According to a survey from Pew Research Center on news use across social media platforms in 2017 two-thirds (67%) of Americans report that they get at least some of their news on social media.
For the first time in the Center’s surveys, more than half (55%) of Americans ages 50 or older report getting news from social media. That is 10% higher than in 2016.
The research said that growth in news consumption across social media platforms is being driven by increases among Americans who are “older, less educated and non-white”.
Facebook remains the primary platform where Americans get the news – almost a half of all U.S. adults (45%) reporting they get news from FB.
Social media give a lot of room for political engagement, public opinion manipulation included. At the beginning of this month when Facebook reported about pro-Kremlin entities that allegedly purchased as much as $150,000 in political ads on the platform between 2015 and 2017. Facebook spoke to Congress about these findings as part of its investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election.