Social media as a news source

In 2019, the Pew Research Center created a poll that reported Americans are wary about the ways that social media sites share news and certain content.

[5] This wariness of accuracy grew as awareness that social media sites could be exploited by bad actors who concoct false narratives and fake news.

[7][8][9] Social media users may read a set of news that differs slightly from what newspaper editors prioritize in the print press.

[13] Biases towards negativity need to be considered when the utility of new media is addressed, as the potential for human opinion to overemphasize any particular news story is greater despite general improvement.

[15] The production and circulation of newspaper prints have continued to globally decline in accordance with the increasing presence of news outlets on social media.

[21] Globally, data from 2020 shows that over 70% of adult participants from Kenya, South Africa, Chile, Bulgaria, Greece, and Argentina utilized social media for news while those from France, the UK, the Netherlands, Germany, and Japan were reportedly less than 40 percent.

[25] Additional source information shows that from politics and the United States presidential election in 2016, the popularity of fake news had grown to global attention.

[28] Showing that adult participants found that the news that was only posted on Facebook and social media was much more credible to them than compared to other forms of information spreading.

[33] The most commonly mentioned sources on social media or YouTube included PewDiePie, Trevor Noah, CNN, Donald Trump, and Beyoncé.

A 2021 study from PEW Research Center reported that White adults are the leading users (62%) of both Facebook and Reddit as a news source but make up less than half (40%) of this population on Instagram.

[42] However, journalistic influence is growing less important, whereas social networking sites such as Facebook, YouTube and Twitter, provide a constant supply of alternative news sources for users.

As social networking becomes more popular among older and younger generations, sites such as Facebook and YouTube, gradually undermine the traditionally authoritative voices of news media.

For example, American citizens contest media coverage of various social and political events as they see fit, inserting their voices into the narratives about America's past and present and shaping their own collective memories.

In some ways, the spread of this tragic event through alternative news sources parallels that of Emmett Till – whose murder by lynching in 1955 became a national story after it was circulated in African-American and Communist newspapers.

Most news sources have Twitter, and Facebook, pages, like CNN and the New York Times, providing links to their online articles, getting an increased readership.

For example, in this report, in Brazil, 60% of the respondents said social media was one of the five most important ways to find news online, 45% in Spain, 17% in the UK, 38% in Italy, 14% in France, 22% in Denmark, 30% in the U.S., and 12% in Japan.

[52] The case study reveals how Brazilians used social media to organize manifestations regarding cost of public transportation, violence, homophobia, and corruption.

Consequently, Brazilians were able to modify functions in an institutionalized system, not only by promoting awareness on certain social problems, but also by inducing president Dilma Rousseff's impeachment in 2016.

[52] Using non-traditional platforms such as social media as a news source is an easy way to gain access to numerous different types of information such as gossip blogs, sporting events, political matters, and business affairs.

Using social media as a news outlet helps relieve the hardships of navigating through several websites and articles to find one source with information pertaining to the topic being explored.

[53] In 2017, Facebook gave its new emoji reactions five times the weight in its algorithms as its like button, which data scientists at the company in 2019 confirmed had disproportionately boosted toxicity, misinformation and low-quality news.

[54] Social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter have begun implementing fact-checking tools to ensure that the shared content is accurate and factual.

According to a study published in the article "Understanding Patterns of Covid Infodemic: A Systematic and Pragmatic Approach to Curb Fake News," the author states that "based on the analysis of 225 pieces of fake news identified by fact-checking tools, Brennen, Simon, Howard, and Nielsen (2020) indicated that 20% of them were shared by politicians, celebrities, and other public figures".

[60] When social media users rely on these networking platforms for their daily news sources, it is possible that they are only receiving information that is a reflection of what they want to see in society, further implicating the matter by ignoring issues that require being addressed.

False news is not strongly regulated on social media platforms therefore it is easy and widely accessible for anyone to post and for many more people to consume that information that has been released.

[61] Another common issue that has risen through the use of social media as a news platform is mixing information and altering or exaggerating a story or event.

The general recommendations made about digital media and journalism are as follows: The spread of news has become increasingly dependent on websites such as blogs, YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook.

[65] The Agence France-Presse (AFP)[66] and the New York Times[67] both encouraged their journalists in 2017 to use social networking platforms because it can create relationships with their readers, help them make new contacts, and even reach a greater audience.

The digital media industry is facing significant challenges as Vice, BuzzFeed News, Vox, and Gawker all experienced staff cuts, program closures, or complete shutdowns.

However, trends like niche newsletters, paid subscriptions, and smaller online communities are emerging as potential alternatives, offering hope for a rebirth of the industry on a human scale.