Social media platforms are an important part of the American news diet: Half of U.S. adults say they get news at least sometimes from social media in general. But specific platforms differ widely in structure, content and culture. A new Pew Research Center survey finds that the ways in which Americans encounter news on four major platforms – TikTok, X, Facebook and Instagram – vary widely.

Key findings from this study include:

• Majorities of Facebook, Instagram and TikTok users say keeping up with news is not a reason they use the sites. X (formerly Twitter) is the exception to this pattern: Most X users say that keeping up with news is either a major or minor reason they use the platform, and about half say they regularly get news there.
• Still, people are seeing news on all four platforms, especially through opinion- or humor-based content. Majorities of users on all four sites say they see people expressing opinions about current events and funny posts that reference current events. On the whole, more people see these types of posts than news articles or breaking news, although many also see that type of content (particularly on X and Facebook).
• News on each platform comes from a variety of sources. Those who regularly get news on Facebook and Instagram are more likely than those on TikTok and X to get news from friends, family and acquaintances. More news consumers get news from influencers or other people they don’t know personally on TikTok than on other platforms. And news outlets or journalists are a more common source of news on X than on any other site.
• Most news consumers on each of the platforms studied say they at least sometimes see news on the platform that seems inaccurate. This includes roughly a quarter or more on each site who say they extremely or fairly often see inaccurate news.
• In general, Democrats tend to be more skeptical than Republicans of the news they see on X, while the reverse is true on Facebook. Among those who regularly get news on X, for example, 42% of Democrats and independents who lean toward the Democratic Party say they often see news there that seems inaccurate, compared with 31% of Republicans and GOP leaners.

These are some of the key findings from a new Pew Research Center survey of about 10,000 U.S. adults conducted in March 2024. This is one of two Pew Research Center reports on habits and attitudes on different social media platforms from the Pew-Knight Initiative, a research program funded jointly by The Pew Charitable Trusts and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.

The rest of this overview looks at these patterns and other comparisons of the four platforms in more detail. For a closer look at individual platforms, jump to chapters on TikTok, X (formerly Twitter), Facebook and Instagram.

Aside from X, most users on each platform don’t regularly get news there, but large majorities encounter news in some form

News consumption is more common on some sites than others. A 2023 Pew Research Center survey found that Facebook outpaces all other social media sites as a news source for Americans, with 30% of U.S. adults saying they regularly get news there. Smaller shares regularly get news on Instagram (16%), TikTok (14%) or X (12%).

Some sites are more widely used in general than others. But there also are differences among users in the share who say they regularly get news on each site. According to a new Center survey, half of X users say they regularly get news there, compared with smaller shares on TikTok (40%), Facebook (37%) and Instagram (30%).

The new survey also asked users of each platform whether keeping up with the news is a major or minor reason they use the platform – or not a reason at all. X is the only platform on which a majority of users say that getting news is a reason they use it: Roughly two-thirds of X users (65%) say this is the case, including 25% who say keeping up with the news is a major reason they use X.

Fewer than half of TikTok, Facebook and Instagram users say that getting news is a major or minor reason they use the site. And just 15% of TikTok users, 7% of Facebook users and 8% of Instagram users say it’s a major reason.

People more frequently cite other reasons for using each platform. To read more about other reasons given for using each platform, read “How Americans Navigate Politics on TikTok, X, Facebook & Instagram.”

While a relatively small portion of users on these platforms say that getting news is a major reason they use them, far more on all platforms say they see news-related content there.

Opinions and humorous content related to news are common on all four platforms. Two-thirds or more of users on each site say they ever see people expressing opinions about current events or funny posts that reference current events. On Facebook, Instagram and TikTok, users are less likely to say they ever see news articles (whether posted, reposted, linked or screenshotted) or information about a breaking news event as it is happening. X is the only platform studied where at least three-quarters of users see all of these types of information.

Considering the four different types of news-related content asked about, a large majority of users on all the platforms say they ever see at least one of them. About eight-in-ten Instagram users see at least one of these types of news-related content (82%), as do 90% of TikTok users, 91% of Facebook users and 92% of X users.

X stands out as a place to see breaking news: 75% of users say they see information about breaking news in real time there, compared with smaller shares of users on Facebook (58%), TikTok (55%) and Instagram (44%).

X and Facebook users are the most likely to see news articles on each platform, with 79% of X users and 74% of Facebook users saying they do. Americans who use TikTok (57%) and Instagram (52%) are less likely to report seeing news articles.

Across sites, younger users are much more likely to see information about breaking news. On Instagram, for example, about half of users under 50 say they see breaking news about events as they’re happening (51%), compared with 29% of those 50 and older. And on X, where majorities of both age groups see breaking news on the platform, younger users are still more likely to than older users to see this (79% of users under 50 vs. 69% of those 50 and older).

What types of sources are Americans getting news from on social media sites?

Many questions on this survey were asked only of users who say they regularly get news on each site. The remainder of this overview looks through this lens to compare the experiences and opinions of these news consumers on TikTok, X, Facebook and Instagram.

Among those who regularly get news on each platform – also described as “news consumers” – the types of sources they get that news from differ from platform to platform.

Facebook news consumers are the most likely to say they’ve ever gotten news there from friends, family and acquaintances (85%). Most Instagram news consumers (72%) also say they have done this; friends and family are the most common news source for news consumers on both Facebook and Instagram. Americans who say they regularly get news on TikTok (48%) and X (26%) are much less likely to say they have gotten news there from friends, family and acquaintances. This is by far the least common source of information for X news consumers among the types of sources measured in the survey.  

Majorities of news consumers report getting news from news outlets or journalists on all four sites. X news consumers are the most likely to say this (80%), compared with about two-thirds of news consumers on Facebook (68%), TikTok (67%) and Instagram (65%) who say the same.

TikTok news consumers are more likely than those on other platforms to say they get news from influencers and celebrities, with about two-thirds (68%) saying they ever do this. A majority of those who regularly get news on Instagram (59%) say the same.

There are only modest differences across the platforms in the share who get news from advocacy or nonprofit organizations: Around half on each site say they do.

While over half of news consumers on all four sites say they ever get news from other people they don’t know personally (beyond those previously mentioned), those on TikTok (84%) and X (75%) are especially likely to say this. For TikTok news consumers, these types of accounts are the most common news source.

Some of these sources are more likely to be used by different groups regardless of what platform they are using. For example, Democratic news consumers on most sites are more likely than their Republican counterparts to get news from advocacy or nonprofit organizations.

Republicans more skeptical of information on Facebook, Democrats more skeptical toward X

Amid broader concerns about the accuracy of information on social media, most news consumers on each of the four major social media platforms studied say they at least sometimes see news on the platform that seems inaccurate. This includes roughly a quarter or more on each site who say they extremely or fairly often see inaccurate news.

News consumers on X (37%) and Facebook (33%) are the most likely to say they often see news that seems inaccurate.

Americans also largely see social media platforms as influencing which news stories they see there to at least some extent. 

About three-quarters of news consumers on Facebook (74%) and Instagram (72%) – both owned by Meta – say the platforms influence which news stories they see there at least some, including roughly three-in-ten who say the platforms have a lot of influence. On these sites, news consumers with a higher level of educational attainment are more likely to say the platforms influence which news stories they see.

Roughly two-thirds of X news consumers (66%) and 61% of TikTok news consumers say the sites influence what they are seeing at least somewhat.

Although users maintain some level of control by deciding whom they follow on each site, computer algorithms also impact users’ feeds on many social media platforms, and technology companies have a variety of policies on how they moderate content such as false information and violent imagery. Some sites allow users to modify their settings, though previous Center research has found that very few Americans feel like they have a lot of control over what they see online.

There are notable party divides in views toward the information on some platforms. Democrats who get news on X (including those who lean Democratic) are more likely than their Republican and GOP-leaning counterparts to say they extremely or fairly often see inaccurate news there (42% vs. 31%).

Democratic news consumers on X also are far more likely than their Republican counterparts to say X influences which news stories they see at least some (80% vs. 55%).

On Facebook, the reverse is true, with 38% of Republican Facebook news consumers saying they often see inaccurate news, compared with 29% of Democratic Facebook news consumers. Republican news consumers on Facebook also are more likely than Democratic news consumers on the site to say they think Facebook influences which news stories they see there at least some (80% vs. 68%).

There is little to no partisan difference in views toward Instagram and TikTok by these two measures.

How unique is the news seen on social media sites?

The survey asked Americans who say they regularly get news on each site whether they think the news they get there is mostly news they would have gotten elsewhere, or whether it’s news they only would have found on that site.

News consumers on TikTok (35%) and X (29%) are the most likely to say that the news they get on those sites is unique – i.e., news they would not have seen elsewhere.

Smaller shares of news consumers on Instagram (21%) and Facebook (14%) hold this view. It’s more common for Instagram and Facebook news consumers to say that the news they see is mostly news they would have gotten elsewhere (34% and 36%, respectively).

On each of the four sites, about four-in-ten or more news consumers say that the news they see is an even mix of news they would have gotten elsewhere and news they would not have gotten elsewhere.

Most news consumers on Facebook, X and Instagram at least sometimes feel worn out by the news they see

More than half of news consumers on three of the four sites studied at least sometimes feel worn out by the amount of news they see on these sites. This includes roughly one-in-five news consumers on Facebook (23%), X (20%) and Instagram (17%) who say they extremely or fairly often feel this way.

TikTok news consumers are somewhat less likely to often (11%) or sometimes (36%) feel worn out by the news they see on TikTok.

Democrats who regularly get news on X report often feeling worn out by the news there at a much higher rate than Republican news consumers on the platform (31% vs. 11%).

TikTok is an increasingly popular source of news for Americans – particularly young adults. A 2023 Pew Research Center study found that 14% of all U.S. adults say they regularly get news on the video-based platform. Among TikTok users, the share regularly getting news there is growing. And the vast majority of adult TikTok news consumers are under age 50, including 44% who are 18 to 29.

But TikTok’s future in the United States is uncertain. ByteDance, the platform’s China-based owner, is facing an order from the U.S. government to either divest from TikTok or be banned in the country.

Our survey looks at U.S. TikTok users’ experiences with getting news. Among the key findings:

• Regardless of whether they turn to TikTok for news, most users see news-related content. TikTok users report seeing funny posts (84%) and people’s opinions (80%) related to current events at higher rates than news articles (57%) or breaking news information (55%).
• TikTok news consumers are equally likely to get news from influencers or celebrities as they are from news outlets or journalists. About two-thirds of those who regularly get news on TikTok (68%) say they ever get news from influencers or celebrities, and 67% get news from news outlets or journalists. An even higher share (84%) say they get news from other people they don’t know personally (beyond influencers, journalists, advocacy groups, and friends, family and acquaintances).
• TikTok news consumers are more likely than Americans who get news on Facebook and Instagram to view the news they get there as unique. Among those who regularly get news on TikTok, 35% say the news they get there is mostly news they would not have gotten elsewhere. By comparison, 14% of Facebook news consumers say the same about news they see on Facebook.

How people get news on TikTok

Four-in-ten TikTok users say they regularly get news on the site. And when it comes to the reasons Americans use TikTok, relatively few cite news.

Read more: Reasons for using TikTok

Among TikTok users, 15% say getting news is a major reason they use the platform, with an additional 26% citing it as a minor reason. The majority of users, however, say getting news is not a reason they use TikTok (58%).

Regardless of whether they turn to TikTok for news, a majority of TikTok users report seeing news-related content on the platform.

Most users say they ever see funny posts that reference current events (84%) or people expressing opinions about current events (80%) on TikTok. Smaller majorities say they ever see news articles (57%) – whether from posts, reposts, links or screenshots – or information about a breaking news event as it’s happening (55%) on the platform.

What sources people get news from on TikTok

TikTok news consumers are equally likely to get news from influencers or celebrities as they are from news outlets or journalists.

Among U.S. adults who say they regularly get news on TikTok, around two-thirds say they ever get news on the platform from influencers or celebrities (68%) or from news outlets or journalists (67%). Other sources of information, such as advocacy or nonprofit organizations (55%) and friends, family and acquaintances (48%), are less common.

Beyond these four types of sources, the vast majority of TikTok news consumers (84%) say they get news from other people they don’t know personally. In fact, accounts in this category are the most commonly cited source of news for TikTok news consumers, who are more likely than news consumers on other major social media sites to get news from other people they don’t know personally.

Views about news on TikTok

Inaccurate information

About a quarter of U.S. adults who regularly get news on TikTok (23%) say they extremely or fairly often see news on the platform that seems inaccurate. Roughly half (49%) say they sometimes see information that seems inaccurate, while 28% say they rarely or never see inaccurate news.

Views by party

Among TikTok news consumers, similar shares of Republicans and independents who lean toward the Republican Party (22%) and Democrats and Democratic leaners (23%) say they often see news that seems inaccurate on the platform.

TikTok’s influence on the news users see

As lawmakers express concerns about the potential for the Chinese government to influence content on TikTok, most U.S. TikTok news consumers say they think the platform influences which news stories they see there at least to some extent. This includes roughly one-in-five (18%) who say TikTok influences the news content they see there a lot and an additional 44% who say TikTok does this some.

About a quarter of TikTok news consumers (27%) say the site does not influence which news stories they see there much, while 11% say TikTok exerts no influence at all.

Views by party

Similar shares of Republicans (59%) and Democrats (63%) say they think TikTok influences which news stories they see on the platform at least somewhat.

TikTok as a source of unique news

There is no consensus among U.S. adults who regularly get news on TikTok whether the news they get there is mostly unique or not. About a third (35%) say it’s mostly news they would not have gotten elsewhere, while 27% say it is mostly news they would have gotten elsewhere if they did not use TikTok. And 37% say the news they get on TikTok consists of both kinds of information about equally.

Views by party

Democrats (33%) are more likely than Republicans (18%) to say the news they get on TikTok is mostly news they would have gotten elsewhere if they didn’t use the platform.

Feeling worn out by news on TikTok

Americans who regularly get news on TikTok are less likely to say they feel worn out by the news they see there compared with news consumers on the other sites studied.

About one-in-ten TikTok news consumers (11%) say they extremely or fairly often feel worn out by the news they see on the platform, while 36% say they sometimes do.

News consumers who see at least some political content (i.e., posts about politics or political issues) on TikTok are more likely than those who see less politics-related content to feel worn out by the news they see on the platform at least sometimes (56% vs. 33%).

In some ways, X (formerly named Twitter) is more of a news destination than the other three social media sites studied. For example, in the United States, most X users say getting news is at least a minor reason why they use the site, which is not the case for Facebook, Instagram or TikTok.

At the same time, there have been changes to how people use the site since it was purchased by Elon Musk in 2022 and later rebranded. A 2023 survey found that X news consumers have become more evenly divided between Democrats and Republicans after they leaned heavily Democratic in previous years.

Our survey looks at U.S. X users’ experiences with getting news. Among the key findings:

• Large majorities of X users say they see several types of news content on the platform. Three-quarters or more of X users say they see opinions about current events (85%), funny posts that reference current events (79%), news articles posted or reposted (79%), and information about a breaking news event as it is happening (75%).
• Americans who regularly get news on X are much more likely to get it from news outlets or journalists than from influencers, advocacy groups, or friends and family. Three-quarters of X news consumers also say they get news from other people they don’t know personally, beyond these other types of sources.
• Democrats who get news on X are much more likely than Republican news consumers on the platform to say X influences which news stories users see there. Democrats also are more likely to report that they often see inaccurate news on X.

How people get news on X

Half of X users say they regularly get news on the site, and an even larger share (65%) say getting news is a reason they use X. This includes a quarter of users who say news is a major reason for using the site.

Read more: Reasons for using X

Regardless of whether they come to the site for news, three-quarters or more of X users say they come across each of four types of news-related content on the platform:

• People expressing opinions about current events (85%)
• Funny posts that reference current events (79%)
• News articles, whether posted, reposted, linked or screenshotted (79%)
• Information about a breaking news event as it’s happening (75%)

About nine-in-ten X users (92%) say they ever see at least one of these types of news content on the site.

X users are more likely than those on Facebook, Instagram or TikTok to see breaking news unfold on the site.

What sources people get news from on X

Among U.S. adults who regularly get news on X, eight-in-ten say they get news from news outlets or journalists on the platform.

Far fewer say they get news from influencers or celebrities (49%) or advocacy or nonprofit organizations (46%). And only about a quarter of X news consumers (26%) get news from friends, family and acquaintances on X – well below the share of news consumers on the other social media sites studied who get news from friends, family and acquaintances.

Three-quarters of X news consumers say they get news from other people they don’t know personally, beyond those mentioned above.

Views about news on X

Inaccurate information

An overwhelming majority of U.S. adults who regularly get news on X (86%) say they at least sometimes see news on the platform that seems inaccurate, including 37% who report seeing inaccurate news extremely or fairly often.

Views by party

X news consumers who identify with or lean toward the Democratic Party are more likely than their Republican or GOP-leaning counterparts to say they often see inaccurate news on the platform (42% vs. 31%).

X’s influence on the news users see

Roughly two-thirds of X news consumers (66%) say they think the platform influences which news stories they see to at least some extent. This includes 21% who say X impacts which news stories they see there a lot.

Views by party

Again, Democratic news consumers on X express more skeptical views toward the platform.

Eight-in-ten Democrats who regularly get news on X say that the platform exerts at least some influence in what news stories they see there, compared with 55% of Republican X news consumers who say the same. About twice as many Democrats as Republicans say this happens a lot (28% vs. 13%).

X as a source of unique news

Similar shares of X news consumers say the news they get on the platform is mostly news they would have gotten elsewhere if they didn’t use X (31%) and news they would not have gotten elsewhere (29%). Four-in-ten say it is an even mix of both.

Views by party

Republican X news consumers are slightly more likely than Democrats who regularly get news on the site to say the news they get there is mostly news they would not have gotten elsewhere (33% vs. 24%).

Feeling worn out by news on X

One-in-five X news consumers say they often feel worn out by the news they see on the platform, and an additional 43% say they sometimes feel this way.

Among those who regularly get news on X, Democrats are much more likely than Republicans to say they often feel worn out by the news they see there (31% vs. 11%).

Facebook, an early major player in the social media space, is now relatively unpopular with American teenagers and has declined as a news destination in recent years as its parent company moves to deemphasize news on the platform. Still, as of 2023, a larger share of Americans say they regularly get news there (30%) than on any other social media site.

Our survey looks at U.S. Facebook users’ experiences with getting news. Among the key findings:

• Although fewer than half of Facebook users say news is a reason they use the site, most see some kind of news content on the platform. This content is more commonly opinions or funny posts related to current events rather than news articles linked or shared, similar to patterns seen on Instagram and TikTok.
• Friends, family and acquaintances are major sources of news on Facebook. A large majority of regular Facebook news consumers say they get news from friends and family (85%). This is higher than the share who say they get news from news outlets or journalists on the platform (68%). 
• Republican news consumers on Facebook are more skeptical toward news on the platform than Democrats. Among regular news consumers on Facebook, 38% of Republicans say they often see inaccurate news there, compared with 29% of Democrats. Republican Facebook news consumers also are more likely than Democrats to say they think Facebook influences the news stories they see a lot (40% vs. 26%).

How people get news on Facebook

Fewer than half of Facebook users (37%) say they regularly get news on the site.

A similar share say that news is either a major (7%) or minor (30%) reason they use Facebook. A majority (63%) say news is not a reason they are on the platform.

Read more: Reasons for using Facebook

Regardless of whether they regularly get news from Facebook – or whether news is a reason they visit the site – a large majority of Facebook users see news-related content on the platform.

The most common types of content related to news that U.S. Facebook users see are opinions about current events (84% of users say they see this type of content) and funny posts that reference current events (81%). About three-quarters of users (74%) say they see news articles, whether from posts, reposts, links or screenshots, and 58% say they ever see breaking news about an event as it is happening on Facebook.

Roughly nine-in-ten Facebook users (91%) ever see at least one of these types of content on the platform.

What sources people get news from on Facebook

True to Facebook’s social origins, friends, family and acquaintances are the most common source of news on the site. Among Americans who say they regularly get news on the site, 85% say they ever get news from friends, family or acquaintances.

That’s higher than the percentage of regular news consumers on Facebook who get news from news outlets or journalists (68%), advocacy groups or nonprofits (55%), influencers or celebrities (44%), or any other people they don’t know personally (58%).

Facebook news consumers are also more likely than news consumers on other major social media sites to get news from friends and family.

Views about news on Facebook

Inaccurate information

A third of U.S. adults who regularly get news on Facebook say they extremely or fairly often see news on the platform that seems inaccurate, while about half (51%) say they see this sometimes.

Views by party

Republican news consumers (including independents who lean Republican) on Facebook are slightly more likely than their Democratic counterparts (including Democratic leaners) to say they often see news on Facebook that seems inaccurate (38% vs. 29%).

Facebook’s influence on news

Most Americans who regularly get news from Facebook (74%) say they think the platform influences which news stories they see at least some, including 32% who say Facebook influences which news stories they see a lot.

Views by party

Republican news consumers on Facebook are more likely than their Democratic counterparts to say that Facebook influences which news stories they see. Eight-in-ten Republican Facebook news consumers think Facebook influences which stories they see at least some, compared with about two-thirds of Democrats who get news on the site (68%). This includes 40% of Republicans (vs. 26% of Democrats) who think Facebook influences which news stories they see a lot.

Facebook as a source of unique news

Relatively few Facebook news consumers see the news they get on the platform as mostly unique to Facebook. Just 14% say the news they see on Facebook is mostly news they would not have gotten elsewhere, while far more (36%) say it is mostly news they would have seen somewhere else if they didn’t use Facebook. The largest portion (48%) say the news they see is about an even mix of both.

Feeling worn out by news on Facebook

Among Americans who regularly get news on Facebook, 23% say they extremely or fairly often feel worn out by the news there, while an additional 46% say they sometimes feel this way.

News consumers who see at least some political content on Facebook are more likely than those who see less politics-related content to feel worn out by the news on the platform at least sometimes (79% vs. 55%).

About half of Americans use Instagram, and the site is especially popular among younger adults and teens. In addition to being a space for social connection and other functions, Instagram serves as a source of news and information for some: 16% of U.S. adults said last year that they regularly get news there.

Our survey looks at U.S. Instagram users’ experiences with getting news. Among the key findings:

• Three-in-ten Instagram users say they regularly get news on the platform, and one-third say getting news is a reason they use it. But most Instagram users encounter news on the platform in some form – often as opinions or funny posts that reference current events.
• Friends, family and acquaintances are the most common news source on Instagram. Among Americans who regularly get news on Instagram, 72% say they ever get news from friends, family and acquaintances there. About two-thirds of Instagram news consumers get news from news outlets or journalists (65%).
• There is little difference in views of news on Instagram between the two major political parties (in contrast with Facebook, which is also owned by Meta). About a quarter of news consumers of both parties (28% of Republicans and 24% of Democrats) say they often see news on Instagram that seems inaccurate, and similar portions of both parties think the platform influences which news stories they see a lot.

How people get news on Instagram

Three-in-ten U.S. Instagram users say they regularly get news on the platform, lower than the share of users on X (formerly Twitter), TikTok and Facebook who are regular news consumers on each site.

And two-thirds of Instagram users say getting news is not a reason they use Instagram, while a third say getting news is either a major (8%) or minor (25%) reason.

Read more: Reasons for using Instagram

But most Instagram users report seeing news-related content, regardless of whether they specifically turn to the platform for news.

For instance, 73% of Instagram users say they ever see funny posts that reference current events on the site, and two-thirds report seeing people expressing opinions about current events. About half (52%) say they ever see news articles – whether from posts, reposts, links or screenshots – and just under half (44%) see information about a breaking news event as it’s happening on Instagram.

What sources people get news from on Instagram

Americans who say they regularly get news on Instagram are seeing news from a variety of different sources on the platform.

Among these Instagram news consumers, 72% say they ever get news from friends, family and acquaintances, 65% get news from news outlets or journalists, and 59% get news from influencers or celebrities.

About half of Instagram news consumers report getting news from advocacy groups or nonprofits (52%). Aside from these sources, 64% say they ever get news from other people they don’t know personally.

Views about news on Instagram

Inaccurate information

A majority of Instagram news consumers say they see information that seems inaccurate on the site at least sometimes (76%), including a quarter who report seeing inaccurate information extremely or fairly often.

Views by party

Perceptions about inaccurate information on Instagram do not differ significantly by party affiliation. Roughly a quarter of Republicans and independents who lean toward the GOP (28%) as well as Democrats and Democratic leaners (24%) say they often see news that seems inaccurate on Instagram.

Instagram’s influence on the news users see

About seven-in-ten Americans who regularly get news on Instagram (72%) say they think the platform influences which news stories they see there at least somewhat. This includes 27% who say Instagram influences the news they see a lot and 45% who say Instagram exerts some influence.

Roughly a quarter of Instagram news consumers (27%) say the site doesn’t influence the news content they see much or at all.

Views by party

Again, there are virtually no partisan differences in perceptions of Instagram’s influence on news stories. Similar shares of Republican (29%) and Democratic (26%) news consumers say they think Instagram influences the news stories they see a lot.

Instagram as a source of unique news

When asked whether the news on Instagram is unique or available elsewhere, 21% of Instagram news consumers say the news they get on the site is mostly news they would not have gotten elsewhere.

On the other hand, 34% say the news they get on Instagram is mostly news they would have seen somewhere else if they didn’t use Instagram. About four-in-ten news consumers (43%) say the news is an even mix of these two things.

Feeling worn out by news on Instagram

Among Americans who regularly get news on Instagram, nearly two-thirds (64%) say they at least sometimes feel worn out by the news they see on the platform, including 17% who feel this way extremely or fairly often.

Instagram news consumers who see at least some political content (i.e., posts about politics or political issues) on Instagram are much more likely than others to feel worn out at least sometimes by the news they see on the site (73% vs. 53%).

This is a Pew Research Center report from the Pew-Knight Initiative, a research program funded jointly by The Pew Charitable Trusts and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. Find related reports online at https://alpha.pewresearch.org/pewresearch-org/pew-knight.

Research

Elisa Shearer, Senior Researcher
Sarah Naseer, Research Assistant
Jacob Liedke, Research Analyst
Katerina Eva Matsa, Director, News and Information Research
Michael Lipka, Associate Director, News and Information Research
Emily Tomasik, Research Assistant
Christoper St. Aubin, Research Assistant
Colleen McClain, Research Associate
Monica Anderson, Director, Internet and Technology Research
Risa Gelles-Watnick, Former Research Analyst
Jeffrey Gottfried, Associate Director, Internet and Technology Research
Olivia Sidoti, Research Assistant

Editorial and Graphic Design

David Kent, Senior Copy Editor
Kaitlyn Radde, Associate Information Graphics Designer
Peter Bell, Associate Director, Design and Production
Andrea Caumont, Associate Director, Digital Outreach

Communications and Web Publishing

Sogand Afkari, Communications Manager
Maya Pottiger, Communications Associate 
Justine Coleman, Associate Digital Producer

In addition, the project benefited greatly from the guidance of the Pew Research Center methodology team: Courtney Kennedy, Andrew Mercer, Ashley Amaya, Dorene Asare-Marfo, Dana Popky, Anna Brown and Arnold Lau.

The American Trends Panel survey methodology

Overview

The American Trends Panel (ATP), created by Pew Research Center, is a nationally representative panel of randomly selected U.S. adults. Panelists participate via self-administered web surveys. Panelists who do not have internet access at home are provided with a tablet and wireless internet connection. Interviews are conducted in both English and Spanish. The panel is being managed by Ipsos.

Data in this report is drawn from ATP Wave 144, conducted from March 18 to 24, 2024, among a sample of U.S adults who previously reported using the internet. It includes an oversample of non-Hispanic Asian adults, non-Hispanic Black men, and Hispanic men in order to provide more precise estimates of the opinions and experiences of these smaller demographic subgroups. These oversampled groups are weighted back to reflect their correct proportions in the population. A total of 10,287 panelists responded out of 11,152 who were sampled, for a response rate of 92%. The cumulative response rate accounting for nonresponse to the recruitment surveys and attrition is 3%. The break-off rate among panelists who logged on to the survey and completed at least one item is less than 1%.

In addition to the 10,287 internet users who completed the survey, the demographic and profile variables for all 167 active ATP members who do not use the internet were also included in the final dataset used in the analysis. This was done so that the dataset and survey weights would represent the population of all U.S. adults, and brings the size of the full analytic sample to 10,454.

The margin of sampling error for the full analytic sample of 10,454 cases is plus or minus 1.5 percentage points.

This is a Pew Research Center report from the Pew-Knight Initiative, a research program funded jointly by The Pew Charitable Trusts and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. Find related reports online at https://alpha.pewresearch.org/pewresearch-org/pew-knight/.

Panel recruitment

The ATP was created in 2014, with the first cohort of panelists invited to join the panel at the end of a large, national, landline and cellphone random-digit-dial survey that was conducted in both English and Spanish. Two additional recruitments were conducted using the same method in 2015 and 2017, respectively. Across these three surveys, a total of 19,718 adults were invited to join the ATP, of whom 9,942 (50%) agreed to participate.

In August 2018, the ATP switched from telephone to address-based sampling (ABS) recruitment. A study cover letter and a pre-incentive are mailed to a stratified, random sample of households selected from the U.S. Postal Service’s Delivery Sequence File. This Postal Service file has been estimated to cover as much as 98% of the population, although some studies suggest that the coverage could be in the low 90% range.¹ Within each sampled household, the adult with the next birthday is asked to participate. Other details of the ABS recruitment protocol have changed over time but are available upon request.²

We have recruited a national sample of U.S. adults to the ATP approximately once per year since 2014. In some years, the recruitment has included additional efforts (known as an “oversample”) to boost sample size with underrepresented groups. For example, Hispanic, Black and Asian adults were oversampled in 2019, 2022 and 2023, respectively.

Across the six address-based recruitments, a total of 23,862 adults were invited to join the ATP, of whom 20,917 agreed to join the panel and completed an initial profile survey. Of the 30,859 individuals who have ever joined the ATP, 11,907 remained active panelists and continued to receive survey invitations at the time this survey was conducted.

The American Trends Panel never uses breakout routers or chains that direct respondents to additional surveys.

Sample design

The overall target population for this survey was noninstitutionalized internet users ages 18 and older living in the U.S., including Alaska and Hawaii. It featured a stratified random sample from the ATP in which Hispanic men, non-Hispanic Black men and non-Hispanic Asian adults were selected with certainty. The remaining panelists were sampled at rates designed to ensure that the share of respondents in each stratum is proportional to its share of the U.S. adult population to the greatest extent possible. Respondent weights are adjusted to account for differential probabilities of selection as described in the Weighting section below.

Although non-internet users were not invited to participate in the survey, the demographic and profile variables for all active non-internet panelists were appended to those for the survey respondents. This was done so that the final analytic dataset would be representative of all noninstitutionalized U.S. adults, including those who do not use the internet.

Questionnaire development and testing

The questionnaire was developed by Pew Research Center in consultation with Ipsos. The web program was rigorously tested on both PC and mobile devices by the Ipsos project management team and Pew Research Center researchers. The Ipsos project management team also populated test data that was analyzed in SPSS to ensure the logic and randomizations were working as intended before launching the survey.

Incentives

All respondents were offered a post-paid incentive for their participation. Respondents could choose to receive the post-paid incentive in the form of a check or a gift code to Amazon.com or could choose to decline the incentive. Incentive amounts ranged from $5 to $20 depending on whether the respondent belongs to a part of the population that is harder or easier to reach. Differential incentive amounts were designed to increase panel survey participation among groups that traditionally have low survey response propensities.

Data collection protocol

The data collection field period for this survey was March 18 to 24, 2024. Postcard notifications were mailed to a subset of ATP panelists with a known residential address on March 18.³

Invitations were sent out in two separate launches: soft launch and full launch. Sixty panelists were included in the soft launch, which began with an initial invitation sent on March 18. The ATP panelists chosen for the initial soft launch were known responders who had completed previous ATP surveys within one day of receiving their invitation. All remaining English- and Spanish-speaking sampled panelists were included in the full launch and were sent an invitation on March 19.

All panelists with an email address received an email invitation and up to two email reminders if they did not respond to the survey. All ATP panelists who consented to SMS messages received an SMS invitation and up to two SMS reminders.

Data quality checks

To ensure high-quality data, the Center’s researchers performed data quality checks to identify any respondents showing clear patterns of satisficing. This includes checking for whether respondents left questions blank at very high rates or always selected the first or last answer presented. As a result of this checking, no ATP respondents were removed from the survey dataset prior to weighting and analysis.

Weighting

The ATP data is weighted in a multistep process that accounts for multiple stages of sampling and nonresponse that occur at different points in the survey process. First, each panelist begins with a base weight that reflects their probability of selection for their initial recruitment survey. These weights are then rescaled and adjusted to account for changes in the design of ATP recruitment surveys from year to year. Finally, the weights are calibrated to align with the population benchmarks in the accompanying table to correct for nonresponse to recruitment surveys and panel attrition. If only a subsample of panelists was invited to participate in the wave, this weight is adjusted to account for any differential probabilities of selection.

Among the panelists in the final analytic dataset (comprised of internet users who completed the survey and non-internet users who were not sampled), this weight is then calibrated again to align with the population benchmarks identified in the accompanying table and trimmed at the 2nd and 98th percentiles to reduce the loss in precision stemming from variance in the weights. This trimming is performed separately among non-Hispanic Black, non-Hispanic Asian, Hispanic and all other respondents.

In this wave, panelists who reported using all four social media platforms (Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and X/Twitter) were randomly assigned to be asked about either Facebook or Instagram but not both. For the analysis of these questions, the weights for these respondents were further adjusted to account for their probability of having been assigned to the platform that they were asked about.

Sampling errors and tests of statistical significance take into account the effect of weighting.

The following table shows the unweighted sample sizes and the error attributable to sampling that would be expected at the 95% level of confidence for different groups in the survey.

Sample sizes and sampling errors for other subgroups are available upon request. In addition to sampling error, one should bear in mind that question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of opinion polls.

Dispositions and response rates