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Majority of US Adults Get News From Social Media

Reddit leads the pack, with 70 percent of users who say they get their news there.

By Tom Brant

My Experience

I’m the deputy managing editor of the hardware team at PCMag.com. Reading this during the day? Then you've caught me testing gear and editing reviews of laptops, desktop PCs, and tons of other personal tech. (Reading this at night? Then I’m probably dreaming about all those cool products.) I’ve covered the consumer tech world as an editor, reporter, and analyst since 2015.

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Sixty-two percent of US adults now get news from social media sources, according to a Pew Research study(Opens in a new window) published today. Reddit has the largest number of users who say they get their news on the site at 70 percent, followed by Facebook users at 66 percent and Twitter at 59 percent.

Social Media NewsThe numbers drop off from there, with just 31 percent of Tumblr users and 19 percent of LinkedIn users saying they get news from those sites. Pew also found that a majority of people (64 percent) get news on just one social media site—most commonly Facebook.

The study was conducted from Jan. 12 to Feb. 8, 2016, and surveyed 4,654 participants about their online news habits. Many of its questions were related to specific platforms and news discovery methods.

"YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram news users are more likely to get their news online mostly by chance, when they are online doing other things," the survey found. Reddit, Twitter, and LinkedIn users, however, are more likely to seek out news online.

Facebook has rapidly solidified its status as a news source. Three years ago, another Pew study found that 47 percent of its users got news from the social networking site, representing approximately 30 percent of the US population.

At its F8 developers conference last month, Facebook introduced an expansion of its Instant Articles feature, which reduces the load time of articles posted by participating publishers. Facebook also curates its own "Trending" section for breaking news, though that has been criticized for prioritizing politically liberal topics.

Twitter has also made efforts to boost its news content. It now classifies its mobile app in the "news" category of the iOS App Store, instead of its previous home in the social media category. Since publishers self-identify the category in which their app is listed, the move was likely intended to boost Twitter's App Store rankings.

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About Tom Brant

Deputy Managing Editor

I’m the deputy managing editor of the hardware team at PCMag.com. Reading this during the day? Then you've caught me testing gear and editing reviews of laptops, desktop PCs, and tons of other personal tech. (Reading this at night? Then I’m probably dreaming about all those cool products.) I’ve covered the consumer tech world as an editor, reporter, and analyst since 2015.

I’ve evaluated the performance, value, and features of hundreds of personal tech devices and services, from laptops to Wi-Fi hotspots and everything in between. I’ve also covered the launches of dozens of groundbreaking technologies, from hyperloop test tracks in the desert to the latest silicon from Apple and Intel.

I've appeared on CBS News, in USA Today, and at many other outlets to offer analysis on breaking technology news.

Before I joined the tech-journalism ranks, I wrote on topics as diverse as Borneo's rain forests, Middle Eastern airlines, and Big Data's role in presidential elections. A graduate of Middlebury College, I also have a master's degree in journalism and French Studies from New York University.

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