Social networks a growing source for news: Report

Canadians are increasingly relying on social networks for their news consumption, according to a new study from the Canadian Media Research Consortium (CMRC). More than 10 million Canadians—71 per cent of those who visit social networking sites—use the services as news sources. More than a third of all Canadians use social networking sites for the same purpose. It’s the third report in a series examining Canadians’ changing news consumption habits, and the findings come from an online survey conducted by Angus Reid Public Opinion. A majority of those surveyed found that using social networks as news sources provides a broader range of information than traditional news sources, a majority that grows to 69 per cent among younger news consumers. But social networks lagged behind traditional media on the reliability scale, with only a quarter of those surveyed viewing them as reliable versus nine out of 10 who said they trusted traditional media. The report said social network users turn to their friends over journalists or news organizations. Two in five said they get their news from personal networks versus one in five who find news from networking with journalists. “A significant portion of the audience is expecting the news to come to them, filtered by friends rather than only by trained professionals,” the report said. “The dissemination of news through social interaction has always affected the spread of news. New networked media technologies are extending the ability of news consumers to both create and receive personalized social news streams, undermining existing mass media business models based on delivering large audiences to advertisers.” Angus Reid surveyed 1,682 adults, including 400 francophones, between Aug. 26 and Aug. 30, 2010. The margin of error is considered accurate within plus or minus 2.5 per cent, 19 times out of 20.

Social networks a growing source for news: Report

Brief | April 29, 2011

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