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Americans’ primary source of news is now social media.
The Front Page: 54% of Americans get news from social media platforms like Facebook, YouTube, TikTok, and X, while only about 50% get news from mainstream sources like CBS, ABC, or Fox, according to a Reuters survey. This shift is occurring globally but nowhere faster than in the US.
The Small Print: Social media has become such an influential source of news that many politicians now prioritize it over mainstream news outlets.
- Major social media stars command larger audiences than news outlets. Joe Rogan reached nearly a quarter of all Americans in some form during the week Reuters conducted the survey.
- Reliance on X as a news source is only increasing, especially as a platform for right-wing political engagement. X users who self-identify as right-wingers have tripled in the US and doubled in the UK since Musk acquired the platform.
- TikTok trails behind these platforms in its global user base but is the fastest-growing social media network, with 17% of people globally relying on it for news.
Back Matter: Despite this trend, nearly half the people surveyed globally said they believed social media was “a major source of false or misleading information.” And while people — especially young people — are increasingly relying on AI chatbots to get news, almost everyone agrees that AI spreads disinformation and degrades the quality of news, preferring trusted outlets with long histories of integrity.
Prediction: Expect faith in news and news outlets to continue to fracture and for public perception of AI in news to degrade even further.
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