TikTok’s rise to prominence has been quite a sight to behold, but the social media platform has managed to turn into a lot more than just a simple hub for content with all things having been considered and taken into account. According to a study that was just published by the Pew Research Center, adults between the ages of 18 and 29 are now getting much of their news updates from TikTok because of the fact that this is the sort of thing that could potentially end up helping them stay well informed about current events.
With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that about 26% of US adults who are between the ages of 18 and 29 receive their news from TikTok based on the findings in this report. That has increased from 18% in 2021, which itself was double that of 2020 when only 9% of US adults in the same demographic got their news content from this social media platform.
Interestingly, adults over the age of 30 are starting to take TikTok more seriously as a news source as well. Back in 2020, only 2% of adults between the ages of 30 and 49 got their news from TikTok, but this year it is being reported that this proportion has increased to 10%. In spite of the fact that this is the case, the overall numbers for TikTok hover at around 10%, and that means that it is not as popular of a news source as Twitter or even Facebook.
This indicates that TikTok has an uphill battle if it wants to become a more popular source of news than might have been the case otherwise. The trends are definitely interesting, and as the current generation of young adults grows older the trends will continue to develop. However, at this time TikTok’s value as a news source is somewhat limited, though the potential possibilities of the future are exciting to say the least and they might further alter the paradigm of industries that are related to news and content.
Read next: Amid Economic Uncertainty, Advertising Sales Suffered a Rapid Break Down
With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that about 26% of US adults who are between the ages of 18 and 29 receive their news from TikTok based on the findings in this report. That has increased from 18% in 2021, which itself was double that of 2020 when only 9% of US adults in the same demographic got their news content from this social media platform.
Interestingly, adults over the age of 30 are starting to take TikTok more seriously as a news source as well. Back in 2020, only 2% of adults between the ages of 30 and 49 got their news from TikTok, but this year it is being reported that this proportion has increased to 10%. In spite of the fact that this is the case, the overall numbers for TikTok hover at around 10%, and that means that it is not as popular of a news source as Twitter or even Facebook.
This indicates that TikTok has an uphill battle if it wants to become a more popular source of news than might have been the case otherwise. The trends are definitely interesting, and as the current generation of young adults grows older the trends will continue to develop. However, at this time TikTok’s value as a news source is somewhat limited, though the potential possibilities of the future are exciting to say the least and they might further alter the paradigm of industries that are related to news and content.
Read next: Amid Economic Uncertainty, Advertising Sales Suffered a Rapid Break Down
