1 in 10 Americans Now Get News Through Twitter

image
Published: 08 Nov, 2013
Updated: 21 Nov, 2022
1 min read

Just days before Twitter's debut on Wall Street, Pew Research Center released a report outlining the role of news on Twitter and the demographic of Twitter news consumers.

The key finding:  Twitter users who consumer news on the social network tend to be

young, educated, and using a mobile device to access the news.

twitter_news_consumptionThe report comes shortly after Pew's release of a detailed analysis of the role of news on Facebook, which finds Facebook news consumers to be higher in number, but not age.

Of those who receive news on Facebook, 34% are between the age of 18-29 year old. Almost half of Twitter news consumers - 45% - are young.

Pew's Twitter News Consumers: Young, Mobile and Education goes on to note that while attracting a highly educated audience, with four in ten Twitter news consumers having received a bachelor's degree, Twitter conversations do not represent public sentiment.

"During the 2012 presidential race, Republican candidate Ron Paul easily won the Twitter primary — 55% of the conversation about him was positive, with only 15% negative. Voters rendered a very different verdict," the report notes, referencing a previous Pew study on Twitter Reaction to Events.

The main purpose of Twitter is to spread breaking news.

Is Twitter a good platform to get news from? 

Latest articles

CA capitol building dome with flags.
Why is CA Senator Mike McGuire Trying to Kill the Legal Cannabis Industry?
California’s legal cannabis industry is under mounting pressure, and in early June, state lawmakers and the governor appeared poised to help. A bill to freeze the state’s cannabis excise tax at 15% sailed through the State Assembly with a unanimous 74-0 vote. The governor’s office backed the plan. And legal cannabis businesses, still struggling to compete with unregulated sellers and mounting operating costs, saw a glimmer of hope....
03 Jul, 2025
-
7 min read
I voted buttons
After First RCV Election, Charlottesville Voters Back the Reform: 'They Get It, They Like It, They Want to Do It Again'
A new survey out of Charlottesville, Virginia, shows overwhelming support for ranked choice voting (RCV) following the city’s first use of the system in its June Democratic primary for City Council. Conducted one week after the election, the results found that nearly 90% of respondents support continued use of RCV....
03 Jul, 2025
-
3 min read
Crowd in Time Square.
NYC Exit Survey: 96% of Voters Understood Their Ranked Choice Ballots
An exit poll conducted by SurveyUSA on behalf of the nonprofit better elections group FairVote finds that ranked choice voting (RCV) continues to be supported by a vast majority of voters who find it simple, fair, and easy to use. The findings come in the wake of the city’s third use of RCV in its June 2025 primary elections....
01 Jul, 2025
-
6 min read