According to the most recent data, more Americans are now turning to social media as their primary news source instead of TV. This comes in spite of an overwhelming majority of Americans expressing concern about misinformation on social media and being unable to assess the validity of random creators.
The latest data from Reuters signals a major shift in the behavior surrounding news consumption in America, even if the trend has been moving in this direction for years.
In a poll of over 100,000 Americans across 48 markets, a majority of Americans (54%) said they ingest news from social media networks including Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, X, TikTok, etc. That is compared to just 50% of who respondents who said they get their news from traditional TV news outlets, and 48% who said they keep up with news from traditional media news apps. Note that respondents can get their news from multiple sources, hence the 54/50/48% breakdowns.
Is Joe Rogan The King Of Social Media?
Joe Rogan and his 20 million YouTube subscribers along with tens of millions of followers across his social media channels stand out above the pack when it comes to the reach he possesses.
According to the data, one-fifth of the 100K respondents said they “came across news or commentary from podcaster Rogan in the week following the presidential inauguration.” That’s 1 in every 5 Americans, in theory, that are getting some measure of news from former Fear Factor host turned media mogul Joe Rogan.
Another 14% responded receiving news from Tucker Carlson who hasn’t been at Fox News and has been operating independently since his departure on April 24, 2023.
Social Media News Consumption And The Threat Of Misinformation
One puzzling aspect of the shift to news consumption primarily on social media is the fact that by and large Americans do not trust social media. The report from Reuters found that more than “70% of Americans say they remain concerned about their ability to tell what is true from what is false when it comes to news online.”
So 7 in every 10 Americans are very concerned about their ability to tell what is true and false on social media because the networks have made it outright impossible to know, but they are still turning to social media as their primary news source. Media Literacy is, obviously, failing.
AI vs Social Media
The rise of AI is here to stay. And what the Reuters report found a large number of people under the age of 25 are turning to AI for news. In particular, AI chatbots where 15% of people under the age of 25 rely on them to get their news. That number shrinks to 7% across all age groups.
ChatGPT was by far the most popular AI source of news followed by Gemini and Meta’s AI but it also doesn’t seem like anyone anywhere trusts the news they are getting regardless of the source…
Overall, there is just a 40% level of trust in news media. People trust their sources… The ones they absolutely believe to be true, but assume the rest of the media is making up lies for clicks.
The shift to social media driven news is overhauling the news industry. Traditional news outlets are losing out to creators while medium/small-sized news publishers are dropping like flies. All while a handful of individual creators, the Joe Rogans, Candice Owens, and Brian Tyler Cohens of social media continue to grow.
What this means for the future is media literacy is of the utmost importance. If social networks aren’t actively monitoring mis/disinformation than the onus of media literacy falls on everyone.
The post Social Media Overtakes TV As Primary Source Of News For Over Half Of Americans As Concerns Abound appeared first on BroBible.
Social Media Overtakes TV As Primary Source Of News For Over Half Of Americans As Concerns Abound
Pinoy Human Rights
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