By Aijaz Alam
How many Americans get news from TikTok and social media?
59% of US adults say they get news from social media at least sometimes, according to Pew Research Center's survey of 24 to 30 August 2026, up slightly on recent years. Facebook (40%) and YouTube (34%) are the biggest regular news sources. 20% regularly get news on TikTok, up from 3% in 2020; among adults under 30 it is 39%.
- 59%US adults who get news from social media at least sometimesPew Research Center, Aug 2026
- 40%US adults who regularly get news on Facebook, the largest site for newsPew, Aug 2026
- 20%US adults who regularly get news on TikTok, up from 3% in 2020Pew, Aug 2026
- 39%US adults ages 18 to 29 who regularly get news on TikTokPew, Aug 2026
- 53%US adult TikTok users who regularly get news there, up from 22% in 2020Pew, Aug 2026
The numbers
The full breakdown
US adults who regularly get news on each social media site (Aug 2026)
| Site | All US adults | Users of the site |
|---|---|---|
| 40% | 57% | |
| YouTube | 34% | 41% |
| 23% | 46% | |
| TikTok | 20% | 53% |
| X (Twitter) | 10% | 57% |
| 9% | 35% | |
| Nextdoor | 8% | 45% |
| 6% | 20% | |
| 5% | 16% | |
| Rumble | 2% | 53% |
| Truth Social | 2% | 55% |
| Bluesky | 1% | 39% |
Only people who said they use a site were asked whether they regularly get news there; the all-adults column counts non-users as not getting news there. Survey of 5,166 US adults, 24 to 30 August 2026.
US adults who regularly get news on TikTok, by age
| Year | All US adults | Ages 18-29 | 30-49 | 50-64 | 65+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 3% | 9% | 2% | 1% | <1% |
| 2021 | 6% | 18% | 6% | 3% | 1% |
| 2022 | 10% | 26% | 10% | 4% | 1% |
| 2023 | 14% | 32% | 15% | 7% | 3% |
| 2024 | 17% | 39% | 19% | 9% | 3% |
| 2025 | 20% | 43% | 25% | 10% | 3% |
| 2026 | 20% | 39% | 25% | 11% | 4% |
Pew short read of 19 Oct 2026. In 2026, 32% of Black and 35% of Hispanic adults regularly got news on TikTok, against 14% of both White and Asian adults.
US adults who regularly get news on each site, by group (Aug 2026)
| Group | YouTube | TikTok | X (Twitter) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Men | 33% | 41% | 21% | 15% | 15% | 12% |
| Women | 47% | 28% | 25% | 24% | 6% | 6% |
| Ages 18-29 | 40% | 39% | 43% | 39% | 18% | 18% |
| Ages 30-49 | 49% | 38% | 28% | 25% | 11% | 12% |
| Ages 50-64 | 39% | 33% | 15% | 11% | 10% | 3% |
| Ages 65+ | 30% | 26% | 8% | 4% | 4% | 1% |
| White | 38% | 27% | 16% | 14% | 9% | 8% |
| Black | 42% | 47% | 37% | 32% | 16% | 10% |
| Hispanic | 51% | 42% | 35% | 35% | 13% | 10% |
| Asian (English speakers) | 33% | 53% | 30% | 14% | 12% | 14% |
| High school or less | 46% | 36% | 23% | 25% | 10% | 6% |
| Some college | 43% | 36% | 23% | 21% | 11% | 9% |
| College degree or more | 32% | 32% | 23% | 13% | 11% | 11% |
| Republican or lean Republican | 43% | 35% | 20% | 15% | 16% | 8% |
| Democrat or lean Democrat | 38% | 36% | 29% | 22% | 12% | 17% |
Pew Social Media and News Fact Sheet, 19 Oct 2026. Share of all US adults in each group, not of the site's users.
US adults who regularly get news on the largest sites, by year
| Year | YouTube | TikTok | X (Twitter) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 36% | 23% | 11% | 3% | 15% |
| 2021 | 31% | 22% | 11% | 6% | 13% |
| 2022 | 31% | 25% | 13% | 10% | 14% |
| 2023 | 30% | 26% | 16% | 14% | 12% |
| 2024 | 33% | 32% | 20% | 17% | 12% |
| 2025 | 38% | 35% | 20% | 20% | 12% |
| 2026 | 40% | 34% | 23% | 20% | 10% |
US online respondents who used each source for news in the last week, Reuters Institute
| Year | Social media | Any online | TV | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | 27% | 75% | 72% | 47% |
| 2015 | 40% | 74% | 64% | 27% |
| 2016 | 46% | 73% | 66% | 26% |
| 2017 | 51% | 77% | 66% | 26% |
| 2018 | 45% | 73% | 57% | 21% |
| 2019 | 46% | 72% | 58% | 19% |
| 2020 | 48% | 72% | 59% | 20% |
| 2021 | 42% | 66% | 52% | 16% |
| 2022 | 42% | 67% | 48% | 15% |
| 2023 | 48% | 72% | 48% | 16% |
| 2024 | 48% | 72% | 51% | 16% |
| 2025 | 54% | 76% | 50% | 14% |
| 2026 | 56% | 77% | 45% | 8% |
Reuters Institute Digital News Report, US country page 2026, 'Sources of news' chart. Online survey by YouGov; 2,058 US respondents in 2026, fieldwork mid-January to end of February. 'Any online' includes news websites and apps and social and video networks. No 2014 point on the chart. A different question and sample from Pew's, so do not mix the two series.
Over time
How often US adults get news from social media, every year since 2020
| Year | Often | Sometimes | Rarely | Never |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 23% | 30% | 18% | 29% |
| 2021 | 19% | 29% | 19% | 32% |
| 2022 | 17% | 33% | 20% | 29% |
| 2023 | 19% | 31% | 19% | 31% |
| 2024 | 25% | 29% | 18% | 28% |
| 2025 | 21% | 32% | 19% | 27% |
| 2026 | 26% | 33% | 17% | 23% |
Adults who do not use the internet were not asked and are counted under Never. Pew's 2026 total for often or sometimes is 59%.
Why sources differ
Same question, different answers
| Number | When | Who measured | Why it differs |
|---|---|---|---|
| 59% | Aug 2026 | Pew Research Center | US adults who get news from social media often or sometimes, any site |
| 40% | Aug 2026 | Pew Research Center | US adults who regularly get news on Facebook, the largest single site |
| 20% | Aug 2026 | Pew Research Center | All US adults who regularly get news on TikTok, including people who do not use it |
| 53% | Aug 2026 | Pew Research Center | TikTok users who regularly get news there, a share of users, not of all adults |
| 39% | Aug 2026 | Pew Research Center | US adults ages 18 to 29 who regularly get news on TikTok |
| 56% | Jan-Feb 2026 | Reuters Institute, Digital News Report 2026 | US online respondents who used social media as a source of news in the last week |
| 10% | Mar 2026 | Reuters Institute, Digital News Report 2026 | US online respondents who used TikTok for news in the last week, down 2 points on 2025 |
The Pew numbers all come from the same Pew survey, but they answer different questions, which is why headlines about news on social media can seem to disagree.
The first difference is the base. "20% of Americans get news on TikTok" and "53% of TikTok users get news on TikTok" are both true. The first divides by all adults; the second only by the 37% of adults who use TikTok. Sites with small audiences, such as Truth Social or Rumble, can have a high share of users getting news there and still reach 2% of adults.
The second is the wording. The 59% figure counts anyone who gets news from social media often or sometimes. The site figures count only people who say they regularly get news there, a stricter test.
The third is age. Under-30s are a different audience: 43% of them regularly get news on Instagram and 39% on TikTok, against 8% and 4% of adults 65 and older. A figure for young adults should not be quoted as a figure for all adults.
An independent survey lands close on the overall share but not on TikTok. The Reuters Institute's Digital News Report 2026 found 56% of its US online sample used social media as a source of news in the last week, near Pew's 59% who get news there often or sometimes; Reuters' figure was 48% in 2024 and 54% in 2025. For TikTok the gap is wide: 10% used it for news in the last week in Reuters' survey, against 20% of adults who say they regularly get news there in Pew's. The questions differ (used in the last week versus regularly get news there), and Reuters' sample is a non-probability online panel, which Reuters says tends to under-represent the news habits of older and less affluent people.
What it means
How to use these numbers
Social media is now a normal news source for most Americans, not a niche. Almost six in ten adults get news there at least sometimes, and the share saying often rose to 26% in 2026.
Facebook and YouTube still reach the most people with news. TikTok grew fastest, from 3% of adults in 2020 to 20% in 2025, and then stopped growing in 2026. Among adults under 30 it was 39%, against 43% in 2025; Pew does not describe this as a change.
For publishers and brands the age split matters most. Adults under 30 get news on Instagram and TikTok almost as often as on Facebook, while adults 65 and older barely use those apps for news. A news strategy built on one platform will miss part of the audience.
Pew measures what people say they do, not what they watch. The figures show reach, not how much time people spend on news or whether they trust it.
Method and sources
How it was measured
Method
- Publisher
- Pew Research Center, Social Media and News Fact Sheet and short read of 19 Oct 2026
- Sample
- 5,166 US adults, American Trends Panel, 24 to 30 August 2026, weighted to the US adult population
- Definition
- Regularly get news on a site: users who answered yes when asked whether they regularly get news there. Social media news overall: often, sometimes, rarely or never
- Base
- All-adult shares count non-users of a site as not getting news there
- Reuters Institute
- Digital News Report 2026, online survey by YouGov: 2,058 US respondents, mid-January to end of February 2026. Asks which sources were used in the last week as a source of news; questions on individual networks repolled with 1,000 respondents in the second half of March. Non-probability sample, so no conventional margin of error
- Last changed
- 1 Nov 2026
- Data files
- CSV · JSON (stable links)
Sources
- Pew Research Center Survey
- Digital News Report, Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, University of Oxford Survey
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FAQ
More questions people ask
Which social media site do Americans use most for news?
Facebook: 40% of US adults regularly get news there, followed by YouTube at 34%, Instagram at 23% and TikTok at 20% (Pew, August 2026).
Is TikTok still growing as a news source?
Not in 2026. The share of US adults who regularly get news there stayed at 20%, the same as 2025, after rising from 3% in 2020.
Do more young people get news on TikTok than older people?
Yes. 39% of adults 18 to 29 regularly get news on TikTok, against 25% of those 30 to 49, 11% of those 50 to 64 and 4% of those 65 and older.
What share of X users get news on X?
57% of US adults who use X regularly get news there, the same share as Facebook users, although only 10% of all adults get news on X.
Every number on this page was checked at its original source (Pew Research Center, Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, University of Oxford). Free to cite with a link to this page.