Millennials get political news from Facebook.

PositionYOUR LIFE

When it comes to where younger Americans get news about politics and government, social media looks to be the local TV of the Millennial generation. Some 61% of Millennial report getting political news on Facebook in a given week, a much larger percentage than turn to any other news source, according to an analysis by the Pew Research Center, Washington, D.C.

This stands in stark contrast to Internet-using Baby Boomers, for whom local TV tops the list of sources for political news at nearly the same reach (60%). At the same time, Millennial' relatively low reliance on local TV for political news (37%) almost mirrors Baby Boomers' comparatively low reliance on Facebook (39%).

Gen Xers, who bridge the age gap between Millennial and Baby Boomers, also bridge the gap between these news sources. Fifty-one percent of Gen Xers get political and government news on Facebook in a given week and 46% do so on local TV.

Even just looking at members of each generation who are on Facebook, Millennial still stand out for seeing somewhat more political content on the site. Twenty-four percent of Millennial who use Facebook say at least half of the posts they see on the site relate to government and politics, higher than both Gen Xers (18%) and Baby Boomers (16%). This occurs even though Millennial express less interest in political news. Twenty-six percent of Millennial select politics and government as one of the three topics they are most interested in (out of a list of nine). That is lower than both Gen Xers (34%) and Baby Boomers (45%).

A longer-term question that arises from this data is what younger Americans' reliance on social media for news might mean for the...

To continue reading

Request your trial

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT