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62% Of Adults Get News From Social Media: 70% Of Them Get News From ‘Reddit’

Reddit Meetup.Tim Dorr/Flickr

A new study from the Pew Research Center revealed that more than 62 percent of American adults get their news from social media. Topping the list is “Reddit” where over 70 percent of those adults said that they get their news from the website. In second place is “Facebook” where 66 percent say they also get their news, and in third place is “Twitter” which stands at 59 percent.

The study was conducted with 4,654 participants, from Jan. 12 to Feb. 8, 2016. The participants were asked about their online habits, particularly when it comes to finding news items. The results showed that those who are using Facebook, Instagram and YouTube are the most likely to simply stumble onto news items. Those who were using Twitter, Reddit and LinkedIn were the most likely to find news on purpose.

These results mirrored similar findings in a 2012 study that was also conducted by the Pew Research Center, though the numbers were lower at the time. Still, it’s indicative that social media and online news sources in general are winning the war of modern journalism.

For those who have been following the rise of online news trends and the decline of traditional paper and TV media, the fact that more and more people are getting their news from online sources is not new at all. However, few could have imagined the numbers to go that high and this is not good news for those who work in traditional news outlets.

A recent New York Times piece adequately described the situation that traditional news media personnel are facing right now. With consumers opting more for sensationalist, click-bait stuff more than serious, groundbreaking journalism, of course old-school reporters are getting laid off.

WWD recently reported that Britain’s The Telegraph Media Group will be cutting jobs in order to minimize costs in the face of revenue loss as advertising fees continue to drop.  This was a few months after the Guardian Media Group’s initiative to also cut jobs after an $84 million loss.

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