The rise of smartphones, falling trust in national institutions, more diversity and a 180-degree turn in public sentiment toward same-sex marriage are among the big changes in American society over the last 20 years.

The Pew Research Center published an essay that examines some of these changing attitudes as one of the ways the nonpartisan fact tank is marking its 20th anniversary.

“I think, particularly in election season, when we can all get so fixated on how public opinion changes from week to week, it’s just important to take a look at the bigger scope of things,” Pew Research Center Executive Vice President Claudia Deane said.

Changing views on gender and sexuality are among the biggest changes from 2004 to now.

In 2004 Pew Research Center polling, 60% of Americans opposed same-sex marriage. By 2023, 63% of Americans supported same-sex marriage.

“In my career as a public opinion expert, the changing views of same-sex marriage over the past 20 years are among the most dramatic I’ve ever seen,” Deane said. “Opinion literally reversed over that time period.”

Similarly, views on marijuana legalization have shifted dramatically.

Just a third of American adults said marijuana should be legalized 20 years ago. By last year, support had risen to 70%.

More Americans are now “religiously unaffiliated,” according to the Pew Research Center. They trail Protestants, who make up 41% of American adults, but make up a larger share of the population than Catholics (20%) and all other faiths (8%).

Racial and ethnic diversity has increased in the U.S. over the last couple of decades.

Asian, Hispanic and Black populations grew at faster rates than the white population between 2004 and 2022, according to the Pew Research Center. The share of Americans who are white fell from 68% in 2004 to 59% in 2022.

The rise of the internet, smartphones and social media has been a big part of the changes we’ve seen over the last 20 years.

Just over 60% of American adults used the internet in 2004, and just 65% owned a cellphone — not a smartphone specifically. Today, over 90% are online and own a smartphone.

But a growing share of Americans view both the Republican and Democratic parties as more unfavorable than favorable. Vxiews of Congress and the Supreme Court have become more negative over the past 20 years, according to the Pew Research Center.

Twenty years ago, about a third of Americans said they trusted the federal government to do what is right just about always or most of the time. By last spring, just 22% said the same.

Deane said pollsters can increasingly predict what Americans will think of a policy simply by asking for their party ID. But that’s not always been the case, she said.

Deane said the rapidly changing technological landscape might define the next era.

“We’re still just trying to understand how people are using social media, what they’re learning … and how it’s impacting them,” she said. “We do a lot of work on teens. Like there’s so much we have yet to know — and yet AI is already here. So, we haven’t even figured out how people are experiencing and being changed by this one technology before you have another right on its heels. So, I think the next 20 years might be about understanding that.”