Social media platforms are an important part of the American news diet: Half of U.S. adults say they get news at least sometimes from social media in general. But specific platforms differ widely in structure, content and culture. A new Pew Research Center survey finds that the ways in which Americans encounter news on four major platforms – TikTok, X, Facebook and Instagram – vary widely.
Key findings from this study include:
Majorities of Facebook, Instagram and TikTok users say keeping up with news is not a reason they use the sites. X (formerly Twitter) is the exception to this pattern: Most X users say that keeping up with news is either a major or minor reason they use the platform, and about half say they regularly get news there.
Still,people are seeing news on all four platforms, especially throughopinion- or humor-based content. Majorities of users on all four sites say they see people expressing opinions about current events and funny posts that reference current events. On the whole, more people see these types of posts than news articles or breaking news, although many also see that type of content (particularly on X and Facebook).
News on each platform comes from a variety of sources. Those who regularly get news on Facebook and Instagram are more likely than those on TikTok and Xto get news from friends, family and acquaintances. More news consumers get news from influencers or other people they don’t know personally on TikTok than on other platforms. And news outlets or journalists are a more common source of news on X than on any other site.
Most news consumers on each of the platforms studied say they at least sometimes see news on the platform that seems inaccurate. This includes roughly a quarter or more on each site who say they extremely or fairly often see inaccurate news.
In general, Democrats tend to be more skeptical than Republicans of the news they see on X, while the reverse is true on Facebook. Among those who regularly get news on X, for example, 42% of Democrats and independents who lean toward the Democratic Party say they often see news there that seems inaccurate, compared with 31% of Republicans and GOP leaners.More about this project
The survey covered four social media platforms: TikTok, X (formerly Twitter), Facebook and Instagram. Each platform’s questions were identical.
This report focuses on news on social media. To learn about how people engage with politics on these platforms, read the companion report.
These are some of the key findings from a new Pew Research Center survey of about 10,000 U.S. adults conducted in March 2024. This is one of two Pew Research Center reports on habits and attitudes on different social media platforms from the Pew-Knight Initiative, a research program funded jointly by The Pew Charitable Trusts and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.
Gary Price (gprice@gmail.com) is a librarian, writer, consultant, and frequent conference speaker based in the Washington D.C. metro area.
He earned his MLIS degree from Wayne State University in Detroit.
Price has won several awards including the SLA Innovations in Technology Award and Alumnus of the Year from the Wayne St. University Library and Information Science Program. From 2006-2009 he was Director of Online Information Services at Ask.com.
