Two-thirds (67%) of American adults get news from a social media site such as Facebook or Twitter, reports the Pew Research Center in a study, though slightly fewer than half (47%) do so at least sometimes. Both figures are up from early 2016, though the changes are fairly marginal.
The findings stand in apparent contrast to research released earlier this year by the Reuters Institute. That study suggested that social media was the fastest growing source of news in the US, and that a majority relied on social for the news at least weekly. However that survey was conducted among news consumers, rather than the broader adult population, which may play a part in the disparity.
Despite social media’s gains as a news source in Pew’s survey, it still trails other platforms. For now, the most popular sources used at least sometimes for news are:
- Local TV news (64%);
- News websites or apps (64%);
- Radio (56%);
- Cable TV news (55%); and
- National evening network TV news (51%).
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