About one-in-five Americans – including 37% of adults under 30 – say they regularly get news from news influencers on social media. Our analysis of news influencers found that nearly two-thirds are men, and about three-quarters have no current or former affiliation with the news industry.
Today, 37% of all U.S. adults say they have a lot of or some trust in the information that comes from social media sites.
In a fragmented media environment with seemingly endless sources of information to choose from, Americans’ news habits have changed dramatically in the 21st century. Today, an overwhelming majority of Americans get news at least sometimes from digital devices.
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American TikTok users follow far more pop culture and entertainment accounts than news and politics ones.
The share of adults who say they regularly get news from TikTok has grown about fivefold since 2020, from 3% to 17% in 2024.
Social media plays a crucial role in Americans’ news consumption, with about one-third of adults saying they regularly get news on Facebook and YouTube.
TikTok users under 30 see its impact on democracy more positively than older users, with 45% of this group saying it’s mostly good for American democracy.
X is still more of a news destination than these other platforms, but the vast majority of users on all four see news-related content.
More Americans now prefer to get local news online, while fewer turn to TV or print. And most say local news outlets are important to their community.
U.S.-born Latinos mostly get their news in English and prefer it in English, while immigrant Latinos have much more varied habits.
Four-in-ten Americans who get news from social media say inaccuracy is the thing they dislike most about it – an increase of 9 percentage points since 2018.
Around seven-in-ten U.S. adults (68%) say they ever use Facebook, a share that has remained relatively flat since 2016.
A declining share of U.S. adults are following the news closely, and audiences are shrinking for several older types of news media.
© 2024 Pew Research Center
