Social media as a news source is defined as the use of online social media platforms such as Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook rather than the use of traditional media platforms like the newspaper or live TV to obtain news. Television had just begun to turn a nation of people who once listened to media content into watchers of media content between the 1950s and the 1980s when the popularity of social media had also begun creating a nation of media content creators. Almost half of Americans use social media as a news source, according to the Pew Research Center. As social media's role in news consumption grows, questions have emerged about its impact on knowledge, the formation of echo chambers, and the effectiveness of fact-checking efforts in combating misinformation.
Social media platforms allow user-generated content and sharing content within one's own virtual network. Using social media as a news source allows users to engage with news in a variety of ways including:
Consuming and discovering news Sharing or reposting news Posting one's own photos, videos, or reports of news (i.e., engage in citizen or participatory journalism) Commenting on news posts
In 2019, the Pew Research Center created a poll that reported Americans are wary about the ways that social media sites share news and certain content. This wariness of accuracy grew as awareness that social media sites could be exploited by bad actors who concoct false narratives and fake news.
Relationship to traditional news sources Unlike traditional news platforms such as newspapers and news shows, social media platforms allow people without professional journalistic backgrounds to create news and cover events that news agencies might not cover. Social media users may read a set of news that differs slightly from what newspaper editors prioritize in the print press. A 2019 study found that Facebook and Twitter users are more likely to share politics, public affairs, and visual media news. Typically social media users circulate more towards posting about negative news. A study of tweets found that while optimistic-sounding and neutral-sounding tweets were equally likely to express certainty or uncertainty, the pessimistic tweets were nearly twice as likely to appear certain of an outcome than uncertain. These results could imply that posts of a more pessimistic nature that are also written with an air of certainty are more likely to be shared or otherwise permeate groups on Twitter. A similar bias towards negativity has developed on Facebook, where internal memos revealed that an algorithm built to promote "meaningful social interaction" actually incentivized publishers to promote negative and sensational news. Biases towards negativity need to be considered when the utility of new media is addressed, as the potential for human opinion to overemphasize any particular news story is greater despite general improvement.
In order to compete in this rapidly changing technological environment, there has been an upheaval of traditional news sources onto online spaces. The production and circulation of newspaper prints have continued to globally decline in accordance with the increasing presence of news outlets on social media. Prominent platforms such as Twitter and Facebook have been key in engaging users through the integration of journalistic news into their newsfeeds. This feature has now become a foundational part of these apps' interfaces.
Social media incentivizes both legacy news brands and individual professional journalists to share their reporting and interact with audiences on social platforms to boost engagement. However, most people who consume news on social media report that accessing news is not their main motivation for being on social media, but rather, they see and consume news incidentally. Nonetheless, informational interviews reveal that these consumers rely on being informed through social media. Some news consumers attest that a news brand's participation in social media does not improve their trust in the brand and that more in-depth reporting and more transparency about biases would improve trust instead.
Use as a news source Globally, data from 2020 shows that over 70% of adult participants from Kenya, South Africa, Chile, Bulgaria, Greece, and Argentina utilized social media for news while those from France, the UK, the Netherlands, Germany, and Japan were reportedly less than 40 percent.
According to the Pew Research Center, 20% of adults in the United States in 2018 said they get their news from social media "often," compared to 16% who said they often get news from print newspapers, 26% who often get it from the radio, 33% who often get it from news websites, and 49% who often get it from TV. The same survey found that social media was the most popular way for American adults age 18–29 to get news, the second-to-last most popular way for Americans age 20–49 to get news, and the least popular way for American adults age 50-64 and 65+ to get the news.
In 2019, the Pew Research Center found that over half of Americans (54%) either got their news "sometimes" or "often" from social media, and Facebook was the most popular social media site where American adults got their news. However, at least 50% off all respondents reported that the following were either a "very big problem" or a "moderately big problem" for getting news on social media:
One-sided news (83%) Inaccurate news (81%) Censorship of the news (69%) Uncivil discussions about the news (69%) Harassment of journalists (57%) News organizations or personalities being banned (53%) Violent or disturbing news images or videos (51%)
In a later survey from the same year, the Pew Research Center reported that 18% of American adults reported that the most common way they get news about politics and the election was from social media.
+Use of Social Media Platforms (In General and as News Sources) by American Adults in 2019Social media platformPercent who use platformPercent who get news or news headlines on platformFacebook71%52%YouTube74%28%Twitter23%17%Instagram38%14%LinkedIn27%8%Reddit13%8%Snapchat23%6%WhatsApp18%4%Tumblr4%1%Twitch5%1%TikTok3%0% Additional source information shows that from politics and the United States presidential election in 2016, the popularity of fake news had grown to global attention. With this information, the study explains that more than 60 percent of adults receive their news from social media, the most popular being Facebook. With the increase of fake news, and the large amount of adult participation on these social media sites, it made it much harder for those who were searching for news to find a source that they could find credible.
Another study found that adult participants found their own friends on Facebook to be a more reliable source of information online compared to a professional news organization. Although, when news was posted by a news organization online, they were then found more reliable compared to when they are shared by their online friends. Showing that adult participants found that the news that was only posted on Facebook and social media was much more credible to them than compared to other forms of information spreading. The study further states that these outcomes have the potential explanation that the topic of the news article played a part in the ways they were affected. This could have affected the way adult participants interacted with the different news sources, such as their online friends compared to a news organization, prominently because depending on the story, they want to have the correct information about the news from the most credible source.
By young people Social media platforms are some of the most easily accessible forms of news and with the growing generations, the technology is only going to grow. With that, the use of social media in younger generations is also going to grow alongside it. Technology in the hands of young kids can be a concern moving into the future. Globally, there is evidence that through social media, youth have become more directly involved in protests, social campaigns and generally, in the sharing of news across multiple platforms.
The number of people who use social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or Snapchat as ways to seek information has increased significantly in recent years especially for people who are part of the younger generation.TikTok is a rapidly expanding platform that young adults can use to find news content on social media. TikTok is one of the sites that young adults and teens utilize to get news about trending themes and controversial topics. The younger generation accepts without hesitation the information that their favorite YouTubers, influencers, and celebrities distribute or promote to their fan base. Knowing these elements is crucial because users today are quick to propagate false information through their preferred media outlets. Source information shows that one third of people aged 18 to 24 use social media as their primary source of news. This number of social media users who utilise social media for news is more than online news sites and television news and printed news combined.
In the United States, Common Sense Media conducted a 2020 nationally representative survey of American teens (ages 13–18) that found that the most common way teens got the news was from personalities, influencers, and celebrities followed on social media or YouTube (39%), despite trusting this type of news source less than other forms, such as local newspapers or local TV news networks. The most commonly mentioned sources on social media or YouTube included PewDiePie, Trevor Noah, CNN, Donald Trump, and Beyoncé. +Popularity and Trust of Different News Sources by U.S. Teens Ages 13–18 in 2020News sourcePercent who get news "often" from sourcePercent who trust information from the source "a lot"Personalities/influencers/celebrities followed on social media or YouTube39%15%News aggregators (e.g., Google news)27%18%Digital media outlets/blogs (e.g., Buzzfeed)21%10%Traditional TV news networks16%21%Local newspapers/TV shows13%28%Comedy shows (e.g., Last Week Tonight with John Oliver)9%7%Podcasts9%6%Traditional print/online newspapers6%22% This popularity of using social media as a news source in the United States is consistent with previous data. Based on interviews with 61 teenagers, conducted from December 2007 to February 2011, most of the teen participants from American high schools reported reading print newspapers only "sometimes," with fewer than 10% reading them daily. The teenagers instead reported learning about current events from social media sites such as Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, and blogs.
Across race, gender and political demographics Just as variances occur in social media usage rates between different age demographics, similar variances occur across different racial, gender, and political demographics.
A 2021 study from PEW Research Center reported that White adults are the leading users (62%) of both Facebook and Reddit as a news source but make up less than half (40%) of this population on Instagram. Instagram is the platform that accounts for the largest proportion of Black and Hispanic adult news users, boasting 22% and 27% of these demographics respectively.
A separate study from the year prior found that Black and Hispanic social media users are the most likely to consider social media platforms to be valuable news sources. 60% of Black users and 53% of Hispanic users reported that they held social media to be "very important" or "somewhat important" to their involvement with political and social issues that are important to them, in contrast to the 37% of White social media users from the same poll.