More and more people are getting their news from social media. This doesn’t mean, though, that no one watches TV or reads the paper anymore.

It’s just that it’s much easier to use social media. And since most people in 2020 are staying at home because of the COVID-19 pandemic, many have turned to digital media to keep up with the news.

Find out how many people get their news from social media in this piece.

Getting news from social media

Traditional news sources are getting a run for their money from social media. In a year full of big events, like the outbreak and the election for president, many Americans turned to social media to find out what was going on. Let’s look at how social media helps people stay aware.

1. How do people find out about news?

(Research Centre at Pew)

By 2020, most people in the US would get their news from online sources. 68% said they used news websites and apps, 65% used search engines to learn more about things they were interested in, and 53% said they got their news from social media. Research shows that 23% of people use social media sites every day, and another 30% use them sometimes to find out what’s going on.

2. How many people use social media to get news?

(Research Centre at Pew)

In 2020, as was already said, 53% of Americans prefered to get their news from social media.

Most people who get news from social media are young. Statistics show that 42% of people between the ages of 18 and 29 get their news from social media. The number is much lower in other age groups. Only 25% of Americans aged 30–49, 15% of those aged 50–64, and 10% of those aged 65 and up get their news from social media.

3. Where do most people find out about politics?

(Research Centre at Pew)

Even though it is becoming less popular, most Americans still get their political news from TV. When asked where they get their news about politics, only 18% of Americans said that social media is their main source. 45% of people chose to get their information from TV, with 16% saying cable TV, 16% saying local TV, and 13% saying network TV. With 25%, news sites came in second, and social media came in third.

4. How many people get political news from social media?

(Research Centre at Pew)

Even though it may not seem like a big deal at first, 18% of US adults use social media to find out about breaking news. That’s almost 1 in 5 Americans.

It’s not a surprise that the age split is the same as in the news.

People in the 18–29 and 30–49 age groups use social media for news much more than people in other age groups: 48% and 40%, respectively. Comparatively, only 9% of Americans ages 50–64 and 3% of those 65 and older check social media for the latest political news.

5. How many Facebook users get their news there?

(Research Centre at Pew)

A social media study done by Pew Research in 2020 found that Facebook is the site that people who get their news online use the most. The poll found that 36% of people in the US use it to get their news.

Even though it has more users, YouTube came in second with 23%, Twitter came in third with 15%, and Instagram came in fourth with 11%.

When looking at how people used news on social media in 2020, it’s interesting to see that TikTok made its debut in the ranks. With 3% of US adults using it to get news, it tied for seventh place with WhatsApp, just behind Snapchat and LinkedIn, which both had 4%.

6. Where will Millennials get their news in 2020?

(The Statista)

For young Americans, social media has become the most important way to get news. In 2020, 90% of millennials in the US got their news from popular social sites.

As for their other favourite news sources, 81% used news websites and apps, 78% listened to the news on the radio, and 76% watched news on big networks. It’s interesting that 56% said they still read newspapers and 54% said they listen to podcasts to find out about the latest news.

7. Can you get news from social media?

(Reuters Centre and Social Media Today)

There are some good things and some bad things about getting news from social media.

People all over the world can use social media, so fans everywhere can get the latest news as soon as it’s shared. It has also led to a new form of journalism called “social journalism,” in which people post breaking news stories before the major media picks them up.

When talking about the good things about using social media to get news, the best examples are people in the public eye who share personal news with their fans instead of the press. For example, Prince William and Kate Middleton told the world about their engagement in 2010 on Twitter, which is where the news first broke in the major media. Three years later, they used the official Facebook page for the British Monarchy to announce that their first child, Prince George, had been born.

Even though there are many good things about getting news from social media, there is one big problem: fake news gets around. 56% of people around the world think that social media makes it easier for false information and conspiracy theories to spread than it did before.

8. How many people use each social media platform to read the news?

(Research Centre at Pew)

Twitter is a great example of how social media and reading the news often go hand in hand. Research shows that more than half of its users (59%) use the site daily to get their news.

Facebook is the second most popular social media site for getting news, as 54% of its users also get news there. Reddit is third (42%), YouTube is fourth (32%), and Instagram is fifth (28%). All of these social media sites are used to get news. TikTok’s fame grew a lot in 2020, and 22% of its fans say that’s where they get their news.

9. How many millennials regularly get their news from social media?

(The Statista)

57% of millennials in the US said in an April 2020 poll that they check the news on social media at least once a day. 18% said they do it more than once a week, and 3% said they do it once a week. Also, 4% said they do it once a month, another 4% said they do it a few times a month, and 4% said they do it less than once a month. Statistics about how many people get their news from social media show that 90% of American youth use social media to find out what’s going on in the world.

10. How has social media changed the way news is spread?

(Research Centre at Pew)

A lot of people who get their news from social media have noticed that the way big news organisations deliver information has changed. Research shows that 62% of people in the US think the news they see on the sites they use is too controlled.

Also, 72.2% think that attention-grabbing headlines are more important on social media than the quality of the news. Because of this, some news sites that used to be reliable are now using shocking headlines to get more clicks and responses on social media.

In the end,

More and more people are moving to digital in 2020 because it is easy and there is a global disease. 53% of Americans went to social sites to find out what was going on. Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter are some of the most popular places to get news in the country right now.

Given how many people get their news from social media and how the world is right now, social media will only become more important as a source of information in the future.