Many Americans rely social media for news

Question

The Pew Research Center article titled "News Consumption Across Social Media in 2021" explains how Americans consume news on various social media platforms. It reveals that while a big portion of U.S. adults still get their news from social media, this trend has slightly declined compared to previous years. Facebook remains the most popular platform for news, followed by YouTube and Twitter, with younger users increasingly turning to Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat for news. Despite the frequent use of social media for news, the accuracy of information on these platforms is low. Most users consume news in short clips or snippets, rarely looking for in-depth analysis or other viewpoints, which can contribute to the spread of misinformation.

Answer 1

With the rise of social media many other forms of news media have lost their audience. Social media sites are more prevalent in daily lives and quick and convient ways to view information. Pew Reasearch Center conducted surveys and provides many statistics and visuals for the percentage of Americans that obtain information from social media. This data was cited in a Washington Post article about the domination of social media regarding news coverage. Social media is converting from an easy form of information to the many’s main source for news. In 2021, nearly half of Facebook users (47%)  and about less than a third of TikTok users (29%) stated that that is where they get their news. Although news outlets can also spread misinformation, social media is a less reputable source with platforms that can post easier and spread un-factchecked information to the masses at a much faster pace. With the presented data and considering the widespread presence of social media I believe that this claim is legitimate.

Washington Post: https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/11/15/news-trends-social/

Comments

This is a great fact check as you not only used the original Pew Research, but you found a Washington Post article that uses this data. While pew research is one of the better polling sites good job for not taking the data on its face and finding another source.

Answer 2

According to https://www.pewresearch.org/journalism/fact-sheet/social-media-and-news-fact-sheet/#:~:text=Digital%20sources%20have%20become%20an,%25)%20and%20Rumble%20(2%25). at least 54% of the United States gets their news from social media. Due to having a continuously expanding and improving media, it is much faster and more convenient to gather news and information at the touch of a button. More and more generations are growing up on mass media so it only makes sense. Personally as an 18 year old kid, I get all my news from media and over time I have seen less and less newspapers in homes, including my 60 and 70 year old grandparents who always had the tableside news paper. Off of research and personal experience, I do believe it to be true that most people get their news from the media. Now not all news may be 100% accurate but that is why we research, use multiple medias and understand the news.

Comments

I like how you both affirm the claim but also offer the elaboration of using multiple medias to check our news. You make it clear that you agree with the given claim, with the caveat that just because we GET our news from social media, doesn't mean it's CORRECT, so while we can get our news from wherever we want, it's important to make sure that news is backed up appropriately.

---

Just like with any type of media and form of news, it’s important to factcheck the news itself. That said I feel there would be a great amount of value in a study that checks the amount of misinformation in social media compared to other sources of news. I feel as if this article doesn’t address that so much and I feel that a larger discussion could arise from this study. If a larger portion of young people get their news from social media, shouldn’t we ensure that news is actually the most credible?

---

Rather than rely on the claim's source, you could dig further and find another news or academic outlet that can confirm the data. Thanks!

Answer 3

This claim appears to be true. Pew Research is a historically trustworthy organization and many articles have cited this information including The National Library of Medicine, a government website. Pew Research states that as much as 48% of Americans get their news sometimes or often from social media sources.

WP article: https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/11/15/news-trends-social/

Delaware County Community College: https://learningcommons.dccc.edu/c.php?g=609709&p=9445341

The National Library of Medicine: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10879158/

Answer 4

The article published September 20, 2021, states that around half of all Americans use social media for News access, mentioning the rate has declined since 2020. While the rest of the article dissects the different modes of social media news across different platforms, and one diagram showcasing the demographic of social media users, to focus on the claim alone, the first graph in the article appears to be the most relevant. This chart is titled “About half of Americans get news on social media at least sometimes, down slightly from 2020” and is based on a survey conducted by Pew Research Center titled: Survey of U.S. adults conducted July 26—Aug. 8, 2021 “News Consumption Across Social Media in 2021”. The article and this graph were posted on Pew Research Center, a self-identified “nonpartisan fact tank” according to the “About” section on their webpage. The Pew Research Center appears to be a reputable source, with the article being published on JSTOR. I had questions about the validity of the survey itself, but Pew Research states that they rely on random sampling and reach out to selected participants via mail based on government residential addresses to complete the survey online. Obviously, this leaves out a portion of citizens who are houseless or don’t use the internet, but the survey itself generally seems to be unbiased. Overall, this claim lacks evidence to be generalized to 2024 based on this article alone, but the statement that many Americans rely on social media for news in 2021 appears to be true based on this article.

Comments

You did well on your factcheck with citing if the original source is credible or not. It would be good to also include your own sources of what you researched to help support your claim.

Answer 5

This claim seems to be true.  The Pew Research Center and Forbes Magazine both have the number of people getting their news from social media at over 45% (48% and 64.5% respectively).  Although there is a large gap between those two numbers, that can most likely be attributed to different survey methods, and the two articles being published three years apart.  Either way, there is a significant amount of people getting their news from social media. 

How Social Media Has Changed How We Consume News 

Answer 6

This claim is true. According to Christopher Bach, a 23 year old electrician interviewed by the Washington Post, many people are turning to social media and apps on their cell phones because it quicker and more reliable often times. Bach tells us, "That's why I don't watch the news, because it's not the best way to get unbiased news; it's more for entertainment." According to Pew Research data, 48% of people turn to social media for news. Of that, 31% of U.S. adults say that they regularly get their news from Facebook, 22% say they regularly get their news from Youtube, an additional 25% get their news from various platforms (Tiktok, Reddit, etc.), and 55% of Twitter users say that they use the app to get their news. Due to its ease and quickness, people are turning to social media and apps as distrust in television news grows and the prevalence of newspapers shrinks. The implication of this is that social media is a more trustworthy place to get news, but this is entirely untrue. It's much easier to spread misinformation/disinformation on social media platforms, and oftentimes people don't think to factcheck the information they get online. So while this claim is true, people should be aware of the risks of consistently using social media to get news.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/11/15/news-trends-social/

https://www.pewresearch.org/journalism/2021/09/20/news-consumption-across-social-media-in-2021/

Answer 7

Throughout the article the claim that many Americans rely on social media for news is being supported. The article states “that 55% of American adults use social media to access news, a significant increase from previous years”. Also that 18% of people use social media to help themselves keep up with politics. However the group is less informed about certain things such as key issues going on around the world because news on social media can often portray things a certain way to manipulate someone's point of view and change their understanding. Such as people who rely on social media for news are often tricked because all they do is go off what they see online which leads to people not evaluating certain medias and making sure they are credible or not.