A large number of people across the Globe now turn towards Twitter for news, especially for breaking news. In a recent evaluation in the US, the PEW Research Centre found that about 23 per cent of Americans use Twitter and roughly seven-in-ten users in the country (69 per cent) use Twitter to get news.
In a survey of 2,548 twitter users from May 17 to 31, 2021, the researchers said that 70 percent said that they used Twitter to follow live news events. This was up from 59 per cent who said this in 2015.
NOT THE MOST IMPORTANT WAY
When eight per cent of Twitter users who read news on this platform say it is the most important way to get news, 59 per cent say it is important but not paramount. They also found that seven per cent have a great deal of trust in the accuracy of information on the web site. Meanwhile, two-thirds say they have some trust in it. In addition, two-thirds of users who see news say they like the amount of news they see on the site.
DEMOCRATS AND REPUBLICANS
While 74 per cent of Democrats have at least some trust in the accuracy of news and information they find on Twitter, only 52 per cent of Republicans say the same. Republicans express less satisfaction than their Democratic counterparts. More of the Republicans (46%) say they are worn out by the amount of news they see on this social media platform than Democrats (25%). Most Republicans (63%) say the site is mostly bad for American democracy, while 26% of Democrats share this view. Democratic consumers are more likely to say that this platform is mostly a good thing for democracy (54%). Just over half of Americans who get news on Twitter (57%) say using this social media platform has increased their understanding of current events, compared with 23% of other users. Twitter news consumers also are more likely than other users to say that using the site has increased how politically engaged they feel (37% vs. 15%, respectively). However, some also report that it has increased their stress levels: 31% of Twitter news consumers say this, along with just 14% of other users.
