Approximately 40% of Americans under 30 depend on social media influencers for information
More Americans are turning to influencers on social media for news, with 21% of all adults and 37% of those aged 18-29 relying on them, according to a report by. The recent layoffs at the Associated Press and findings from the Pew report indicate a shift away from traditional news sources in the U.S.
Defining News Influencers
The study focused on influencers with over 100,000 followers on platforms like Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, and X, totaling 2,058 news influencers. Pew defines influencers as individuals with a large social media following who post about news or political and social issues, excluding official news organizations and politicians.
A majority (85%) of influencers in the study were on X, although this may change over time. Following the presidential election, some users shifted away from X due to their opinions on owner Elon Musk.
Instagram was the second most popular platform for news influencers, with 50% of top influencers present on the platform. YouTube, Facebook, Threads, TikTok, LinkedIn, Rumble, Telegram, Truth Social, Gettr, Gab, and BitChute also had varying levels of influencer presence.
The study also revealed gender disparities among news influencers, with 63% being men and 30% women. The distribution varied across platforms, with TikTok having the highest percentage of female influencers at 45%. Generational differences were also evident, as 37% of 18-29 year-olds regularly consume news through influencers, compared to only 7% of those over 65.
This article has been translated from Gizmodo US by Lucas Handley. You can find the original version here.
