Social Media and News Fact Sheet
Many Americans use social media for news: About a fifth or more regularly get news on Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and TikTok.
Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
Read our research on:
Kaitlyn Radde
Computational Social Science Assistant
Kaitlyn Radde is a computational social science assistant at Pew Research Center.
Publications
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report
What Do Health and Wellness Influencers Post About?
Just over half of health and wellness content on social media focuses on healthy living, while about a third discusses medical topics. And 38% of posts have a product or service promotion.
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short reads
Prediction markets’ trading volume doubled between May and July, largely driven by sports
Prediction market trading on Kalshi and Polymarket doubled from May to July, mostly due to a large uptick in sports trading.
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short reads
What we know about the typical Polymarket user
The typical Polymarket user placed a total of 46 trades across 10 active trading days during our study period.
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short reads
Trading volume on prediction markets has soared in recent months
Prediction market trading volume has risen from under $5 billion monthly in mid 2025 to nearly $24 billion in April 2026, with sports dominating.
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report
Moms, Coaches, Doctors, Entrepreneurs: Who Are America’s Health and Wellness Influencers?
Half of U.S. adults under 50 say they get health and wellness information from social media influencers or podcasts. About 4 in 10 of these influencers describe themselves as health care professionals; coaches and entrepreneurs are almost as common.
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short reads
Most new data centers in the U.S. are coming to rural areas
Over 1,500 new data centers are in development nationwide. Most will be built in rural areas, particularly the South and Midwest, marking a shift from urban locations.
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data essay
Young Adults and the Future of News
U.S. adults under 30 follow news less closely than any other age group. And they’re more likely to get (and trust) news from social media.
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fact sheet
News Influencers Fact Sheet
About one-in-five U.S. adults say they regularly get news from news influencers on social media, and this is especially common among younger adults.
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fact sheet
Podcasts and News Fact Sheet
Podcasts are playing a bigger role in Americans’ news diets. Around a third of U.S. adults say they get news from podcasts at least sometimes.
