Guess where the majority of American adults get most of their news from? You guessed, it, social media sites.
According to the Pew Research Center, 62% of Americans get news on social media. That’s up from 49% back in 2012. In fact, one out of five say they often get their news from social media. Reddit and Facebook lead the charge. Nearly 70% of Reddit users say they get their news there, while 66% of Facebook users get their news there. Twitter came in third with 59%. The surprising statistic is You Tube. Of all You Tube subscribers, only 21% say they get their news there. That’s surprising to me because there are many, many alternative news sites and sources on You Tube. There’s quite a bit of overlap here as well. More than a fourth of Americans get their news from two social media sites. And 10% say they get their news from three or more social media outlets. Adults age 30-49 are the most likely to use social media for news, while those over 65 are less likely.
This is why Facebook needs to be careful with us and we need to be careful with Facebook. Facebook needs to do a better job letting news from all political sides get a fair shot at being broadcast. And we need to do a better job discerning what’s real and what’s not. There have been many, many hoaxes over the years, from joke news to celebrity death hoaxes. Yes, there’s more social media than there was four years ago, so it’s easier to use this as a credible news source. But I think people are sick and tired of mainstream media. Did you know over 90% of all mainstream media is owned by six or five corporations? Social media allows people to see real news from other people’s perspective. Personally, I’m a fan of You Tube alternative news sites. Maybe that’s why I’m surprised You Tube doesn’t rank higher here. What is your favorite social media sites to get news?