Saturday, June 2, 2018

News Gathered on Social Media


In a Pew Research Center report that is part of a series aimed at understanding how news and information habits relate to the use of Twitter and Facebook among the American public, it was found that clear majorities of Twitter (63%) and Facebook users (63%) now say each platform serves as a source for news about events and issues outside the realm of friends and family. That share has increased substantially from 2013, when about half of users (52% of Twitter users, 47% of Facebook users) said they got news from the social platforms. Although both social networks have the same portion of users getting news on these sites, there are significant differences in their potential news distribution strengths. The proportion of users who say they follow breaking news on Twitter, for example, is nearly twice as high as those who say they do so on Facebook (59% vs. 31%) – lending support, perhaps, to the view that Twitter’s great strength is providing as-it-happens coverage and commentary on live events.

Mitchell, A., Barthel, M., Shearer, E., Gottfried, J., Matsa, K. E., Keeter, S., Porteus, M., & Greenwood, S. (2015). The evolving role of news on Twitter and Facebook. Washington, D.C.: Pew Research Center. http://assets.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2015/07/Twitter-and-News-Survey-Report-FINAL2.pdf

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