Americans now use social media as their primary news source, research shows

The top source of news for Americans is no longer TV; it’s social media.

This is according to new research by Oxford’s Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism (RISJ) (via NiemanLab), which found that 54 percent of people in the U.S. get news via social media and video networks, overtaking TV broadcast news and news websites and apps for the first time ever.

The global study was conducted via an online questionnaire from market research firm YouGov from mid-January to the end of February 2025, meaning it’s likely skewed towards a younger population and people who are into social media. The authors of the study acknowledge this.