With social media emerging as a central place for news dissemination, most people rely on various platforms to get informed. However, Facebook appears to be ahead of the curve in offering news to its users.
According to data acquired by Finbold, Facebook leads as the main source of news for Americans with a share of 31%, followed by YouTube at 22%. Twitter ranks third with a share of 13%. Instagram is fourth, with 11% of Americans depending on the photo-sharing platform for news.
About 7% of Americans rely on Reddit for news, with 6% opting for TikTok. Linkedin and Snapchat have a share of 4% each.
Furthermore, Facebook’s dominance in the social media scene is highlighted by the number of users it can reach through its apps at approximately 3.5 billion as of Q2 2021, based on the last reported figures by the company. By the second quarter of the year, Facebook had 2.9 billion users, while as of Q1 2021, WhatsApp had 2 billion users.
Based on the last reported figures as of Q3 2017, Facebook Messenger had 1.3 billion reach while Instagram had 1 billion users as of Q2 2018.
News organizations relying on Facebook to share news
The report highlights why Facebook has become a source of news for most Americans. According to the research report:
“Furthermore, Facebook has emerged as a significant point of convergence for organizations in the news space. Overall, Facebook and social media are now a part of the news diet. Currently, almost all news organizations rely on social media to either report news stories or promote those stories. Therefore, sharing news on social media enables users to get a recap of the stories they missed or wanting to save time.”
Despite Facebook’s position in providing news, the company has come under scrutiny for its spreading of misinformation.