While a majority of Americans rely on either a desktop or laptop computer to consume news, for a majority of Americans, 23% of people now get news on at least two devices — a desktop/laptop computer and smartphone, a computer and a tablet, a tablet and a smartphone, or on all three.
Going directly to a news organization’s website or application is the most common way by which people get news. About a third of news consumers who use a desktop, laptop or smartphone get news this way “very often.” This method is even more popular among tablet users, 38%of whom do so.
Social networking is much more popular as a vehicle for getting news for those who use both asmartphone and a tablet. Among that group (13% of all digital news consumers), fully two-thirds (67%) have gotten news recommendations from Facebook.
Consumers who get online news only from adesktop or laptop computer behave very differently. Only about half (48%) of those in this group use key word searches “very or somewhat often” to get news, compared with at least 70% of people who use a smartphone, tablet or both for news. Similarly, more than half of (54%) of desktop/laptop only users go directly to news websites or apps “somewhat or very often,” while 80% or more of those who get news on other devices do so. Read More