Social Media & the News

More than half of these social media news consumers say they have encountered made-up news about COVID-19.

Americans who closely follow political news are more likely to have confidence that the public will accept election results. And that's true across party boundaries.

Both Democrats and Republicans express far more distrust than trust of social media sites as sources for political and election news.

Getting news from social media is an increasingly common experience; nearly three-in-ten U.S. adults do so often.

The share of Americans who prefer to get their news online is growing. More Americans get news on social media than from print newspapers.

Photos that exclusively show men make up the majority of photos that show people; representational differences persist across topics

One-in-five U.S. adults often get news via social media, slightly higher than the 16% who often do so from print newspapers.

An analysis of Youtube videos suggested by the site's recommendation engine finds that users are directed toward progressively longer and more popular content

About two-thirds of Americans have heard about social media bots. Many are concerned that bots are used maliciously and negatively affect how well-informed Americans are about current events.

Most Americans continue to get news on social media, even though many have concerns about its accuracy.