Unpacking the Latest Pew Social Media and News Fact Sheet

Written with Maia Elliott

It wasn’t all that long ago that the local morning newspaper – delivered to your front porch – and the evening TV newscasts (:30 mins local, :30 mins national, before Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy!) provided most of the news consumption for Americans.

Those days are long gone. That’s not surprising.

Fresh data from Pew Research Centers ' latest Social Media and News Fact Sheet shows that now most American adults are getting at least some of their news from social media channels. That also should not be surprising if you've been paying attention to media habits. It is very much worth noting, though.

According to the research, 54% of American adults at least sometimes consume news from social media sources, up from 50% each of the past two years. This is fundamentally transforming how Americans get their news - which has major implications for everyone involved.

This evolution is significant because it shows that younger generations may be more exposed to misinformation and biased reporting as news is not always from a direct source or necessarily meeting journalistic standards. It will be interesting to see how social media news changes, especially with the increased use of AI in content production and discovery.

What does this mean for companies?

1.????? Landscape: Social media is only becoming more and more important and is not likely to reverse anytime soon. This is not new news but the data here reenforces the trend. This should serve as a mandate for brands that having a social presence is now mission-critical.

2.????? Content: People are looking for substantive information on social channels, not just recipes and sports highlights. Across channels, people are increasingly hoping to find content that matters to them. (But keep those TikTok recipes coming!)

3.????? Paid AND Owned: If people are going to channels for news, that further opens the gates for paid social as a driver of information. A smart paid amplification program can help connect brands (and their key news updates) to critical audiences.

But there is more in the research. Several other data points further illustrate how adults are getting their news from social, which must inform channel strategies for brands.

Facebook and YouTube are the leading social media sites for news consumption overall, with about 1/3 of U.S adults regularly getting news from each platform.

News consumption on TikTok has skyrocketed on TikTok – now 52% of users regularly get news from the channel. That’s up from 43% last year and 27% in 2021.

Demographic differences underscore the need to match deep audience understanding with your social strategy.

• Gender: Women are much more likely to consume news on platforms such as NextDoor, TikTok, and Facebook, while engagement on platforms like Reddit, X, and Rumble were male dominated
• Age Trends: Platforms such as Snapchat, TikTok, and Instagram attracted a younger audience compared to other sites. ?

Political views played a huge role in which sites consumers turned to for news.

• Left: Channels like Instagram, WhatsApp, TikTok, and Reddit were more popular for news consumptions from Democrats.
• Right: Not shockingly, Republicans dominated platforms known for more conservative-leaning audiences, such as Truth Social (88%) and Rumble (83%).

The bottom line is this: social media has boomed past being a trend. It’s now a meaningful, consequential force in our daily lives – now becoming the way more people get their news.