When Social Feeds Replace TV: Social Media Tops News

Open your phone. Where do you look first when something big happens? For a growing number of people around the world, the answer is no longer the television set or the front page — it’s a social feed.

That shift is more than anecdote. The Reuters Institute at Oxford polled 100,000 people across 48 countries and found that 54% said they used social media for news at least once in the past few days, edging past the 51% who turned to traditional outlets like TV, radio or news websites. People could select more than one source, but the direction of travel is clear: immediacy and direct access now trump the old gatekeepers.

Globally, 30% of respondents named social platforms or video networks as their main weekly news source — up from 22% in 2020. For people aged 18 to 24, that figure jumps to 52%. Short attention spans? Maybe. Or a deeper appetite for content that moves at the speed of the next scroll.

Why the jump? Habits changed during the pandemic and haven’t fully reversed. Traditional outlets have seen steady declines in reach since 2020. Many users say social platforms are simply better for keeping up with fast-developing stories. Others admit they just watch less TV than they used to.

Context matters, too. In nations where social platforms dominate public conversation, frustrations with how legacy media cover wars and crises are common. Nearly 40% of people under 35 in the survey said social media is the best way to follow conflicts such as those in Iran or Gaza, while older cohorts still lean on television and established news sites.

That isn’t uniform across the map. Legacy outlets remain the go-to in places like the UK, Germany, Sweden, Finland, the Czech Republic, Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands, Ireland and Croatia, along with several Asian markets. Trust in long-standing institutions and a lower reliance on individual content creators keep traditional brands afloat in these countries.

Researchers stress that this is not a cliff-like collapse but a gradual reordering. Yet the pace matters: we are watching a communication milestone unfold. New tools keep complicating the picture. Artificial intelligence is already nudging the landscape — 10% of people said they used AI as a news source in the past week, a small but telling footprint.

So where does this leave journalists and newsrooms? They face a choice that feels obvious and urgent at once: double down on quality and verification, or cede the narrative to speed and spectacle. Many will try both, experimenting with formats that work on feeds without sacrificing accuracy.

The end result will shape public understanding, civic debate and how quickly misinformation can spread. Social platforms have become the town square, but they are also a noisy bazaar. How we navigate that mix — and how platforms, regulators and newsrooms adapt — will define the next chapter of the information age.