Skip to main content

Twitter, Facebook becoming dominant news sources for more American adults

twitter facebook dominant news sources american adults new york times
Credit: The New York Times/Twitter
In a new study from the Pew Research Center and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, more adult Americans are turning to Twitter and Facebook to keep up with current events.

The results aren’t really all too surprising, since prior Pew research has demonstrated that overall social media use across various platforms has been steadily increasing from 2012 to 2014. Only two years ago, just about half of all adult Americans said they used Twitter and Facebook to get their news; in 2015, that number has spiked to 63 percent for both platforms. Two thousand adults were surveyed for this study.

Recommended Videos

One reason is because of news editors’ policies. Many news agencies today concentrate much of their resources on having their reporters and journalists write quicker and promote their stories on social media sites. This is in the hopes of getting more clicks and eyeballs to the news site.

Please enable Javascript to view this content

According to USA Today, the homepages of news agencies still possess brand value, particularly to loyal readers, so there will always be eyeballs on the online front pages of Fox News or CNN. However, more publishers are realizing that social media referrals are the number one source of site traffic, and therefore, readers. Consequently, news agencies’ social media editors now enjoy a greater mandate to broaden their reach across platforms like Twitter and Facebook.

As for stats, Pew found Twitter beats Facebook in important news-engagement categories: 59 percent of Twitter users rely on the micro-blogging platform to follow breaking news, but only 31 percent of Facebookers do the same. Forty-six percent of those who use Twitter say they follow news organizations or journalists’ accounts, but only 28 percent of those who use Facebook say the same thing.

Marc Schenker
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Marc Schenker is a copywriter who's an expert in business and marketing topics like e-commerce, B2Bs, digital marketing and…
How to download Instagram photos for free
Instagram app running on the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5.

Instagram is amazing, and many of us use it as a record of our lives — uploading the best bits of our trips, adventures, and notable moments. But sometimes you can lose the original files of those moments, leaving the Instagram copy as the only available one . While you may be happy to leave it up there, it's a lot more convenient to have another version of it downloaded onto your phone or computer. While downloading directly from Instagram can be tricky, there are ways around it. Here are a few easy ways to download Instagram photos.

Read more
How to get verified on Instagram Threads
A verified account on Instagram Threads.

Like Twitter and Instagram, Instagram Threads allows users to become verified to confirm their identities and access some exclusive features. Similar to Twitter's verification process, you'll need to pay a monthly fee to be verified on Threads, so keep that price in mind as you get your verified Threads account set up.

So, without further ado, here's how to get verified on Instagram Threads in a few straightforward steps.

Read more
How to remove location data from your iPhone photos
How to transfer photos from an iPhone to an iPhone

We all love making memories, and a great way to collect those memories is to take a quick snap of a gorgeous landscape, a party in full swing, or a particularly incredible meal. The Apple iPhone now also adds a location to your pictures, meaning it can collate those images together into a location-themed album, or show you all the shots you've taken in a specific location. It's a fun little addition, and it's one that adds a lot of personality to the Photos app.

Read more