Today, social media plays a far greater role in people’s lives than anyone could have imagined just a few years ago. The new Digital News Report 2025 from the Reuters Institute confirms that most adults in the United States now get their news primarily through social platforms and video services. More than half of Americans — 54% — report relying on social media for news consumption.
By comparison, traditional television — which for decades dominated as the main source of information — now attracts 50% of users, while news websites hold at 48%. Social networks have firmly taken the lead. Interestingly, TikTok and Instagram are showing the fastest growth among news consumers, especially within younger demographics. Meanwhile, Facebook and YouTube remain more popular among older audiences. As for X (formerly Twitter), its user base has remained almost unchanged in recent years.
The report’s authors note that younger generations are increasingly losing trust in traditional media and instead turning to bloggers, streamers, and online influencers as their primary sources of information. This shift is fundamentally changing the way news is consumed — attention is no longer focused on the media outlet, but on individual personalities people trust. While this makes information more personalized and emotionally engaging, it also amplifies subjectivity and the formation of information bubbles, where users are exposed only to opinions that reinforce their own.
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A separate section of the report highlights the rapid rise of video content. Short-form videos — such as Reels, Shorts, and TikToks — have become the dominant way of consuming news quickly. Mobile devices and intuitive apps have made this format incredibly accessible. However, experts are raising alarms about the growing spread of AI-generated fake videos, which are becoming increasingly realistic and capable of misleading even experienced viewers.
In summary, today’s audience prefers fast, visually rich, and personalized content. This transformation offers new opportunities for engagement and communication, but also presents serious challenges for news quality and critical thinking. In a world where information flows instantly and often through personal channels of influence, maintaining vigilance and the ability to distinguish facts from manipulation is more crucial than ever.
Read also: Midjourney launches V1 — an AI model for creating short videos from a single image.
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