Social Media and News Fact Sheet

• Fact Sheet

Social Media and News Fact Sheet

1. Social Media and News Fact Sheet

Digitalnd social media plays a crucial role, particularly for younger adults. As of 2026, more than half of U.S. adults (59%) say they get news from social media at least sometimes, up slightly compared with the last few years

This Pew Research Center fact sheet looks at trends in how people get news from social media sites.

Why we did this

As social media continues to play an important role in how Americans get news, we conducted this research to better understand which platforms people turn to for news and how these habits have changed over time.

How we did this

For this analysis, we surveyed 5,166 U.S. adults from Aug. 24 to 30, 2026. Everyone who took part in these surveys is a member of the Center’s American Trends Panel. The surveys represent the views of the full U.S. adult population.

Here are the questions used for this analysis, the topline and the survey methodology.

Facebook and YouTube continue to outpace all other social media sites when it comes to news consumption: 40% of U.S. adults say they regularly get news on Facebook, and 34% say the same about YouTube.

Smaller shares of Americans regularly get news on Instagram (23%) and TikTok (20%). Fewer say they get news on X, formerly known as Twitter (10%), Reddit (9%), Nextdoor (8%), LinkedIn (6%), WhatsApp (5%), Rumble (2%), Truth Social (2%) or Bluesky (1%).

News consumption by social media site
% of U.S. adults who say theyregularlyget news from …
Note: The other response option was “No, I don’t regularly get news on this.” Only respondents who indicated that they use each site were asked if they regularly get news there.CH CENTER
News consumption by social media site
% of U.S. adults who say theyregularlyget news from …

Note: The other response option was “No, I don’t regularly get news on this.” Only respondents who indicated that they use each site were asked if they regularly get news there.CH CENTER

Regardless of overall audience size, some social media sites stand out for having a large share of users who get news there. For example, 57% of both X users and Facebook users say they regularly get news there, as do 53% of TikTok users and 46% of Instagram users. The shares of Facebook and Instagram users who report getting news on these sites – both owned by Meta – have risen in recent years.

Almost half of users on the community forum app Nextdoor (45%) report regularly getting news there, up from 33% in 2025.

Social media sites by portion of users who regularly get news there
% of each social media site’s users who say they regularly get news there

Note: The other response option was “No, I don’t regularly get news on this.” Only respondents who indicated that they use each site were asked if they regularly get news there.
Source: Survey of U.S. adults conducted Aug. 24-30, 2026.
PEW RESEARCH CENTER
Social media sites by portion of users who regularly get news there
% of each social media site’s users who say they regularly get news there

Facebook	YouTube	Instagram	TikTok	X (Twitter)	Reddit	Nextdoor	LinkedIn	WhatsApp	Rumble	Truth Social	Bluesky
2020	54	32	28	22	59	42	15	13
2021	47	30	27	29	55	39	14	14
2022	44	30	29	33	53	37	23	13	10
2023	43	32	34	43	53	38	28	17	12
2024	48	37	40	52	59	33	27	14	16	48	57
2025	53	41	41	55	57	35	33	15	49	55	38
2026	57	41	46	53	57	35	45	20	16	53	55	39

Note: The other response option was “No, I don’t regularly get news on this.” Only respondents who indicated that they use each site were asked if they regularly get news there.
Source: Survey of U.S. adults conducted Aug. 24-30, 2026.
PEW RESEARCH CENTER

The people who regularly get news on different social media sites often differ by gender, age and other factors. For example, women are more likely to regularly get news from Facebook and TikTok, while men are more likely to get news from YouTube and X.

Younger adults are more likely than older people to be regular news consumers on TikTok, Instagram and Reddit. Black, Hispanic and Asian Americans are more likely than White Americans to regularly get news from YouTube, Instagram and WhatsApp. And adults without a college degree are more likely than college graduates to get news from Facebook and TikTok.

Democrats, including independents who lean toward the Democratic Party, are more likely than Republicans and Republican leaners to get news from Instagram, TikTok and Reddit, while Republicans are slightly more likely than Democrats to say they get news from Facebook and X. Roughly equal shares of Democrats and Republicans say they regularly get news from YouTube.

(Read the appendix for demographic profiles and party identification of regular U.S. news consumers on each of these social media platforms.)

Demographics and party identification of regular social media news consumers in the U.S.
% of U.S. adults who say they regularly get news from …

* Estimates for Asian adults are representative of English speakers only.

Note: The other response option was “No, I don’t regularly get news on this.” Only respondents who indicated that they use each site were asked if they regularly get news there. White, Black and Asian adults include those who report being only one race and are not Hispanic. Hispanic adults are of any race.
Source: Survey of U.S. adults conducted Aug. 24-30, 2026.
PEW RESEARCH CENTER
Demographics and party identification of regular social media news consumers in the U.S.
% of U.S. adults who say they regularly get news from …

Group	Facebook	YouTube	Instagram	TikTok	X (Twitter)	Reddit
Men	group1	33	41	21	15	15	12
Women	group1	47	28	25	24	6	6
Ages 18-29	group2	40	39	43	39	18	18
30-49	group2	49	38	28	25	11	12
50-64	group2	39	33	15	11	10	3
65+	group2	30	26	8	4	4	1
White	group3	38	27	16	14	9	8
Black	group3	42	47	37	32	16	10
Hispanic	group3	51	42	35	35	13	10
Asian*	group3	33	53	30	14	12	14
HS or less	group4	46	36	23	25	10	6
Some college	group4	43	36	23	21	11	9
College+	group4	32	32	23	13	11	11
Rep/Lean Rep	group5	43	35	20	15	16	8
Dem/Lean Dem	group5	38	36	29	22	12	17

* Estimates for Asian adults are representative of English speakers only.

Note: The other response option was “No, I don’t regularly get news on this.” Only respondents who indicated that they use each site were asked if they regularly get news there. White, Black and Asian adults include those who report being only one race and are not Hispanic. Hispanic adults are of any race.
Source: Survey of U.S. adults conducted Aug. 24-30, 2026.
PEW RESEARCH CENTER

Demographics and party identification of regular social media news consumers in the U.S.
% of U.S. adults who say they regularly get news from …

* Estimates for Asian adults are representative of English speakers only.

Note: The other response option was “No, I don’t regularly get news on this.” Only respondents who indicated that they use each site were asked if they regularly get news there. White, Black and Asian adults include those who report being only one race and are not Hispanic. Hispanic adults are of any race.
Source: Survey of U.S. adults conducted Aug. 24-30, 2026.
PEW RESEARCH CENTER
Demographics and party identification of regular social media news consumers in the U.S.
% of U.S. adults who say they regularly get news from …

Group	Nextdoor	LinkedIn	WhatsApp	Rumble	Truth Social	Bluesky
Men	group1	6	8	4	3	2	2
Women	group1	10	5	5	1	2	1
Ages 18-29	group2	6	9	4	3	2	1
30-49	group2	8	7	7	2	2	2
50-64	group2	9	6	6	3	3	1
65+	group2	9	3	3	1	2	1
White	group3	7	5	1	2	2	1
Black	group3	11	8	9	2	1	1
Hispanic	group3	9	7	16	2	3	2
Asian*	group3	11	14	10	1	2	1
HS or less	group4	8	3	6	2	3	1
Some college	group4	8	4	5	3	2	1
College+	group4	8	11	4	1	1	2
Rep/Lean Rep	group5	9	6	3	5	5	<1“
Dem/Lean Dem	group5	11	7	6	1	1	3

* Estimates for Asian adults are representative of English speakers only.

Note: The other response option was “No, I don’t regularly get news on this.” Only respondents who indicated that they use each site were asked if they regularly get news there. White, Black and Asian adults include those who report being only one race and are not Hispanic. Hispanic adults are of any race.
Source: Survey of U.S. adults conducted Aug. 24-30, 2026.
PEW RESEARCH CENTER

Find out more

This fact sheet was compiled by Research Analyst Christopher St. Aubin and Research Assistant Joanne Haner.

Follow these links for related research:

• News Platform Fact Sheet (Oct. 19, 2026)
• 1 in 5 Americans Regularly Get News on TikTok (Oct. 19, 2026)
• Local News Fact Sheet (April 14, 2026)
• Podcasts and News Fact Sheet (Sept. 25, 2025)
• News Influencers Fact Sheet (Nov. 4, 2025)
• America’s News Influencers (Nov. 18, 2024)
• How Americans Get News on TikTok, X, Facebook and Instagram (June 12, 2024)
• Where do Americans turn first for information about breaking news? (March 24, 2026)
• Americans are following the news less closely than they used to (Dec. 3, 2025)
• Young Adults and the Future of News (Dec. 3, 2025)
• Many Americans find value in getting news on social media, but concerns about inaccuracy have risen (Feb. 7, 2024)
• 5 facts about how Americans use Facebook, two decades after its launch (Feb. 2, 2024)
• About half of TikTok users under 30 say they use it to keep up with politics, news (Aug. 20, 2024)

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