News Influencers Fact Sheet
About one-in-five U.S. adults say they regularly get news from news influencers on social media, and this is especially common among younger adults.
Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
Luxuan Wang
Research Associate
Luxuan Wang is a research associate at Pew Research Center, where she studies Americans’ experiences with news and attitudes toward new engagement in a changing information environment. Luxuan holds a PhD in Communication, Information & Media Studies from Rutgers University.
Publications
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short reads
Many Americans say they often come across inaccurate news – and have a hard time knowing what’s true
Those who report often encountering inaccurate news are more likely than those who rarely or never do to say it’s hard to know what is true (59% vs. 31%).
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report
How Americans View Journalists in the Digital Age
U.S. adults largely value journalists’ role in society but see their influence declining – and they differ over what a journalist is.
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short reads
Bluesky has caught on with many news influencers, but X remains popular
The share of news influencers in our sample with a Bluesky account roughly doubled in the four months after Election Day 2024, from 21% beforehand to 43% by March.
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data essay
What Is News?
As people are exposed to more information from more sources than ever before, how they define and feel about “news” has become less clear-cut.
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short reads
No consensus on who comes to mind when Americans are asked to name a news influencer
In an open-ended question, we asked U.S. adults who say they regularly get news from news influencers to name the first one who comes to mind for them.
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short reads
How news influencers talked about Trump and Harris during the 2024 election
Most news influencers published posts about both candidates in summer and fall, and identical shares were more critical than supportive of each.
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short reads
A closer look at Americans’ experiences with news on TikTok
Many TikTok accounts mix in news with a variety of other topics, from celebrity gossip to jokes and memes.
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report
America’s News Influencers
This study explores the makeup of the social media news influencer universe, including who they are, what content they create and who their audiences are.
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report
How Americans Get Local Political News
Most U.S. adults follow news about local government and politics, yet only a quarter are highly satisfied with the quality of coverage.
