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Americans are more likely to get news on Twitter and Facebook than ever before. Our new study explores the similarities and differences in the role of news on these two social networks.

More Americans get news on Twitter and Facebook today than in the past. We pulled together key facts about news consumption on these two popular social media sites.

A hard look at the digital publishing business shows the degree to which Facebook, more than any other single company, is where the digital display ad money is.

We wanted to analyze the role Facebook played as a means for people to hear about, discuss and share local news. But getting the data we needed wasn't easy.

While Facebook remains the most popular social media site, other platforms — like LinkedIn, Pinterest, Instagram and Twitter — saw higher rates of growth over the past year. In 2014, 52% of online adults used two or more social media sites, up from 42% in 2013.

Social media users who are interested in politics have different experiences on Facebook and Twitter, with four-in-ten Twitter users saying that at least half of the posts that they see are political, compared with about a quarter of Facebook users who say the same.

Facebook, Twitter, and other platforms did not provide new outlets for the discussion of the Snowden-NSA revelations. People who thought their social media friends disagreed with them were less likely to discuss the issues in person and online.

There were big differences in the content related to Ferguson on Twitter and Facebook. Was the reason what users wanted from each, or the sites' algorithms?

In November 2010, 8% of online adults used the platform. As of January 2014, 19% of online adults were using Twitter.