--- title: "1 in 5 Americans Regularly Get News on TikTok" description: "Among adults under 30, 39% say they regularly get news from TikTok, up from 9% in 2020." date: "2026-10-19" authors: - name: "Katerina Eva Matsa" job_title: "Director, News and Information Research" link: "https://www.pewresearch.org/staff/katerina-eva-matsa/" url: "https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2026/10/19/1-in-5-americans-regularly-get-news-on-tiktok/" categories: - "Social Media" - "Social Media & the News" - "TikTok" datasets: - name: "American Trends Panel Wave 135" url: "https://www.pewresearch.org/dataset/american-trends-panel-wave-135/" - name: "American Trends Panel Wave 150" url: "https://www.pewresearch.org/dataset/american-trends-panel-wave-150/" --- # 1 in 5 Americans Regularly Get News on TikTok ![A TikTok creator does interviews in New York City's Washington Square Park on Jan. 17, 2025. (Alex Kent/Getty Images)](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/09/SR_25.09.25_tiktok-news_featured.png?w=640) TikTok is primarily known for short-form video sharing, but it has also become a common place for many people to get news. A fifth of U.S. adults regularly get news on TikTok, according to a Pew Research Center survey from August. That share is unchanged from 2025 but up from just 3% in 2020. ### TikTok is increasingly a place for news, especially among young U.S. adults *% of U.S. adults who say they regularly get news from TikTok, by age group* | | U.S. adults | Ages 18-29 | 30-49 | 50-64 | 65+ | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 2020 | 3 | 9 | 2 | 1 | <1 | | 2021 | 6 | 18 | 6 | 3 | 1 | | 2022 | 10 | 26 | 10 | 4 | 1 | | 2023 | 14 | 32 | 15 | 7 | 3 | | 2024 | 17 | 39 | 19 | 9 | 3 | | 2025 | 20 | 43 | 25 | 10 | 3 | | 2026 | 20 | 39 | 25 | 11 | 4 | Note: Add note about the chart Source: Add source note here Younger adults are especially likely to regularly get news on TikTok. Among Americans ages 18 to 29, around four-in-ten (39%) say they do this regularly. That compares with 25% of those ages 30 to 49, 11% of those ages 50 to 64 and 4% of those ages 65 and older. Black and Hispanic Americans are more likely than White and Asian Americans to get news on TikTok. Roughly a third of Black (32%) and Hispanic (35%) adults regularly get news there, compared with 14% of both White and Asian adults. **About this research** We have updated this Pew Research Center analysis annually for the last few years to track the emergence of TikTok as a news source among Americans. #### Why did we do this? The Center regularly studies the [platforms](https://www.pewresearch.org/journalism/fact-sheet/news-platform-fact-sheet/) and [social media sites](https://www.pewresearch.org/journalism/fact-sheet/social-media-and-news-fact-sheet/) Americans use to get news. This analysis is part of a broader effort to understand the changing ways Americans get news in the digital age and continues our work on [news consumption online](https://www.pewresearch.org/journalism/2024/06/12/how-americans-get-news-on-tiktok-x-facebook-and-instagram/). #### How did we do this? We surveyed 5,166 U.S. adults from Aug. 24 to 30, 2026. Everyone who took part is a member of the Center’s [American Trends Panel](https://www.pewresearch.org/the-american-trends-panel/). The survey is designed to represent the views of all U.S. adults. Read more about [how we use our National Public Opinion Reference Survey](https://www.pewresearch.org/methods/2025/07/23/how-pew-research-center-uses-its-national-public-opinion-reference-survey-npors/) (NPORS) to weight our social media data. Here are the [questions](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/PJ_26.10.19_news-trends-fs_questionnaire.pdf) used for this analysis, the [topline](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/PJ_26.10.19_news-trends-fs_topline.pdf) and the [survey methodology](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/PJ_26.10.19_news-trends-fs_methodology.pdf). There are also partisan differences. Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents (22%) are slightly more likely than Republicans and GOP leaners (15%) to regularly get news on TikTok. TikTok is one of the more widely used social media platforms in the United States. Overall, 37% of Americans say they use TikTok. That trails the shares who use YouTube (84%), Facebook (70%) and Instagram (51%). But more U.S. adults say they use TikTok than WhatsApp (33%), LinkedIn (31%), Reddit (25%) or X (18%). Looking specifically at U.S. adults *who* *use TikTok*, 53% say they regularly get news on the platform. That’s about the same as the share who said this in 2025 (55%) but well above the 22% who did so in 2020. Today, the share of TikTok users who get news there is similar to the shares of Facebook users (57%) and X users (57%) who regularly get news on those sites, and higher than the shares among users of other social media platforms. ### About half of U.S. adult TikTok users get news there, up from 22% in 2020 *% of each social media site’s users who say they regularly get news there* | | Facebook | YouTube | Instagram | TikTok | X (Twitter) | Reddit | Nextdoor | LinkedIn | WhatsApp | Rumble | Truth Social | Bluesky | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 2020 | 54 | 32 | 28 | 22 | 59 | 42 | | 15 | 13 | | | | | 2021 | 47 | 30 | 27 | 29 | 55 | 39 | | 14 | 14 | | | | | 2022 | 44 | 30 | 29 | 33 | 53 | 37 | 23 | 13 | 10 | | | | | 2023 | 43 | 32 | 34 | 43 | 53 | 38 | 28 | 17 | 12 | | | | | 2024 | 48 | 37 | 40 | 52 | 59 | 33 | 27 | 14 | 16 | 48 | 57 | | | 2025 | 53 | 41 | 41 | 55 | 57 | 35 | 33 | | 15 | 49 | 55 | 38 | | 2026 | 57 | 41 | 46 | 53 | 57 | 35 | 45 | 20 | 16 | 53 | 55 | 39 | Note: The other response option was “No, I don’t regularly get news on this.” Only respondents who indicated that they use each site were asked if they regularly get news there. Source: Survey of U.S. adults conducted Aug. 24-30, 2026. *Note: This is an update of a post originally published Nov. 15, 2023. Here are the [questions](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/PJ_26.10.19_news-trends-fs_questionnaire.pdf) used for this analysis, the [topline](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/PJ_26.10.19_news-trends-fs_topline.pdf) and the [survey methodology](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/PJ_26.10.19_news-trends-fs_methodology.pdf).*