Pew Research has published a new overview of how people are using social media to access news content, which highlights some concerning trends as we head into the prime U.S. Election season.
The main point of note is that more X users now cite the app as a key news resource, while users on all platforms are regularly seeing false reports in all social apps, underlining ongoing concerns with the role that social platforms play in our information ecosystem.
But of all the notes, the data on X usage may be the most problematic.
As per Pew:
“Majorities of Facebook, Instagram and TikTok users say keeping up with news is not a reason they use the sites. X (formerly Twitter) is the exception to this pattern: Most X users say that keeping up with news is either a major or minor reason they use the platform, and about half say they regularly get news there.”
X, which is listed in the “News” app category on the App Store, has been trying to promote itself as a more trusted source for news content, with owner Elon Musk regularly criticizing “mainstream” news outlets for what he sees as biased and untrue coverage.
Unless it’s complementary of him, or his companies, and then he’s happy to share links to major outlets, but most of the time, Musk is seeking to reframe the platform formerly known as Twitter as a valuable news resource, with Community Notes, both applied and voted on by the X community, enabling “the people” to decide what’s true and what’s not.
Though that’s largely motivated by self interest, with Musk essentially seeking to use his massive following in the app to undermine trust in media outlets, so that he can dispute any coverage that he doesn’t like. Which Musk regularly does, or he denies claims made, without offering any contradicting evidence. Which, seemingly, doesn’t matter, because media outlets amplify Musk’s claims either way, lending them further weight.
At the same time, research has shown that Community Notes is not an adequate solution to police misinformation in the app, particularly due to the requirement that all notes receive consensus from people of opposing political viewpoints before they’re displayed. Which, on certain issues, is never going to happen.
But again, if Elon can present Community Notes as a solution, that’s another means to add weight to whatever claims he chooses to amplify. Because his posts would get a Community Note if what he says was incorrect, right?
Essentially, Musk’s re-framing of X as a source of truth gives Elon himself more control over media narratives, due to the popularity of X as a news source. Which is why these new notes from Pew are concerning.
The data also underlines the value that X maintains as a source for breaking news, with the real-time nature of the X feed keeping people connected to the latest updates.
Meta’s Threads is trying to step into this territory, yet at the same time, it’s also been resistant to certain news elements, as it seeks to build a more positive user experience. That’s seemingly leading to Threads becoming a lite alternative for Twitter in some respects, with sports and entertainment news getting plenty of air in the app, but political stories downgraded, making it a less valuable source for all aspects.
Which leaves X as the main platform of choice on this front, putting more power in the hands of Musk and Co. to influence such.
Yet, even X users acknowledge that there’s a lot of misinformation in the app:
This is a key concern in Meta’s broader shift away from news content, that there’s now not really an alternative to X for real-time, breaking news coverage, yet X is also the most likely to display misinformation. The false pretense that Community Notes will work as an adequate filter dilutes the key safety net of actual platform moderation, and heading into the U.S. Election, this is going to become a bigger point of concern.
But Meta had had enough of the criticism that comes with news content, and wants to step away from such, in order to avoid blame.
And that, seemingly, sets up a dangerous situation for news media.
Also, this seems not so great:
TikTok influencers are more likely to be cited as a news and information source than the actual news media.
Essentially, years of work to discredit and attack the “mainstream media” seemingly has had an influence on perception, which is now seeing more people rely on less factual, less researched, and less reliable sources for news and information.
Which means that those efforts are working, and while some would applaud the shift away from big media publishers, I do think that this is going to become a key discussion point in the wake of the 2024 election cycle.
You can read Pew Research’s full social media news report here.
