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in General Factchecking by
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.
by (100 points)
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I agree with this statement and found evidence to back it up. I read the article published by the Pew Research Center and reviewed the facts. For example,  31% of American adults absorb their news from Facebook, and 22% get their news from YouTube. The PRC is a trusted source and the authors of the article clearly state how and what methods they used to receive their data, including what groups they included in their scientific studies. These studies were done within the last five years as well, in 2020 and 2021, which makes them still relevant today.
ago by Newbie (240 points)
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While the article does suggest that social media remains one of the most important news sources for Americans, popularity is on the decline. You have Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter as your main news platforms, with the younger audience moving toward Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat. Also that misinformation is a pain and the people who read news only in small snippets. The report points out a little earlier that many Americans still rely on social media for news but have little trust in these media for good information. It also mentions that the tendency for users to consume news primarily through short clips and headline snippets contributes to the dissemination of misinformation and limits exposure to different viewpoints. I as well looked into the website https://www.weforum.org/stories/2022/11/social-media-adults-information-news-platforms/, which completely agrees with this article, and even sites it as well. Good work, this is a reliable website and a good claim!
ago by Newbie (240 points)
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I also agree with this take, this is very well researched. And there are multiple other websites that can back up this claim. I found one from PBS where  it states that 1 in 4 Americans will get their news from news influencers, especially for political sources. The majority of political influencers are men with no media background. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/about-20-of-americans-get-their-news-from-social-media-influencers-report-finds
ago by Newbie (390 points)
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This is a good point. The reliance on social media for news, especially in short snippets, makes fact-checking even more important, especially since misinformation spreads so easily.
ago by (100 points)
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I think that it is true that many Americans rely on social media but it is primarly the younger generations, my parents still use many different sources for news, although I myself use apps like TikTok and instagram as the main way I find news, I think the specification is necessary because the main people that are interested in the news are the older generations

53 Answers

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by Newbie (310 points)

The claim that many Americans rely on social media for news is a correct statement. Pew Research is one of the leading research and survey websites in the world and is known to be a credible source. The article demonstrates numerous real-life graphs that confirm the claim. The claim although somewhat vague, comes down to percentages. Pew Research found that 47 percent of Facebook users, use the app as their main source of news. That number easily surpasses the claim that many Americans do in fact use social media as a means for news. 

PBS also wrote an article about this claim and stated that 20 percent use social media as their sole news source. Based on these two articles from highly established websites, it can be concluded that the claim is true.

Article : https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/about-20-of-americans-get-their-news-from-social-media-influencers-report-finds

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by Newbie (300 points)

This claim is true, many Americans do rely on social media for news. Social media sites are becoming more and more prevalent in our day to day lives. According to a study from the Pew Research Center, "just over half of U.S. adults (54%) say they at least sometimes get news from social media," in 2024. This is a rise from recent years, and is expected to continue to climb. In the same publication, Pew Research Center finds that 52% of TikTok users regularly use the platform to get the news in 2024, up from 22% in 2020.

https://www.pewresearch.org/journalism/fact-sheet/social-media-and-news-fact-sheet/

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by Newbie (400 points)

I would say this claim is true. The survey conducted by Pew Research Center in 2021 showed "A little under half (48%) of U.S. adult say they get news from social media 'often' or 'sometimes.'" I also found a more recent survey conducted in 2024, which shows that "over half of U.S. adults (54%) say they at least sometimes get news from social media." The graph in this article shows that the percentage of people who get news from social media has increased slightly each year. Another survey found that "Convenience remains the top thing people like most about getting news on social media." However, it is also a fact that " Four-in-ten Americans who get news from social media say inaccuracy is the thing they dislike most about it - an increase of 9 percentage points since 2018." Many people get news from social media, but they also recognize concerns about inaccuracy.

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

https://www.pewresearch.org/journalism/fact-sheet/social-media-and-news-fact-sheet/

https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2024/02/07/many-americans-find-value-in-getting-news-on-social-media-but-concerns-about-inaccuracy-have-risen/

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by Newbie (300 points)

There is no denying that social media has become a large part of everyday life for many people and the claim that people have been relying on it for news seems very accurate. This article from the Pew Research Center, published in 2021, shares that nearly half (48%) of all American adults rely on some type of social media for their news, at least sometimes. 

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

Pew Research Center published another article about this same topic in September 2024, so around 3 years after this first article was published. The numbers since then have gone up, now 54% of all American adults are relying on some form of social media for news. Since 2021, these numbers have been either slightly increasing or staying stagnant somewhere around the 50% mark.

https://www.pewresearch.org/journalism/fact-sheet/social-media-and-news-fact-sheet/

On their news fact sheet, also published in 2024, they include a visual that shows what percent of Americans get their news from certain platforms. We can see a large rise in the digital devices category and a decline in the other three categories (television, radio, and print publications). 

https://www.pewresearch.org/journalism/fact-sheet/news-platform-fact-sheet/

Based on this information I think it is safe to say that this claim is accurate and I believe that the numbers of news consumption via social media will continue to go up. 

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by Novice (600 points)
edited by

Many americans rely soley on social media for news. The writer of this post claims that a large portion of Americans use social media, especially apps such as twitter, youtube, tiktok, instagram and facebook for the news they recieve. Not only does the writer use a credible souce, from the Pew Research center, but they also provide helpful graphics and data that aligns with the information they're executing. Right off the bat, this writer recognizes the pew research center in their opening sentence. After researching the link and data provided in their claim, I noticed that although the title of the article doesn't say such an upfront claim, the subheading aligns with the information told by the writer on news fact checking. The subheading reads, "More than half of twitter user get news on the site regularly." Knowing this, i dove deeper into the context of the article. In the first paragraph, one of the first things I noticed was the sentence, "A little under half (48%) of U.S. adults say they get news from social media 'often' or 'sometimes.'" The context given shows that the claim made by the user on news fact checking wasn't exaggerted in the slightest. The title they use of "Many Americans" shows that they did the research on the pew research center's website and saw that they stated 48% percent. A false claim would've used the term "most" or "all" instead. Overall, I believe that the author of this fact check took the time to make sure they had data, a sufficient title, and enough evidence to back up their claim. 

I double checked this information with the source Statistica. What I learned from my research was even more interesting, as it comes across as misinformation. Statistica says that according to the same study from the Pew Research Center, 54% of American Adults rely on social media for their news. This is an example of how fact checking can easily be misconstrued, as this was an exaggeration of the actual, true study conducted. The original statement is still true, being that the information is taken from the Pew Research Center, however the second source I found was false. 

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

https://www.statista.com/chart/28490/news-consumption-on-social-media/

Exaggerated/ Misleading
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by Newbie (300 points)

The claim presented by the article that many Americans rely on social media for there news is true. You can find other sources that corroborate this claim. You can also easily find information on the authors themselves, including previous articles they have written. I do have some issues with this claim drawn from the article. The article isn't measuring reliance on social media for use, it is measuring the amount of news being pushed on social media sites, and for other articles that measure peoples use of social media as a news source the amount is closer to 20%. Overall it is still true that a many Americans rely on social media for news.

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/about-20-of-americans-get-their-news-from-social-media-influencers-report-finds

https://www.cnbc.com/2024/11/18/more-americans-get-news-from-social-media-influencers.html

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by Newbie (300 points)

The claim that "many Americans rely on social media for news" is unequivocally true. As American culture has shifted away from traditional forms of media and towards a digital hybridization of content, we are spending less time reading newspapers and watching cable news. Even though longstanding news companies have tried to remain relevant in the digital age, the speed, efficiency, and ease of information delivery by social media content algorithms has captured the larger market. For someone on social media, there is a much higher chance that they will find out notable events from social media first before any other form of media. As a result, social media has become the default place to get news for many Americans.

According to Pew:

A bar chart showing that social media news consumers like the convenience and speed of getting news there most.

Source:

https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2024/02/07/many-americans-find-value-in-getting-news-on-social-media-but-concerns-about-inaccuracy-have-risen/

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by Novice (600 points)

It’s true that many Americans turn to social media platforms as their primary source of news. Social media allows for real-time updates and quick, easy-to-consume content. The listed article from Pew Research shows that “a little under half (48%) of U.S. adults say they get news from social media ‘often’ or 'sometimes.” Although this data is from 2021, the percentage of Americans relying on social media for news has assumably only increased since. The Pew Research Center is not only known for their credible data collecting and research, but AllSides also gave them a “high confidence rating.” Additionally, when researching this topic, almost every article—including ones from the Washington Post and PBS—references this data. 

Citations:

Hadero, H. (2024, November 18). About 20% of Americans get their news from social media influencers, report finds. PBS. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/about-20-of-americans-get-their-news-from-social-media-influencers-report-finds

Kelly, H. (2023b, November 15). From TV to TikTok, how we get the news is changing fast. The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/11/15/news-trends-social/

Pew Research Center Media Bias Rating | Allsides. Pew Research Center. (n.d.). https://www.allsides.com/news-source/pew-research

Walker, M., & Matsa, K. E. (2021, September 20). News consumption across social media in 2021. Pew Research Center. https://www.pewresearch.org/journalism/2021/09/20/news-consumption-across-social-media-in-2021/

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by Newbie (300 points)
More Americans are turning to social media for their news, with 55% of U.S. adults now getting news from platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, according to a Pew Research report which has been a key source throughout many articles. The rise in social media use for news is driven by convenience, as platforms offer immediate access to breaking news and personalized content. Facebook, in particular, is the primary source of news for 52% of Americans, with YouTube and Twitter following behind.

While social media provides easy access to news, it also raises a lot of concerns about bias and misinformation. Social media companies control the news users see through algorithms. Many Americans worry about the influence these platforms have on shaping news consumption.  Additionally, the spread of misinformation and propaganda is a growing issue, with social media being used to manipulate public opinion.

Despite these challenges, social media remains a dominant source of news for many Americans, particularly due to its speed and accessibility. However, the risks of bias and misinformation mean that users must be more discerning about the news they consume from these platforms.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/petersuciu/2019/10/11/more-americans-are-getting-their-news-from-social-media/
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by Newbie (300 points)
the main idea of this claim is that a large amount of americans rely on social media for their news. The article used, https://www.pewresearch.org/journalism/2021/09/20/news-consumption-across-social-media-in-2021/, takes a look at how americans get their news content and how they engage with it on social media. there was a study that was conducted between july 26-august 8 2021, surveying over 11,000 adults in the U.S., and it found that around 48% of them reported that they frequently got their news from social media. Pew research center is an organization known for its data collection and analysis, which gives credit to the claim, as this was the article used. the organization provides detailed information about the survey methods, and includes question wording and sampling techniques, which allows thorough evaluation.
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