The Pew Research Center found that young individuals believe TikTok provides unique news as it gets more popular among Americans.
The new poll, released Wednesday, explores how social media platforms Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and X (formerly Twitter) affect Americans' news consumption, according to The Verge. Although most users do not view TikTok as a news source, the poll found it to be the second most popular news source after X. Keeping up with the news is only 15% of TikTok users' primary motivation.
More People Get News From TikTok Despite US Security Concerns
However, 35% of respondents say they would not have seen TikTok news elsewhere. TikTok typically gets its news from influencers or celebrities rather than journalists, and often from unknown individuals. Friends, family, and acquaintances publish news on Facebook and Instagram, while media outlets and reporters post on X.
According to a recent Pew Research Center poll, 22% of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents, as well as 23% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents, perceive fake news on TikTok.
Most US TikTok news consumers believe the site influences news articles. In particular, 18% believe TikTok impacts their news greatly, and 44% think it does.
A Pew Research Center survey also found that 27% of TikTok news consumers think the platform does not affect the news reports they see there, while 11% say TikTok does not influence them at all.
These survey results come amid rising worries among US politicians about the Chinese government's involvement in TikTok.
In April, US President Joe Biden signed a measure banning TikTok unless ByteDance, its Chinese parent firm, divests within a year. Supporters of the TikTok ban say the issue is the app's sophisticated algorithm and the Chinese government's potential effect on 170 million American users' information.
Journalism Industry Facing Disruption
In recent years, major news outlets have noticed a drop in social media traffic as advertising dollars shift to content providers.
Reuters Institute Director Rasmus Kleis Nielsen sees the trend will continue. He remarked that individuals born in the 2000s should not be expected to suddenly favor "old-fashioned" websites, broadcast, and print media "because they grow old," per a report from The Washington Post. An online study of 94,000 respondents in 46 countries, including the US, supports his statements.
Independent internet news producers have created a more diversified media ecosystem where more voices may dispute journalistic narratives. This undermines traditional news institutions' authority, diminishing support for traditional newsrooms.
Some internet news providers are journalists, but others are aggregators and biased commenters. This change has made the public realm more "chaotic and contradictory," says NYU journalism associate professor Jay Rosen.
He stated that while the internet allows the production of more content for various audiences, it also "spreads disinformation."
Johnny Harris, a journalist with over 4 million YouTube subscribers, investigates worldwide events and international crises. Amid the rise of social media platforms like TikTok as leading news sources, he disputes the collapse of American journalism.
Harris admits that the negativity about journalism today is "unsettling" but believes the media industry faces a "major disruption" as it evolves to conform to changing technology and audience preferences.
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