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The Britain-based Reuters Institute published a Digital News Report 2023 on Wednesday, reflecting on transitioning user psychology on how they see and perceive news these days. To be precise, the report elaborated on the online data and news consumption habits of users across social media platforms in comparison to traditional sources of news like TV and Journalism.
The insights from the report set the tone for social media marketers and equip them with real-time data on engagement across various social media platforms, to help them understand the user’s needs and have a better connection with their audiences.
Our Digital News Report 2023 is out today!
— Reuters Institute (@risj_oxford) June 13, 2023
📊 46 markets
🌏 93,000+ respondents
📷 Cross-national analysis from @nicnewman @richrdfletcher @kirstenaeddy Craig T. Robertson @rasmus_kleis & our partners
📱Explore now https://t.co/eQzzgPVWbh
🧵 Findings in thread #DNR23 pic.twitter.com/oisL2zLpYf
According to the report, “55 percent of TikTok and Snapchat users and 52 percent of Instagram users get their news from “personalities” — compared to 33-42 percent who get it from mainstream media and journalists on those platforms, which are most popular among the young.”
This basically means that social media is now the preferred source of news content across the globe, overall, in comparison to accessing news publisher websites and apps direct, users prefer learning about what’s new from their Instagram, YouTube, or TikTok.
Reason for a fundamental shift
For the young generation, “news” isn’t all about the traditional approach where the focus was on politics and international relations, but anything new that is happening in any walk of life like sports, entertainment, celebrity gossip, current affairs, culture, arts, and technology.
This likely reflects why Facebook, LinkedIn, and even Twitter are shifting away their focus from sharing news towards a more personal algorithm, covering emotional stories from friends and families to drive engagement.
Key findings on social media platforms
Teenagers (as per the study conducted in the UK) are turning away from traditional news channels and old sources like Facebook and Twitter, and are instead looking to Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube to keep up to date with the latest updates. Why is that?
According to the report, based on interviews with around 94,000 people across 46 countries, “While mainstream journalists often lead conversations around news in Twitter and Facebook, they struggle to get attention in newer networks like Instagram, Snapchat, and TikTok.”
For the publishing providers and website direct, that is probably not great news considering only a small portion of their referral traffic is from such social media platforms. The traditional idea of tapping through articles from a Google search, say, for example, will experience a shake-off because of this fundamental shift in user psychology.
Great day learning together from the new @risj_oxford Digital News Report #DNR23 with @rasmus_kleis @NajaNielsen2 and @kamalahmednews
— Jane Barrett (@NewsEdJane) June 14, 2023
Some key takeaways: know your audience(s) and listen to them; be true to your DNA; be as creative on the business side as you are in editorial pic.twitter.com/qhnqwrBimE
Listing down a few key takeaways for social media marketers from the report:
- A structural shift towards more digital, mobile, and platform-dominated media environments
- Facebook, is still one of the most-used social networks but with a declining influence on journalism. Facing challenges from other established networks like YouTube and TikTok
- More attention to celebrities, influencers, and social media personalities than journalists. Leading to the rise of engagement on TikTok, Instagram & Snapchat compared to the fall in Facebook and Twitter
- Users are still skeptical of the algorithms used to select what they see via search engines, social media, and other platforms. Some place more reliance on editors who pick stories for them
- Consumption of traditional media, such as TV and print, continues to fall in most markets, with online and social consumption not making up the gap
- News avoiders claim that they are more interested in positive or solutions-based journalism, rather than the big stories for the day
- The majority of online users across the globe say they still prefer to read the news rather than watch or listen to it. The text provides more speed and control in accessing information
- News podcasting remains a growing category and continues to resonate with educated and younger audiences but remains a minority activity overall
To dive more into the report with exact data and statistics, read here.
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