The vast majority of Americans believe social media has an effect on public policy outcomes in the U.S., but are split regarding whether the role social media plays in informing the public on political matters is a positive or negative one.

According to a recent survey sponsored by Finn Partners that gauged social media’s impact on public policy and U.S. voting decisions, 80 percent of respondents — or about four in five — said they think social media plays at least some role in public policy outcomes, be it on matters pertaining to gun control, immigration or trade.

A slim majority — 52 percent — also admitted that social media had some impact on their voting decision during the 2016 election.

However, respondents were divided on whether social media has a positive impact when it comes to informing the public on political matters, with nearly half — 46 percent — claiming that it does, while 32 percent claimed that social channels such as Twitter or Facebook carry at least some negative impacts.

The survey found that those who said they voted for Clinton in the 2016 Presidential election were slightly more likely to believe that social media has a strong positive impact on informing public policy.

Moreover, Democrats, along with college-aged respondents, were also more likely to believe that social media has an impact on public policy outcomes in the U.S.

Finally, Democrats were twice as likely as Republicans to claim that social media had “significantly” impacted their voting decision (28 percent versus 14 percent).

Regardless of political affiliation, respondents agreed on something else: while more than half — 57 percent — said they regularly shared their political opinions on social media, a third admitted to refraining from doing so during the presidential election cycle.

When asked why, more than half — 54 percent — cited a “toxic or negative” environment.

Republicans were far more likely to express this sentiment than Democrats (64 percent versus 54 percent). Nearly half — 48 percent — also said they were “tired of hearing about the Presidential election.”

When asked for the most important resource when it comes to making a decision on a political issue, 34 percent of all respondents cited data and research, followed by “intuition or gut instinct” (24 percent) and friends and family whose opinion they trust (15 percent).

Finn Partners’ Finn Futures survey polled 1,000 U.S. adults online in January.