Above half of social media users (54%) in the US follow politicians which equate to around a third of the entire US online population. In most countries, online news and television news are the most frequently accessed, while readership of printed newspapers has declined significantly. The biggest change occurred nowadays is the growth of news accessed via social media sites like Facebook and Twitter.

Read the below findings that reveal insights into how sheds the light on the digital news in 2017:

Most Used Platforms

• 51% of US people now get news via social media compared to 46% in 2016.
• 33% of 18–24 age reported that social media are their main source of news, followed by online news sites (31%) and TV news and printed newspapers (29%).
• Facebook is the main social network for news (70%), followed by YouTube (61%), Instagram (24%), and then Twitter (20%).
• 80% of respondents use a Facebook product – WhatsApp and Messenger – weekly for any purpose, while 54% uses one for news.
• An average of 23% of all respondents use one or more messaging apps to find, share or discuss news on a weekly base.
• Among these messaging apps, WhatsApp ranked at the top with a rate of 40%, ahead of Facebook Messenger (36%), and Snapchat (9%).
• WhatsApp also is the top messaging app for news in Malaysia, Facebook  Messenger in Greece, Viber in Croatia, Line in Taiwan, We Chat in Hong Kong and Kakao Talk in South Korea.
• Smartphones became an important device for news inside the home as outside. More smartphone users access news in bed (46%) than using it when commuting to work.

Usage Patterns of News Video

• 54% of respondents reported that they haven’t accessed any news video via video platforms, compared to 46% via social media platforms.
• Just 39% of respondents watch short news video on social media, compared to 40% do so on news websites.
• Over two-thirds (71%) said that they mostly consume news in text, with 14% using text and video equally.

Trust in Online News

• 29% said that they often or sometimes avoid the news. For the majority, this is because it can have a negative effect on their mood. For others, it is because they can’t rely – trust- on news to be true.
• There are wide variations in trusting the news across all countries surveyed. The proportion that cited they are trusting the news is highest in Finland (62%), but the lowest in Greece and South Korea (23%).

Methodology:

Data were driven from over 70.000 of respondents who have ever used a source of news in 36 markets around the world. The research was conducted by YouGov using an online questionnaire at the end of January/beginning of February 2017.