Twitter is number one for news

Alan Littler

In a time where the general public are becoming more tech-savvy and using digital platforms to absorb the information they are seeking, it comes as no surprise that social media sites are at the forefront of this revolution.

A recent study conducted by a collaboration of the American Press Institute and research company DB5 suggests that social networking site Twitter has become the leading source for users to read about and search for breaking news stories.

The online survey, which was taken by nearly 5,000 social media users, found that 86% of participants used Twitter for news, with 74% stating that they search for news on the microblogging platform on a daily basis.

It has been revealed that 40% of the people questioned reported that Twitter was used to inform them of breaking news stories. This is compared to 39% who said that they keep up with news in general.

Further research into participants Twitter accounts showed that around three quarters of users (73%) followed the account of a journalist, commentator or writer, with 62% of users following an institutional account.

With around 82% of Twitter users accessing the site on their mobile phones, and with many of this figure having access across a number of portable devices, it is evident that Twitter is the main network for news stories.

This research comes at a time when Twitter has placed an emphasis on news and how it feeds it through to users, with the site making a number of minor adjustments to its service, including the introduction of a separate news feed dedicated to breaking news stories. It would appear that this is a new direction for the platform, and one that is at the heart of the company’s internet marketing strategy.

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Alan Littler

Operations Manager at Engage Web

A bastion of fitness and athleticism, yet also a chocoholic, our Operations Manager Alan is a man of contradictions known for his fiendish powers of organisation.

Twitter is number one for news