While it’s no secret more and more people have been getting their news from social media in recent years, a new study shows just how many people regularly forgo traditional journalism. According to the Pew Research Center, 21% of American adults say they prefer to get their news from social media “news influencers” first.
That’s especially true for people 18 to 29 years old; 37% of them said they do.
Pew classifies news influencers as people who regularly post about current events and civic issues on social media and have at least 100,000 followers.
The study found when it comes to their followers, there’s no real distinction between Democrats and Republicans, with 22% of Democrats and 21% of Republicans favoring news influencers.
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When it comes to who Americans choose to get their news from, about two out of three news influencers are male. And about half of all influencers don’t express any clear political orientation.
X, formerly known as Twitter, is the most popular social media site for those looking for news to turn to followed by Instagram and YouTube.
Pew’s survey found about two out of three say turning to social media for their news helps them better understand the topics.