Pew Research Center's American News Pathways projection conducted this study to look at the group of Americans who get nigh of their political and election news through social media.

For this analysis, we used data from five different surveys conducted from October 2019 to June of 2020. The number of U.Due south. adults in each survey ranges from 8,914 to 12,043 U.Due south. adults. Everyone who completed the surveys is a member of Pew Research Center's American Trends Panel (ATP), an online survey panel that is recruited through national, random sampling of residential addresses. This way well-nigh all U.Due south. adults have a gamble of selection. The surveys are weighted to be representative of the U.Southward. developed population by gender, race, ethnicity, partisan affiliation, education and other categories. Read more than about the ATP's methodology.

Run into here to read more about the study's methodology.

Visit our interactive data tool to admission the questions included in this written report, as well equally content well-nigh the coronavirus outbreak and the 2020 presidential election.

Chart shows about one-in-five U.S. adults say they get their political news primarily through social mediaThe ascension of social media has changed the information mural in myriad ways, including the manner in which many Americans continue upwards with current events. In fact, social media is at present amid the well-nigh mutual pathways where people – especially young adults – get their political news.

A new Pew Research Middle analysis of surveys conducted between October 2019 and June 2020 finds that those who rely most on social media for political news stand up apart from other news consumers in a number of means. These U.S. adults, for example, tend to be less likely than other news consumers to closely follow major news stories, such as the coronavirus outbreak and the 2020 presidential election. And, perhaps tied to that, this group also tends to be less knowledgeable about these topics.

Through several surveys over the last nine months, the Middle'due south American News Pathways project has been exploring the connection betwixt Americans' news habits and what they hear and perceive about current events. Ane important aspect of this project is taking a deeper await at the pathways, or platforms, Americans utilise virtually ofttimes to access news – such every bit news websites or apps, social media, local, cablevision and network TV, radio, or print.

Equally of late last twelvemonth, 18% of U.S. adults say they turn nearly to social media for political and election news. That's lower than the share who use news websites and apps (25%), but about on par with the percentage who say their main pathway is cable television set (sixteen%) or local tv (sixteen%), and higher than the shares who turn to iii other pathways mentioned in the survey (network Goggle box, radio and print).

To further explore the influence of this relatively new entry into the news ecosystem, this report studies the characteristics of U.S. adults who rely on social media as their main pathway to political and election news, in comparison with the half-dozen other groups.

Demographically, U.S. adults who rely virtually on social media for news tend to exist younger, are less likely to be white and accept lower levels of teaching than those who mainly use several other platforms.

Chart shows those who get most political news from social media most likely to be under 30

Overall, this group tends to pay less attention to news than those who rely on virtually other pathways. As of early on June this yr, just 8% of U.S. adults who go most of their political news from social media say they are post-obit news about the 2020 election "very closely," compared with roughly four times equally many among those who turn nearly to cable TV (37%) and impress (33%).

The but grouping with a level of engagement that is similarly low is U.Southward. adults who become their political news primarily from local television, 11% of whom are post-obit election news very closely. This is a mutual thread throughout the analysis: The social media group and the local Tv set group are often comparable in their lower levels of appointment with and cognition of the news.

Simply even compared with those who get their news from local TV, Americans who rely on social media are less likely to be following the biggest storyline of the year thus far – the coronavirus outbreak. Roughly a quarter (23%) of U.Due south. adults who rely almost on social media for political news say they are post-obit news nigh the COVID-19 pandemic very closely, according to the June survey. Higher shares in every other group say they are tracking the outbreak very closely, including those who get their news from cable TV (50%), national network Idiot box (50%), news websites and apps (44%), or local Idiot box (32%).

Chart shows those who depend on social media for political news have lower political knowledge than most other groupsThis relative lack of attending to news goes hand in hand with lower levels of knowledge most major electric current events and politics. Across the nine months of study and five separate surveys, respondents were asked 29 different fact-based questions that touch on on a variety of topics related to the news, from economics to Donald Trump's impeachment to the COVID-19 outbreak and more (encounter Appendix for details). Across these 29 questions, the boilerplate proportion who got each question right is lower among Americans who rely almost on social media for political news than those who rely well-nigh on other types of news sources, except for local TV.

One specific prepare of nine questions focused on foundational political knowledge, such as the federal budget arrears and which political party supports sure policy positions. Researchers created an index of high, centre or depression political noesis based on how many of these ix questions respondents got right (high cognition answered eight to nine questions correctly, middle got 6 or seven right and low got five or fewer right; see here for more details of the political noesis alphabetize). While at to the lowest degree 4-in-10 individuals who turn mainly to news websites and apps (45%), radio (42%) and print (41%) for news autumn into the high political knowledge category, the same is true of only 17% of those who plow most to social media. Only those in the local TV group scored lower, with 10% in the high political knowledge category.

Chart shows social media news users most likely to have heard conspiracy theory that pandemic was intentionally plannedEven as Americans who primarily turn to social media for political news are less aware and knowledgeable about a wide range of events and problems in the news, they are more likely than other Americans to have heard most a number of simulated or unproven claims.

One specific example is exposure to the conspiracy theory that powerful people intentionally planned the COVID-19 pandemic, which gained attention with the spread of a conspiracy video on social media. About a quarter of U.S. adults who go most of their news through social media (26%) say they have heard "a lot" about this conspiracy theory, and nearly viii-in-ten (81%) have heard at least "a lilliputian" – a higher share than among those who plow to whatsoever of the other six platforms for their political news.

Despite this, Americans who go their political news mostly through social media limited less concern almost the bear upon of fabricated-upward news. Roughly four-in-x of this group (37%) say they are very concerned nearly the effects on fabricated-upward news on the 2020 ballot, lower than every other group except for those who plow mainly to local television (at 35%). Those who rely on other platforms limited higher levels of business, including 58% of those who mainly plough to cablevision Television receiver.