How Americans Get News on TikTok, X, Facebook and Instagram
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.
Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
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.
In recent years, several new options have emerged in the social media universe, many of which explicitly present themselves as alternatives to more established social media platforms. Free speech ideals and heated political themes prevail on these sites, which draw praise from their users and skepticism from other Americans.
In just three years, the share of U.S. adults who say they regularly get news from TikTok has more than quadrupled, from 3% in 2020 to 14% in 2023.
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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.
Roughly half of U.S. adults say they have listened to a podcast in the past year, including one-in-five who report listening at least a few times a week. Most podcast listeners say this experience includes hearing news, which they largely expect to be mostly accurate. Large shares of listeners say they turn to podcasts for entertainment, learning or having something to listen to while doing something else.
About half (48%) of U.S. adults say they get news from social media “often” or “sometimes,” a 5 percentage point decline compared with 2020. More than half of Twitter users get news on the site regularly.
The declining public trust in the news media and polarization of news audiences have profound effects on civic life.
Videos from independent news producers are more likely to cover subjects negatively and discuss conspiracy theories.
In March 2020, about three-quarters (74%) of public Facebook posts about COVID-19 linked to news organizations, while just 1% linked to health and science sites.
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