The name and the owner might have changed, but the app formerly known as Twitter remains the go-to social media news platform for Americans gearing up for a potentially tumultuous presidential election later this year.
According to a Pew Center survey of more than 10,000 people, 65% of X’s US-based users say they access the app "to get news," with 59% saying they do so to "keep up with politics."
Reported percentages were lower for other platforms, with 37% of Facebook account holders logging on to check news and 26% to stay abreast with politics - the latter the same as among Instagram users, only 33% of whom used the app to get news.
Among TikTok users, 41% opened the app to check news and 36% to catch up on political developments.
"News outlets or journalists are a more common source of news on X than on any other site," the Pew Center found, with "news consumers" on TikTok more inclined "to get news from influencers or celebrities."
"Those on Facebook and Instagram are more likely to get it from family, friends and acquaintances," Pew’s researchers found, saying that those apps are where people go for updates on what circles of friends and family are up to, with 93% using it for this purpose.
On Instagram, 83% of users scroll to keep up with people they know, while 86% saying they use the app - which along with Facebook and WhatsApp is part of the Meta stable - "because it's entertaining."
But not as entertaining, it seems, as TikTok, a Chinese app facing a ban in the US, with 95% of the American users surveyed telling Pew they use it "because it's entertaining."
On X, 59% of users are there to "keep up with sports or culture," with TikTokers next at 53% and Instagram on 52%. Only 36% of Facebook users are there for sports or culture, slightly more than the 1 in 3 X users there to see what friends or family are up to.
