More People Get Their News From Twitter And Facebook

Facebook is not just about lolcats, selfies, and epic partying. More people get their news from Facebook and Twitter.

Pew Research reported several findings from a recent survey of 2,035 U.S. adults. 63 percent of users get their news from the Twitter and Facebook. Both social networking services saw increases. In 2013, it was 52 percent for Twitter users and 47 percent for Facebook users. The number of adults using both services (17 percent use Twitter and 66 percent use Facebook) remained fairly constant during this period.

There were more key findings:

"Twitter news users are more likely than their counterparts on Facebook to report seeing news about four out of 11 topics: national government and politics (72% vs. 61%), international affairs (63% vs. 51%), business (55% vs. 42%) and sports (70% vs. 55%)... The rise in the share of social media users getting news on Facebook or Twitter cuts across nearly every demographic group... When it comes specifically to news and information about government and politics, Facebook users are more likely to post and respond to content, while Twitter users are more likely to follow news organizations."

Pew Research Center conducted the survey jointly with the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. Both social networking sites have focused upon breaking news content. Twitter will soon launch:

"... its long-rumored news feature, “Project Lightning.” The feature will allow anyone, whether they are a Twitter user or not, to view a feed of tweets, images and videos about live events as they happen, curated by a bevy of new employees with “newsroom experience.” And, in early 2015, Twitter purchased and launched the live video-streaming app Periscope...  in May, Facebook launched Instant Articles, a trial project that allows media companies to publish stories directly to the Facebook platform... in late June, Facebook started introducing its “Trending” sidebar to allow users to filter by topic and see only trending news about politics, science and technology, sports or entertainment."