‘Most in US rely on social media for news’

Washington: About two-thirds of American adults are getting “at least some of their news on social media”, with two-in-ten doing so often, according to a Pew Research Center survey this week.

About 67% of American adults somewhat rely on social media platforms such as Facebook Inc, Twitter Inc and Snapchat for news, the survey showed, compared with 62% in 2016.

For the first time in the centre’s surveys, the research also found that 55% of American adults over 50 were consuming news on social media sites, up from 45% in 2016.

“While a small increase overall, this growth is driven by more substantial increases among Americans who are older, less educated and nonwhite,” the research said.

Those under 50 years of age remained more likely than their elders to get news from these sites – 78% said they consume news on social media platforms, unchanged from 2016.

Facebook remained the dominant platform for news, with 45% of American adults saying they get news from the social media site.

Alphabet Inc’s YouTube was next with 18% while only about 11% of US adults said they get their news on Twitter.

The research also showed about three-quarters of non-whites, or 74%, get news on social media sites, up from 64% in 2016. Social media news use has also increased among those with less than a bachelor’s degree, up 9% points to 69% in 2017 from the previous year.

Alternatively, among those with at least a college degree, social media news use had declined slightly this year.

While Twitter lags far behind Facebook and YouTube in total news consumers, the site still seems to be benefiting from US President Donald Trump, who is one of the most active politicians on the social media platform.

Pew found that 74% of US adults who use Twitter say they get news there, up from 59% of the site’s users in 2016.