Fewer people are using social media to follow news

Fewer people are using social media to follow news than a year ago, according to a new report from Ofcom.

Trust in social media as a news source, as well as belief in its impartiality and accuracy, has also fallen.

The regulator’s annual news consumption report found that the proportion of people using social media to follow news stories has dropped from 49 per cent last year to 45 per cent in 2020.

The research looks at how habits have changed over the last 12 months, but Ofcom said its report did not explore news consumption during the Covid-19 lockdown.

The figures show that while those who do use social media to consume news rated it less highly than last year in terms of trust, accuracy and impartiality, those who use platforms like Facebook and Twitter said they were less inclined to share articles than they were last year.

Social platforms have regularly been under scrutiny of their handling of misinformation, with many critics arguing internet companies fail to adequately police their platforms for misleading and potentially harmful content.

According to the Ofcom report, after TV, which is used by 75 per cent of people as a place to get news, the internet (65 per cent) was the second most popular platform for getting news, followed by radio (42 per cent).

The research also found that just over one in 20 adults consume their news via podcasts.