SAFE SPACE

Young People Shun Facebook and Embrace WhatsApp for News

Youth turning away from public, confrontational platforms.

The use of Facebook for news has fallen sharply over the past year, with young people turning to more private spaces such as WhatsApp to share and discuss articles. Research from the Reuters Institute found use of Facebook for news is down 9 percentage points from 2017 in the U.S. and down a massive 20 points among younger audiences. “The use of social media for news has started to fall in a number of key markets after years of continuous growth,” said Nic Newman, research associate at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism. “We continue to see a rise in the use of messaging apps for news as consumers look for more private [and less confrontational] spaces to communicate.” The report also found just 34 percent of people polled in the U.S. trust most news most of the time, down 4 points from 2017. Local TV news and The Wall Street Journal were the most trusted brands.