Social media is being used by more and more people to find information.
This does not imply that everyone is still reading news papers or watching TV, though.
Just because social media is so much more available. A lot of people are already turning to digital channels for news updates as a result of the COVID-19 epidemic and the fact that most people will be self-isolating at home in 2020. Learn how many people rely on social media for news in this article.
Making News on Social Media
Traditional media is being disrupted by social media. Many Americans used social media platforms to keep up with news during a year that had a number of significant events, such as the pandemic and the presidential election. Let’s look at how social media keeps people informed.
1. Where Can People Find News?
Research conducted by Pew
The majority of US consumers in 2020 consumed news on digital media. Regarding prefered platforms, 68% of respondents said they used news websites and apps, 65% said they used search engines to look up subjects of interest, and 53% said they used social media. Study participants who used social media to stay up to date on news reported doing so 23% of the time and 30% of the time.
Research performed by Pew
In 2020, 53% of Americans prefered to acquire their news through social media, as was already created.
Young people dominate the social media news audience. According to detailed data, 42% of people between the ages of 18 and 29 acquire their news through social media. Only 25% of Americans in the 30-49 age group, 15% in the 50-64 age range, and 10% of those 65 and above rely on social media as a news source, a far lower number than in the other categories of age.
3. From where do the majority of people get their political news?
Research conducted by Pew
Even though it is losing favour, most Americans still acquire their political news from television. Only 18% of Americans claimed they primarily relied on social media news sources when questioned about their prefered sources of political news headlines. Meanwhile, 45% chose television as their prefered information source: 16% chose cable television, 16% chose local TV, and 13% chose network TV. Social media was ranked third, behind only news websites, which came in second with 25%.
Research conducted by Pew
Even while it might not seem spectacular at first, nearly 1 in 5 US adults use social media to stay up to date on breaking news.
The age breakdown is expected similar to general news.
Social media is used for news by 48% and 40% more people, respectively, in the 18-29 and 30-49 age categories than in any other age range. In contrast, only 3% of Americans 65 and older and 9% of Americans aged 50 to 64 look at the most recent political headlines on social media.
5. How many people use Facebook to get their news?
Research performed by Pew
Facebook is the social media network that online news consumers use the most, according to a 2020 Pew Research social media study. 36% of US adults use it to acquire their news, according to the report.
Despite having more users, YouTube came in second with 23%, Twitter came in third with 15%, and Instagram came in fourth with 11% of Americans using the site to get news.
It’s noteworthy to note that TikTok made its debut in the ranks of social media platforms used for news in 2020. It tied with WhatsApp for seventh position, slightly below Snapchat and LinkedIn (4% each), with 3% of US people using it for news.
6. Where Will Millennial News Sources Be in 2020?
(Statista)
Social media is the new go-to news source for young Americans. 90% of millennials in the US obtained the most recent news from well-known social sites in 2020.
81% of people utilised news websites and apps, 78% listened to the news on the radio, and 76% watched major-network news channels as their other go-to sources of information. It’s interesting to note that 56% of respondents indicated they still read newspapers, while 54% said they listen to podcasts to keep up with the newest news.
7. Are Social Media Reliable News Sources?
(Reuters Institute, Social Media Today)
The use of social media for news has a number of benefits and drawbacks.
Due of social media’s global access, users may get the most recent information as soon as it is posted. It has also spawned social journalism, in which everyday people report breaking news before it is covered by the conventional media.
The finest illustrations of the benefits of utilising social media for news are when famous people share personal announcements with their fans rather than the media. For instance, the mainstream media initially learned about Prince William and Kate Middleton’s engagement via Twitter in 2010. They announced the birth of their first child, Prince George, on the British Monarchy’s official Facebook page three years later.
Despite the many benefits of utilising social media for news, there is one major drawback: the spread of false information. According to research, 56% of people globally think social media makes disseminating false information and conspiracy theories much simpler than it used to be.
Research performed by Pew
Twitter is a great illustration of how social media and news consumption frequently coexist. Over half (59%) of its users, it has been found, consistently utilise the site to acquire their news.
Facebook, where 54% of users also obtain news, is the second-most news-oriented social media platform. Reddit is third (42%) in terms of how often people use social media for news, after YouTube (32%) and Instagram (28%) in that order. In 2020, TikTok had a huge upsurge in popularity, and 22% of its members claim to acquire their news from the platform.
(Statista)
57% of US millennials indicated they check social media for news at least once a day in a 2020 study conducted in April. Another 18% reported doing it many times each week, while 3% reported doing it once per week. In addition, 4% reported doing it many times each month, 4% once per month, and 4% less frequently than once per month. Overall data on the number of individuals who obtain their news via social media shows that 90% of American millennials use social media to keep up with current affairs.
10. How Has Social Media Affected News?
Research performed by Pew
The manner that big news organisations distribute information has altered as a result of social media, and many individuals who use social media for news have observed this. According to research, 62% of US citizens think that the platforms they use have an excessive amount of control over the news they see there.
Furthermore, 72.2% of respondents think that attention-grabbing headlines are valued more highly on social media than accurate reporting. As a result, even some once-reputable news outlets have turned to adopting dramatic titles in an effort to increase traffic and social media comments.
Conclusion
In 2020, as a growing number of people move to digital platforms due to the worldwide pandemic and simple accessibility, 53% of Americans used social media to stay up to date. Currently, social media sites like Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter are among the most widely used news sources in the nation.
Social media’s importance as a source of news is only going to increase in the future, given how many people rely on it and the status of the globe now.