In 2025, Facebook remained the most popular social media network for news worldwide, with ** percent of respondents to a survey held in February that year saying that they had used the platform for news in the last week. On the other hand, TikTok news consumption is on the rise—in 2025, it was *** times higher than in 2020, when it stood at just *** percent.

During a 2025 survey, ** percent of respondents from Nigeria stated that they used social media as a source of news. In comparison, just ** percent of Japanese respondents said the same. Large portions of social media users around the world admit that they do not trust social platforms either as media sources or as a way to get news, and yet they continue to access such networks on a daily basis. Social media: trust and consumption Despite the majority of adults surveyed in each country reporting that they used social networks to keep up to date with news and current affairs, a 2018 study showed that social media is the least trusted news source in the world. Less than ** percent of adults in Europe considered social networks to be trustworthy in this respect, yet more than ** percent of adults in Portugal, Poland, Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria, Slovakia and Croatia said that they got their news on social media. What is clear is that we live in an era where social media is such an enormous part of daily life that consumers will still use it in spite of their doubts or reservations. Concerns about fake news and propaganda on social media have not stopped billions of users accessing their favorite networks on a daily basis. Most Millennials in the United States use social media for news every day, and younger consumers in European countries are much more likely to use social networks for national political news than their older peers. Like it or not, reading news on social is fast becoming the norm for younger generations, and this form of news consumption will likely increase further regardless of whether consumers fully trust their chosen network or not.

A survey revealed that most U.S. adults believed AI-written news articles would be a bad thing, with 78 percent of all respondents saying that they felt this way, according to the results of a January 2023 survey. Younger consumers were the least likely to think this - 19 percent said they thought this would be a good thing, compared to just seven percent of their older peers aged 55 years or older.

In a survey conducted in May 2025, journalism was rated the most positively by U.S. adults, with 54 percent describing it as very or somewhat favorable. Social media followed with 49 percent favorable, though a notable share of respondents also held negative views. The news media and the press were rated less positively, at 47 and 46 percent, respectively. Overall, the findings suggest stronger confidence in journalism compared to other media institutions.

In 2025, Facebook remained the most-used social platform for news in the United States, with ** percent of respondents reporting they accessed news on it. YouTube followed closely at ** percent, recording a slight increase from the previous year. X (formerly Twitter) saw the most notable growth, rising by ***** percent to ** percent.

The most popular online news brands in the United States as of February 2025 were CNN.com and Fox News online. A study found that 23 percent and 22 percent of respondents to a survey had visited those sites respectively for news in the last week. Also high in the ranking were Yahoo! News and The New York Times online. Support for and trust in both sources varies significantly according to the political affiliation of audiences, particularly among Democrats and Republicans. News and politics A survey revealed that more than ** percent of Republicans reported not trusting The New York Times, whereas The NYT is one of the most trusted news sources among Democrats. The same study found that over ** percent of Democrats did not trust Fox News**. The perceived credibility of major news sources in the United States changes annually and is often influenced by election campaigns and the voting persuasions of the American public. However, whilst most Democrats believe the mass media to be objective in its reporting, very few Republicans feel the same. In 2020, just ** percent of Republicans trusted news organizations to report fully, accurately, and fairly. Trust in news The most trusted news sources in the United States are radio, network news, and newspapers, despite online outlets being used more frequently by younger audiences. Social media and podcasts are considered the least trustworthy news platforms by all American voters, though again, the survey indicated that Republicans are generally more distrusting of mass media news than voters of other political parties.

According to a global survey conducted in 2025, nearly half of X (formerly Twitter) users paid attention to news from mainstream news outlets and journalists, while an equal share engaged with content from creators and personalities, such as celebrities and influencers. This indicates a balanced split in attention between traditional media and individual voices on the platform.

According to a survey conducted in May 2025, 56 percent of adults in the United States said they actively seek out news, while 35 percent reported that news usually comes to them. A smaller share were unsure about their news consumption habits.

According to the results of a global survey held in early 2025, among selected major media markets, consumers in Brazil were the least likely to use print media to get their news, with just *** percent reporting consuming print news compared to ** percent of respondents from India. Meanwhile, news from social media was most popular in South Africa, and TV consumption was highest in Germany.

In May 2025, a survey asked U.S. adults how they feel while consuming news. The results indicate that a majority feel informed, with 53 percent saying that news generally makes them feel this way. At the same time, 43 percent reported feeling angry, and 32 percent said they feel depressed when consuming news. In contrast, only 16 percent described feeling hopeful. These findings highlight that while staying informed is a major benefit of news consumption, negative emotional reactions—such as anger and depression—are also very common among Americans.

According to data from February 2025, Facebook was the most popular social network for news access in the United Kingdom, with ** percent of respondents using the service. YouTube and X (formerly Twitter) ranked second and third, with ** and ** percent of users respectively using the networks for news content.

According to data gathered in a survey held in 2024, ** percent of responding U.S. adults said that they got their news from social media often, the highest recorded in the time period shown. After a growth of people who claimed to never get news from social media from ** percent in 2020 to 32 percent in 2021, this share dropped back to ** percent in 2024.

A 2025 survey revealed that audiences using social networks for news engage with sources differently depending on the network; for example ** percent of X (formerly Twitter) users paid the most attention to mainstream news outlets and journalists, while only ** percent of TikTok users and ** percent of Snapchat users did the same. These latter platforms saw higher attention directed toward creators and personalities, with ** percent of TikTok users and ** percent of Snapchat users engaging more with influencers and celebrities.

This statistic shows the frequency of use of selected social media networks for news among college students in the United States as of **********. The findings show that ** percent of surveyed U.S. college students had used Facebook for news in the past week, while ** percent had done so on a daily basis.

A survey held in the United States in early 2023 found that most surveyed adults believe there will be a time where entire news articles are written by artificial intelligence, with 72 percent stating that this was what they expected to happen. Respondents under the age of 55 were marginally surer that solely AI-written news articles will be part of the future of news.

Social media was by far the most popular news platform among 18 to 34-year-olds in the United States, with 47 percent of respondents to a survey held in August 2022 saying that they used social networks for news on a daily basis. By comparison, adults over 65 years old mostly used network news to keep up to date.

The decline of newspapers In the past, the reasons to regularly go out and purchase a print newspaper were many. Used not only for news but also apartment hunting, entertainment, and job searches (among other things), newspapers once served multiple purposes. This is no longer the case, with first television and then the internet taking care of consumer needs once covered by printed papers. Indeed, the paid circulation of daily weekday newspapers in the United States has fallen dramatically since the 1980s with no sign of future improvement.

News consumption habits

A survey on news consumption by gender found that 50 percent of women use either online-only news sites or social media for news each day, and 51 percent of male respondents said the same. Social media was by far the most used daily news platform among U.S. Millennials, and the same was true of Gen Z. One appeal of online news is that it often comes at no cost to the consumer. Paying for news found via digital outlets is not yet commonplace in the United States, with only 21 percent of U.S. consumers responding to a study held in early 2021 reporting having paid for online news content in the last year.

A survey conducted in December 2020 assessing if news consumers in the United States had ever unknowingly shared fake news or information on social media found that 38.2 percent had done so. A similar share had not, whereas seven percent were unsure if they had accidentally disseminated misinformation on social networks.

Fake news in the U.S.

Fake news, or news that contains misinformation, has become a prevalent issue within the American media landscape. Fake news can be circulated online as news stories with deliberately misleading headings, or clickbait, but the rise of misinformation cannot be solely accredited to online social media. Forms of fake news are also found in print media, with 47 percent of Americans witnessing fake news in newspapers and magazines as of January 2019.

News consumers in the United States are aware of the spread of misinformation, with many Americans believing online news websites regularly report fake news stories. With such a high volume of online news websites publishing false information, it can be difficult to assess the credibility of a story. This can have damaging effects on society in that the public struggled to keep informed, creating a great deal of confusion about even basic facts and contributing to incivility.

In 2025, Fox News was the most widely used offline news source in the United States, with ** percent of respondents reporting they had watched it in the past week. CNN followed closely at ** percent, while local television news reached ** percent. In contrast, traditional print media saw lower engagement—only ** percent of respondents said they had used regional or local newspapers, and just ***** percent accessed NPR News, including local NPR stations.

According to a survey conducted in 2023, 20 percent of adults in the United States who used social media to get news stated that convenience was their main reason for doing so. Speed and interaction with people were the two next most popular reasons for using social networking platforms as a source of news, accounting for nine and six percent of respondents, respectively. Smaller shares of adults said they liked that the news was up-to-date, the content or format, and the variety of sources or stories available. Overall, seven percent of U.S. adults who got their news on social media said they did not like anything about the experience.

A study held in 2025 revealed that ** percent of X (formerly known as Twitter) users regularly used X for news. By contrast, users of major platforms Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube were less inclined to get their news from those sites, though usage of TikTok for news increased to ** percent in 2025 compared to 2020, with the platform especially popular among younger audiences.