A new study by the Pew Research Center provides actionable insights into the emerging ecosystem of social media news influencers. This unique Pew study offers a deeper understanding of the makeup and audience of the news influencer universe.
The research reveals transformative shifts in news consumption patterns based on an analysis of 500 influencers (selected from 28,000 accounts) and a nationally representative survey.
The Pew study found significant power in news influencers, with 21% of Americans—notably 37% of those under 30—regularly consuming news through these channels.
The research exposes a stark demographic skew, with men comprising nearly two-thirds of news influencers. Most significantly, 75% of these influencers operate independently of traditional media organizations, indicating a fundamental restructuring of news creation and distribution channels.
For this study, Pew defined a news influencer as individuals who regularly post about current events and civic issues on social media and have at least 100,000 followers on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X (formerly Twitter), or YouTube.
The Pew Research Center's reputation for methodological rigor and nonpartisan analysis lends particular weight to these findings. As a subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts, the Research Center maintains strict independence and abstains from policy advocacy, ensuring unbiased insights. Their computational social science approach, combining large-scale account analysis with demographic research, provides executives with actionable intelligence on this emerging media and news dissemination phenomenon.
This new study deserves close attention from business leaders as it illuminates profound shifts in information dissemination channels that will impact corporate communications, marketing strategies, and public opinion formation in the years ahead.
Pew's research and analysis are peerless. They cover numerous topics important to the C-suite and are always must-reads.
Here are the top 10 highlights:
1. Scale: About one in five Americans (21%) regularly get news from social media influencers, rising to 37% among adults under 30.
2. Platform Distribution: 85% of news influencers have accounts on X (formerly Twitter), followed by Instagram (50%), YouTube (44%), Facebook (32%), and TikTok (27%).
3. Demographics: 63% of news influencers are men, 30% are women, and there is a notable gender gap across all platforms except TikTok, which maintains near parity.
4. Political Orientation: 27% of influencers explicitly identify as right-leaning versus 21% as left-leaning, with the remainder expressing other views (3%) or no clear orientation (48%).
5. Industry Background: 77% of news influencers have no traditional media background, representing a significant shift toward independent content creation.
6. Monetization: 59% of news influencers monetize their presence through subscriptions (49%), donations (29%), or merchandise sales (21%).
7. Content Focus: 55% of news-related posts focus on politics and government, followed by social issues (18%) and international affairs (14%).
8. Cross-Platform Presence: Two-thirds of influencers maintain presence on multiple platforms, with 27% active on five or more platforms.
9. Alternative Distribution: 34% host podcasts, and 22% maintain newsletters, indicating diversification beyond social platforms.
10. Audience Trust: 65% of Americans who follow news influencers say they help them better understand current events, with 70% finding their content different from traditional news sources.
You can access the complete study here.
Pro-tip: Make sure you have a professional with expertise in geopolitical communications on your team. Such a pro will help you navigate the challenges of geopolitics on your business objectives and help you confidently speak about this environment.
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Enjoy the ride + plan accordingly.
-Marc
