By admin 
As the broader political and media world has taken notice of news influencers, Americans have begun to incorporate the messages of these individuals into their news habits, with about one in five (21%) saying they regularly receive news from news influencers on social media.
This data comes from a survey of more than 10,000 U.S. adults conducted in late July and early August 2024. The term “news influencers” was defined for survey respondents as “individuals who have a large following on social media and frequently post about news or political or social issues.” This is consistent with how we define this group in our analysis of a sample of 500 news influencers.
This chapter delves into the attitudes and experiences of Americans who regularly receive news from news influencers.
Similar to other patterns from use of social media And news consumption on social mediayounger adults are much more likely to receive news from news influencers on social media. Nearly four-in-ten Americans ages 18 to 29 (37%) say they regularly get news from news influencers, compared to just 7% of people 65 and older.
Nearly identical numbers of Republicans (21%) and Democrats (22%), including independents who lean toward both parties, say they regularly receive news from news influencers.
White Americans are less likely than other racial or ethnic groups to receive news from news influencers. Only 17% of white American adults say they do so, compared to higher percentages among Hispanic (30%), Asian (29%) and black adults (27%).
In addition, lower-income adults are more likely to receive news from news influencers. About a quarter of lower income earners (26%) do this, compared to 21% of middle income earners and 16% of upper income earners.
What types of information do Americans get from news influencers?
It is common for Americans who regularly receive news from news influencers to see different types of information from these creators. An overwhelming majority say the survey asks about all four types of content: basic facts (90%), opinions (87%), funny posts (87%) and breaking news (83%).
To gauge whether people are looking for influencers whose opinions align with their own, we asked all Americans who say they get opinions from news influencers whether they largely agree with these opinions.
Most people who get opinions from news influencers (61%) say they see opinions they agree with and disagree with about equally. Three in ten say they mostly see opinions from news influencers that they agree with, while only 2% say they mostly disagree.
Similarly, a 2023 Pew Research Center study shows news and information about podcasts found that podcast listeners who hear political opinions are much more likely to say those opinions are similar to their own rather than different (47% vs. 7%).
Most Americans who get news from news influencers consider the content useful and unique
Adults who regularly get news from news influencers generally say that the content from news influencers has helped them better understand current events and social issues and that it is at least somewhat different from the news they get from other sources.
Among those who get news from news influencers:
- 65% say news influencers on social media have done this helped them better understand current events and social issues, while only 9% say it has confused them further. About a quarter (26%) say they have made little difference.
- Seven in ten say so news they get from news influencers is at least somewhat different from the news they get from other sources, including about a quarter saying it is extreme or very different (23%). About three in ten (29%) say news from news influencers is not too much or not at all different from news from other sources.
Americans’ connections to news influencers
Of U.S. adults who regularly receive news from news influencers, 58% say they follow or subscribe to at least one news influencer on social media. The substantial part does not Following an influencer may reflect algorithmic social media feeds that show people posts from accounts they don’t follow.
A smaller share of those who get news from news influencers (31%) say they feel personally connected to one of these content creators. When asked if there are any news influencers with whom they feel they have a personal connection, about seven in ten say no (69%).
Political ideology linked to different views of news influencers
While Republicans and independents who lean toward the Republican Party get news from news influencers at the same rate as Democrats and Democratic voters, Republicans who get news from news influencers are more likely to say this news is extreme or very different from the news they come from. other sources (28% vs. 19%).
On the other hand, Democrats who receive news from news influencers are slightly more likely than Republicans to say it helps them better understand current events and social issues (69% vs. 62%).
People at both ends of the ideological spectrum are especially likely to express this view. Among those who regularly get news from influencers, Republicans who identify as conservative are more likely than those who say they are moderate or liberal to say that news influencers have helped them better understand current events and social issues (67% vs. 55%). And liberal Democrats are more likely to say this than moderate or conservative Democrats (76% vs. 60%).
Among those who get it opinions Among news influencers, a similar share of Republicans (31%) and Democrats (32%) say they mainly receive opinions they agree with.
But here again, those at the ends of the ideological spectrum are more likely to express this view. Among those who regularly receive news from news influencers and say opinions are one thing they see, an identical share of conservative Republicans and liberal Democrats (42% each) say they mainly see opinions they agree with.
In contrast, much smaller numbers of conservative or moderate Democrats (20%) and moderate or liberal Republicans (13%) say this is the case. Instead, these groups are more likely to say they agree and disagree equally with the opinions they see from news influencers.
Young adults are more likely to view content from news influencers as useful and unique
Young adults are much more likely than those in older age groups to receive news from news influencers. And among those who do get news from news influencers on social media, young people are also more likely to say that the information they get from news influencers is useful and unique.
- Younger people are more likely to say that news influencers help them better understand current events and social issues. Among those who get news from influencers, nearly three-quarters of adults ages 18 to 29 (72%) say this about news influencers on social media, compared to about half of adults ages 65 and older (53%).
- Younger adults are also more likely to say that the news they get from news influencers is at least somewhat different from news from other sources. Looking again just at those who regularly get news from news influencers on social media, three-quarters of those aged 18 to 29 say the news they get is at least somewhat different from news they get from other sources. A slightly smaller proportion of people over 65 (65%) say the same.