	25.4% (+11.3 / -8.7)	30.0% (+4.5 / -4.2)
search engines	18.4% (+4.2 / -3.6)	20.2% (+10.4 / -7.5)	20.2% (+4.3 / -3.7)
social media websites	8.5% (+4.1 / -2.8)	2.3% (+14.6 / -2.1)	6.2% (+4.3 / -2.6)
weblogs	3.7% (+4.2 / -2.0)	6.3% (+11.2 / -4.2)	4.8% (+4.3 / -2.3)

The richer you are, the less you generally trust friends & family. The rich also trust newspapers & blogs more (though the blog data point had a small sample size).

Vote	People earning $0-24K (138)	People earning $25-49K (655)	People earning $50-74K (307)	People earning $75-99K (81)	People earning $100-149K (25)
friends & family	40.6% (+8.7 / -8.2)	38.2% (+4.1 / -4.0)	33.9% (+6.3 / -5.8)	36.6% (+11.1 / -9.8)	14.4% (+19.1 / -9.1)
newspapers	25.6% (+9.1 / -7.4)	30.6% (+4.0 / -3.7)	37.0% (+6.4 / -6.0)	42.2% (+10.6 / -10.0)	42.2% (+20.3 / -18.0)
search engines	22.8% (+9.1 / -7.1)	20.6% (+3.7 / -3.3)	17.4% (+5.7 / -4.5)	13.4% (+10.9 / -6.4)	22.0% (+21.5 / -12.7)
social media websites	7.2% (+9.2 / -4.2)	7.0% (+3.2 / -2.3)	5.4% (+5.6 / -2.8)	5.2% (+13.2 / -3.9)	5.8% (+23.7 / -4.9)
weblogs	3.8% (+11.0 / -2.9)	3.6% (+3.5 / -1.8)	6.3% (+5.4 / -3.0)	2.6% (+18.2 / -2.3)	15.6% (+21.7 / -10.2)