As the influence of mainstream media continues to erode, young people are turning to influencers as a source of news, according to new data from a survey released Monday by the Pew Research Center.
The poll, which surveyed 10,658 Americans over the summer, found that 37% of respondents between the ages of 18 and 29 “regularly get news” from influencers. This contrasts with 21% of all Americans who regularly receive news from influencers, regardless of their age, and 26% of respondents in the 30-49 age group who say they do the same.
This trend appears to be consistent for both young people on the right and the left, and Pew says: “There are few differences between Republicans and Democrats on this issue.”
Here’s a look at the age breakdown via the Pew Center:
Most respondents said they found influencer-driven news useful. Pew found that 65% of respondents said that “news influencers helped them better understand current events and civic issues.” And 70% of respondents said the type of news they receive from influencers is different from what they receive from traditional sources. However, only 31% said they felt a “personal connection” with their favorite news influencers.
The new Pew survey comes after several media experts discussed the media strategies of President-elect Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris in the run-up to Election Day. For example, MSNBC commentator Anand Giridharadas complained that conservatives have a “media ecosystem” led by Joe Rogan and Jordan Peterson that serves as an “engine of radicalization” for young people.
Meanwhile, YouTube has become a dominant hub for millions of Americans looking for political news, both left and right.
The Pew Center found that news influencers are more likely to be on X: 85 percent said they have X accounts, compared to 50 percent of those with Instagram accounts and 44 percent of those with YouTube accounts.
The new Pew data comes a month after Gallup published a poll in which trust in mainstream media was at an all-time low. According to the Gallup poll, only 31% of Americans have “a great deal” or “a fair amount” of trust in the media to report the news accurately.
A source